Visit one of Vancouver’s upscale restaurants and you’ll probably be surprised to see what’s on its menu, especially the salad menu. The trend of our top chefs is that weeds and wild flowers are served instead of more traditional salad ingredients. Ask what’s in your salad, and expect to hear dandelion, chamomile with oxen eyes, portulac, wild sorrel, nettle, bird, shepherd’s bag and dam, as well as fresh herbs such as kervel and watercress salad.
Of course, our prestigious chefs don’t just serve old weed. While it’s tempting to introduce them on the road, dressed in white hats, pulling dandelions from the root and cramming them into refrigerators, this is not the case. Our chefs receive “high quality weeds” grown organically by local farmers who specialize in supplying green salads and other vegetables to high-end restaurants.
And understand this: the demand for high-quality organic weeds is so high that the farmer says he supplies weeds and vegetables to twenty-seven restaurants, and seven more on the waiting list.
Now the gourmets are asked whether the average family will be able to sit on a trolley to destroy weeds or not and serve wild fodder crops at family dinners and barbecues.
You can only imagine the taste of weeds. But to be honest, most of the food we eat tastes good. Do you remember the first time you tasted broccoli? Or green olives? Or parsnips? Chances are you must be used to eating these foods. No doubt we can also accustom ourselves to eating weeds.
But why do we need to? Believe it or not, there are a few good reasons why it makes sense to eat weeds.
Weeds are free
You can buy weeds from organic cannabis growers if you have them nearby. Otherwise, you can be really sincere, give up bought weeds and feed yourself. Before you start, you can use one of the publications on the subject, such as Samuel Thayer’s book Harvest Picker: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants.
Gathering attracts twofold value: first, the plants you find are free, so you save money. Secondly, weeds are considered a local product, so you do your best to protect the environment.
Alternatively, if traveling in search of good quality weeds is not an interesting way to spend a Sunday, you can encourage weeds that want to naturally grow on your lawn or garden. Not that they needed strong support, but you understand the idea.
But I want you to know that I REALLY DON’T HAVE THIS, but if you’re obviously thinking of turning the lawn into a big salad bar, you’ll find that you need to play with weeds so they eat well.
You may need to thin out weeds as well as rows of garden salad and carrots. You must not forget to collect weeds while they are still blooming, otherwise they will become too old and tough. The weed lover claims that every four to seven days she cuts a bird wall with scissors to keep it tender all spring.
In other words, your weeds have turned into vegetables, and you should treat them the same way as beetroot and spinach.
Local weeds
Buying locally produced products has become a mantra for many – and for good reason. Locally produced products are likely to be fresher and more environmentally friendly (because they do not require an unnecessary amount of carbon fuel) and their purchase supports the local economy.
Eating local weeds is definitely first on the list, and if you buy them from a local organic farmer, you also have a third.
Weeds are nutritious
Of course, not all weeds. Some are poisonous. You need to know what you’re doing, especially if you’re researching your own weeds instead of buying specially grown weeds.
If you collect food, avoid roadside plants. They will absorb harmful substances from car exhaust. Also, no matter where you find the weeds, make sure they have not been treated with insecticides or other toxic chemicals.
Despite all this, safely grown non-toxic weeds are likely to have nutritional or medicinal properties.
Take the dandelion. Although dandelion is not a popular food in North America, Europeans have long grown and eat this plant. Delicate spring dandelion sprouts are good in salads, and vegetables can be cooked in the same way as spinach or other vegetables. Mix boiled or steamed dandelion leaves with a little roasted garlic, onion and pepper; Add the parmesan and add the vinaigrette with the oil and vinegar.
Googling and you’ll find a variety of recipes using dandelion, including recipes for the infamous dandelion wine.
The plant is rich in vitamins and minerals and in some cultures is used for both food and medicinal purposes. It should be kept in mind that dandelion is a powerful diuretic. It was once known as the Pee-the-Bed plant.
Another example is Redstone (Stellaria Media). This weed grows almost everywhere and is considered exceptionally soft wild green. As with dandelion, you can eat vegetables in a salad or cook them like spinach. Star is rich in copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, silicon and zinc. It is rich in calcium, chlorophyll, phosphorus, potassium, protein, vitamin A and fats, and is a good source of vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin, thiamine and vegetable sodium.
Social advantage
It seems to me that the donation of weed can bring social benefits to someone. First of all, if your social network positions itself as a leader by serving weed, you create an image of fashion, fashion and fashion.
On the other hand, if your social network thinks that French fries are a vegetable, you will win too. Never again will you be asked to cook Christmas dinner, take part in dinner or entertain guests. How cool is that?