***Wild Salad with Wild Flowers

Wild Salad with Wild Flowers

You will need a sharp pair of plant scissors and a few baskets. For safety sake, I harvest each plant into a different container. Keep the chickweed stalks parallel as you cut them and place them in your basket that way, making them much easier to cut into uniform pieces.

Largest basket (about 50% of salad): chickweed leaves, flowers, and stalks

Large basket (about 25% of salad): first year garlic mustard leaves

Medium basket (about 5% of salad): mild leaves, your choice, mallow or five-finger ivy (Virginia creeper)

Smaller baskets (total of 20% of salad): aromatic, strong-tasting plants like lemon balm, wild oregano, bergamot, cronewort, mint, catnip, and thyme

Smallest basket: Mixed flowers. Individual blossoms of Queen of the Night, violets, periwinkle, and wild geranium. Entire flower heads of garlic mustard and barbara's cress.

Preparation: Cut chickweed into small (1/2 inch) pieces; tear garlic mustard, mallow, and five-finer ivy into bite-sized pieces; finely mince aromatic plants. Combine in a bowl. Add a splash of tamari, a good pour of herbal vinegar, and plenty of extra virgin olive oil (at least one tablespoonful per serving of salad). Toss, artfully arrange flowers or simply toss them on the salad and serve.

I like gomasio (sesame salt) on my salads, so I shall have to teach you how to make it soon!

From the Wise Woman Herbal Ezine