Making Spring Pesto!

Ah, Spring!  A chance to sample the freshness of a new season after a long winter of using dried herbs, dehydrated and home-canned fruits and vegetables from last summer's harvest.  Even something as simple as sprouting seeds over the dark winter months provides an opportunity for eating 'fresh' greens that didn't travel thousands of miles to get to your dinner plate.

With the mild winter, this part of northwest NJ is bursting with new, vibrant plant life nearly three weeks ahead of normal.  (Do I really have to mow my lawn in March?)  Seeing new green fuzz on shrubs and trees along the roadsides is uplifting as I think about all the 'fresh greens' now emerging in my yard....   which makes me think of sautes, stir-frys and my favorite:  pesto!  Yum!

Safety tip:  First and foremost:  KNOW your plants!  Many toxic botanicals look confusingly similar to edible or medicinal botanicals - so DO YOUR HOMEWORK and/or have a knowledgeable botanist, herbalist or forager help identify these with you. 

IMPORTANT:  Do NOT use any botanical that has been sprayed with herbicide, pesticide, is found in a run-off drainage ditch or is located within 15 feet of a road.  (Do you really want brake asbestos and road salt in your food?)  ONLY harvest from known sources where you know that it is clean.

While there are many fresh greens in your yard that you can add to your dinner plate, today I am focusing on Garlic Mustard (Allaria petiolata). 

Description: Garlic mustard, ~ also called hedge garlic, saucealone, jack-by-the-hedge, poor man's mustard, jack-in-the-bush, garlic root, garlicwort, and mustard root ~ defends itself from insects by smelling like garlic. It is on the USDA’s National Invasive Species Information Center and is classified as an invasive, noxious weed in at least nine states since it crowds out native plants. It is not native to the US, the deer won't eat it, and it does not have any known predators. 

A biennial herb, its heart-shaped leaves give off an aroma of garlic when crushed. Typical of the mustard/cabbage family, the flowers are four-petaled and cross shaped. This plant is allelopathic, meaning that it secretes a toxin that is not tolerated by other plants, and thus they will not grow well near it ~ black walnut and eucalyptus trees do the same thing ~ thus ensuring its relentless spread.  You can pick as much of this plant as you want without fear of overharvesting!  Actually - you will be providing a great service to the environment since this plant IS so invasive! 

So harvest away!  And not with anger or malice, but with gratitude for Allaria's bounty! It is delicious, available year round, and loaded with important phyto-nutrients such as sulforophane.  Susun Weed makes a delicious vinegar from the roots, so maybe I will write about that in another post.

Uses: A member of the Brassicaceae family, garlic mustard is used as food and for medicinal purposes. The leaves, flowers and fruit are edible as food, and are best when young. They have a mild flavor of both garlic and mustard, and are used in salads and pesto. Garlic mustard has been little used in herbal medicine, although traditionally the leaves have been taken internally to promote sweating and to treat bronchitis, asthma and eczema. Externally, they have been used as an antiseptic poultice on ulcers etc., and are effective in relieving the itching caused by bites and stings. The leaves and stems are harvested before the plant comes into flower and they can be dried for later use.

Some good resources/books:  

• Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places, "Wildman Steve Brill;  (an older book, but still my favorite and first 'go-to' book)
• Plants for a Future website:  http://www.pfaf.org/user/default.aspx
• Peterson Field Guides:  Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs
• Peterson Field Guides:  Edible Wild Plants (Eastern/Central North America)
• Shoots and Greens of Early Spring in Northeastern North America, "Wildman" Steve Brill
• The Wild Vegan CookBook,   "Wildman" Steve Brill
• The Everything guide to Foraging, Vickie Shufer  (she also publishes the Wild Foods Forum Newsletter)

Here is the pesto that I am making this spring.  It changes slightly every time I make it depending on the plants in my yard and my mood when harvesting, so here are some suggestions!

2 handfulls Garlic Mustard (Allaria petiolata)
Several kale leaves  

1 handfull Broccoli (you can use the stalk for this, too)  OR  a few leaves fresh picked broccoli-rabe
2-3 handfulls Spinach
1-2 handfulls Dandelion leaves
1-2 handfulls of Plantain leaves (Plantago major or P.  lanceolata)
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1-2 handfulls chopped walnuts
~1 cup finely grated locatelli cheese (OR  parmesean or romano)
Olive oil to your preferred consistency
Black long pepper (Piper nigrum)  OR regular black pepper
(Optional) handful of fresh basil or fresh garden sage
(Optional) several leaves of fresh young mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris)

Blend all ingredients to a smooth paste in a food processor, adding a little at a time to be sure it is well ground.  Sometimes the walnuts or broccoli stalks leave chunks, even after minutes of processing - so just be aware that your pesto might be lumpy.  Add olive oil to the desired consistency - I like it a little denser so I can eat it on a cracker without it dribbling off.  Store in the refrigerator.  OR - freeze in ice cube trays and once frozen solid, then store in a large, air-tight freezer baggie for portion control.

Enjoy!  Green Blessings!

Note: Any remedies or information listed on this blog are from historical references and used for teaching / educational purposes only. The contents are not meant to diagnose, treat, prescribe, cure or substitute consultation with a licensed health-care professional. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.