Wild Salads

At the moment my salads are overflowing with the fresh green growth of late winter and early spring, mixed with flowers from the garden. This is one of my favorite ways to eat wild plants because you get such a beautiful diversity of flavors, textures, colors and nutrients in one bowl.

My current wild salad contains:

Miner’s lettuce: rich in vitamin C and vitamin A, with iron, calcium and other minerals.

Chickweed: a nutrient-dense green containing vitamins A, C and several B vitamins, plus iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Purple dead nettle: provides vitamins A and C, iron and other minerals, along with antioxidant plant compounds.

Onionweed: part of the allium family and contains vitamin C, folate and antioxidant sulphur compounds.

Puha: with vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron and other minerals. Its slightly bitter flavour is particularly good in a mixed salad.

Violet flowers: beautiful, edible and a source of vitamin C and antioxidant compounds.

Edible garden flowers: whatever is flowering gets added: calendula, borage, nasturtium, violets, rose, fucshia and others all bring their own colors, flavors and plant compounds.

Dandelion leaves: packed with vitamins A, C and K, as well as potassium, calcium and other minerals. Their bitter flavor is wonderful for balancing a salad.

Plantain leaves: contain vitamins A, C and K, calcium and other minerals, as well as a range of beneficial plant compounds.

Speedwell: a delicate edible green containing vitamins, minerals and antioxidant compounds. It has a mild flavour that works beautifully amongst stronger greens.

To make a wild salad, there really isn’t much to it.

~ Gather a good variety of young, tender edible leaves and flowers.

~ Roughly chop any larger leaves into bite-sized pieces. Small leaves can be left whole.

~ Pull the petals from the flowers and scatter them through the greens.

~ Toss everything together in a large bowl.

~ Dress with a simple wild weedy salad dressing. I like something with a little acidity, good olive oil, mustard and perhaps a touch of honey or maple to balance the bitterness of the wild greens.

And that’s it.

No supermarket salad mix required. Just step outside and see what abundance is growing around you.

A wild salad is one of the simplest ways to bring more diversity into your diet and reconnect with the edible landscape around you.

As always, only eat wild plants you have correctly identified and know to be edible.

Learn more at this Sundays Foraging Workshop (last places available now for booking), or through my Foraging Guidebooks or Online Course.