Tabbouleh is a Lebanese herb salad that I first got turned on to by our friends over at Baba Gannouj, Campbell River’s Syrian/Lebanese restaurant. It’s since become my absolute favourite salad! Read More
Tag: salad
Spring Beauty
It’s May and the green belt behind our house is just that. Green! A chlorophyll wonderland of shimmering leaves, budding tree branches and ferns studded with tiny little purple flowers that I can’t identify but look so freakin cute! Viewed from my kitchen window the scene overwhelms the senses. So much is growing and moving. So much is green! My eyes focus and unfocus wildly, trying hopelessly to impose some order on all this chaos, this emerald leviathan, this explosion of life.
And the edibles! Dandelions, fiddleheads, salmonberry shoots, nettles and everything else I’ve been gushing about for the last three or four posts. It’s a forager’s paradise! And now, I can add Miner’s Lettuce (aka: Indian Lettuce, Winter Purslane and Spring Beauty) to my growing list of spring pickings. Read More
Stinging Nettle Goma-ae
It’s that time of year again! The nettles are back! Grab some gloves and a bag (make sure to brush up on nettle safety here) and get picking! I was able to fill half a plastic bag full of nettle tops in a couple of minutes, the perfect amount for a light lunch. Read More
Pulling Lion’s Teeth
Dandelions are everywhere, right now.
They’re in your backyard, along ditches and footpaths, flash-mobbing soccer fields, sneaking through cracks in the sidewalk and fighting to overtake golf courses. They are the hardiest (most say would say “insidious”) of vegetation, able to resurface again and again in the most unbelievably anti-green environments our concrete and Astroturf-loving human brains can conceive. They resist toxic assault and uprooting with ease. They are a symbol of everything gardeners hate: The uncontrollable factor riddling even the most minutely-controlled landscaping project. Just Google the word “Danedlion” and the first result you get will be “Kill dandelions dead!”
They have become the enemy, the plague, the weed… But before you get out the pitchforks and lawn-napalm, there might be something else we can do with these offenders. Our ancestors knew this plant very well, not as a weed, but as a source of food ‘n medicine… Yeah, dandelions are completely edible. It blew my mind as well! Read More
Kale Top Salad with Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette
It’s May, and that means the local farmer’s market is back with a vegetable vengeance. This year there really seems to be more farmers in attendance, and I returned home with bags of fresh produce (Chard leaves the size of your head!), and armfuls of starters for my garden (The tomato man was there, whoot!!!) One of the most interesting edibles that I scored was a bag of bright purple kale tops.
Picked during the spring from the tops of over-wintering brassicas, these little bundles of buds are amazingly tender and subtlety flavoured. The perfect foundation for an early-summer tossed salad. This recipe is a classic menagerie of very friendly veg, all balancing the bitterness of everyone’s favourite super-green. Read More