Let's Talk About Salad

I want to take this time to talk about salad.  In recent years, salads have become more than just ice berg lettuce, a partially green tomato, croutons and ranch dressing. Prior to that, a salad was anything containing jell-o.  No, really.

One of my favorite pastimes is looking through the old cookbooks for the 40's and 50's just for the pictures.

Today, however,  salads can have everything from pasta or rice, fruits and nuts to various forms of protein (chicken, tofu, steak, seitan) and all manner of veggies.  I love cooking up some orzo and mixing it with all kinds of chopped veggies from the garden and a little bit of oil and vinegar.  Incidentally, I could do an entire post on just using different kinds of oils and vinegars to make dressings.  But anyway....

Even though was have "recreated" (if you will) the idea of the salad, we still stick to "safe" food ingredients.  For most, the idea of going in the back yard and collecting "weeds" to put in their salad bowl would never cross their mind.  It's a sad state of affairs, really.  With spring finally (I hope) being here, there are plenty of fresh greens springing up all over your yard that you could add to your salads, or eat on their own.  Why waste money at the grocery store on "spring greens" that were grown half way across the country when you can take 10 steps into your own yard and know exactly where the produce is coming from and what environment it was grown.  Not to mention, the vitamins and minerals you'll get from the weeds you pick will far surpass anything you'll find at the grocery store. 
That being said, what does one put in their salads?  Well, there are plenty of different plants to choose from and unfortunately, living in a very urban environment, I don't have as wide a variety as I would like, but this is what I do have:

This is broad-leaf plantain, hiding in some clover.  It has very similar properties to lance-leaf plantain, but for most it is more common.  It is just beginning to come up in my driveway, so I only collected a few leaves to give her a chance to get more sun and grow.  The leaves are very mild, like a mild lettuce.  Very yummy, and perfect for beginners - one of my favorites. 

The other two that I'm using pretty regularly are ones that I have already talked about in previous blogs, but I'll give a quick refresh -

The top picture is dandelion and the bottom is purple dead nettle.  The dandelion greens are quite tasty right now as they are young and not very bitter.  Once the flower head starts to form they become more and more bitter.  When I add them to my salads, I only do a handful of leaves so as not to overpower everything else.   The purple dead nettle has more of an "earthy" taste to it.  Not like beets do (I don't care for the taste of dirt) but you can definitely tell they are not a cultivated plant.  I enjoy them, and you can eat everything, stems, leaves and flowers.

I suggest collecting  some of each of the above mentioned greens and adding them to your salad, not making an entire salad out of them.  Slowly begin incorporating them into your diet - enjoy going out into nature to collect your lunch instead of the refrigerator.   Not only is it delicious, but it is relaxing and enjoyable too.  Spend a few minutes sitting in the sunshine (it's a fabulous way to get your Vitamin D!) and enjoy your lunch!