Monday 20 April 2009

Wild leaf salad

It is spring so there is a growing abundance of seasonal, wild leaves that can be used in salads. On the Easter weekend we had a salad (pictured above) which included the following leaves:
dandelion
hawthorn
bramble shoots
wild parsley

The dressing was made from olive oil and raspberry vinegar and the chicken came from a local supermarket, so we can't claim the whole meal was from wild and local sources.

On Saturday just gone, a fifth wild plant was added to the salad: willow herb shoots.

This makes a tasty combination though the bramble leaves in particular tend to make it a tiny bit on the dry side. The dressing solved that though we are going to experiment with dressing with less flavoured contents. At times the raspberry vinegar overshadowed the taste of the leaves. Nevertheless, I was rather pleased with this so wild leaf salads are on our menu for as long as they are in season. And there are plenty of other wild leaves we have not get used.

In a few weeks we will, hopefully, had a supply of salad leaves grown on the allotment or in the garden. And we also have a load of sprouting beans to use as well.

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