On a budget and wondering how to get a better diet? You could grow a garden but for that you'd need space (and it takes something of a "green thumb" sometimes too). Alternately, you can take advantage of the wild smorgasbord around you, much of it roadside.
One good thing about wild plants is high nutrition content. Wild plants have not (deliberately) been genetically modified for appearance or ship-ability (weeds can however pick up genes from genetically-engineered seeds). This is usually a plus in terms of nutritional value and flavor.
Also, fruits and greens that you pick yourself are of course fresher than store-bought ones. What's more, if you gather weeds on a walk, as Wild Food School USA, "Why Eat Weeds and Wild Plants?," notes, you get away from consuming foods grown with the use of petroleum.
Some Wild Legumes, Vegetables, and Fruits
Southeastern wild vegetables include mimosa seeds, which ripen on the roadside mid-summer (the small green seeds are usually the tastiest, but if you are roasting the seeds in the pod, you will want to roast the large ones), prickly pear, and Spanish bayonet. The last two of these were favorite Native foods. Mimosa trees however are not native to the U.S., and are considered nuisance plants in some areas. Still another Southeastern edible is the milk thistle, which may protect the liver, and can be eaten raw.
Mimosa Seeds
Mimosa seeds (Albizia julibrissin) ripen roadside in July, early August; farther north, these seeds can be picked as late as September and October. The seeds should be cooked before eating. They can be tough to remove from the pods, but once the pods (which are not edible) are roasted, the seeds slip out easily, and are absolutely delicious.
The seeds can also be removed from pods the slow way, while still uncooked, and then simmered in a stew, along with wild onions, and pan-seared chicken or game bird. The smaller the seed the more tasty but the harder to remove. Seeds of all sizes work fine in stew so long as they are green. The brown seeds however are dry and bitter.
When picking, avoid mildewed looking pods or those inhabited by bugs. The seeds are easy to pick, though sometimes need to be shaken from high branches. Do not confuse these with the seeds from the tamarind tree, which also grows wild in the U.S. (see St. John Beach Guide, "Wild Tamarind"; the fruit is the edible part of the tamarind; the tamarind seeds are used in jewelry and extracts).
Mimosa trees grow in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, and California. Sometimes considered nuisance plants, they are not originally from the U.S. However they make great ornamental trees. As "nuisances," they benefit from roadside trimming which thins them out, making them less of a feast for pests and fungus, and giving them more access to sunlight.
Mimosa Nutrition
What about nutrition? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wild animals find the mimosa nutritious. The seeds taste like they are loaded with anti-oxidants, including vitamin E and anti-microbials. Since they are legumes, they may contain lecithin too. They may help to clear up colds and lung problems. For more on Mimosa trees, see the University of Florida's IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, "Mimosa Tree" or USDA Forest Service's FEIS database information, "Alibizia Julibrissin."
Roasted Mimosa Seeds
To roast the seeds, choose green pods with large seeds (the small will burn as soon as the heat hits them). Combine together (ideally in an iron skillet) the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 - 1 tsp cilantro, perhaps some basil, rosemary, thyme, or cumin, a clove minced garlic, a teaspoon or two of vinegar, and a teaspoon or two of olive oil. Marinate about 15 seed pods into this mixture till well-coated on both sides. Roast in the covered skillet or in foil for about 15-20 minutes, stirring/turning as needed. The skins should turn light golden brown and can even be slightly charred (seeds will be fine).
Stewed Mimosa Seeds
To stew the seeds, first peel the skins from the seeds, slicing off the top of the pod if needed with a paring knife, then scraping out the seeds. Put the seeds in a covered pot with a little oil, some corn, perhaps some okra, and plenty of herbs and peppers. Alternately stew the seeds with chicken and potatoes, adding a few herbs. Or add these seeds to corn and lima bean succotash to make the beans taste fresher (and to add vitamins to the stew).
Prickly Pear Leaves and Fruits
The prickly pear leaves ("nopalitos") are available year round, but according to the Gourmet Sleuth, they are best harvested spring through summer, when the deep purple or red fruits (called "tunas") are also harvested. The leaves are loaded in vitamin C, and, although a bit sticky, they cook nicely. Something in flavor akin to the bell pepper, they go well with beans or succotash. However they can become "mushy" as they cook, so it's best to grill or roast these, and add them to beans or succotash near the end.
As Bradford Angier's Field Guide notes, the prickly pear is similar to its fibrous relative, the cholla, except that its stems are flat not round. The leaves are sometimes used as a quick source of water by hikers and bikers. Gourmet Sleuth, " Nopales," suggests grilling prickly pear leaves with a squeeze of lime or some portabello mushrooms. The fruit, known as "Indian fig" or "tuna" can also be eaten. It's easily preserved as a jam or, if you add apple which contains pectin, a jelly (prickly pear fruit does not contain pectin).
Spanish Bayonet (or "Yucca") Fruits and Flowers
Spanish bayonet (flowers, fruits, stalks, even roots) were an important part of Native American diets. These contain the saponin sarsasapogenin, which can be a toxin, and so do need cooking, except perhaps for the flowers.
Spanish bayonet or yucca fruit ripens in the later summer or early fall. It is best baked, roasted, or grilled in a flavorful oil with plenty of pepper, some salt, and perhaps other herbs too. The recipe offered by Szuchy and Kuch (an old favorite, in "A Sampling of Native Edible Plants of the Central Florida Region") recommends baking the fruits 30 minutes and then serving them with plenty of butter, salt, and pepper. Even then the fruit may taste slightly bitter, but removing the skin after baking may help.
You can also try grilling these after marinating them in oil, lemon juice, and herbs. The flowers are delicious with vinaigrette, perhaps in a pasta salad. They can also be sauteed. The blossoms may appear several times a year, but most bloom between later spring and early summer. Don't eat brown flowers, only white, firm ones. For more on Spanish bayonet with a recipe for the flowers, see Eat the Weeds, " Yucca's Not Yucky."
More Flowers: Milk Thistle
If you have not eaten the purple roadside bloom known as "milk thistle" ("silybum marianum"), you are in for a treat. It grows in the Carolinas and also in the Texas highlands, in weedy areas and roadside. It's believed to be helpful in repairing liver damage. Thus it has been used to treat mushroom poisoning (victims must consume enough of its active ingredient in less than forty-eight hours; and this will not do much for the kidneys). The bright purplish flowers bloom early fall, and are delicious raw. They go well with mushrooms, of course.
For information on milk thistle as a remedy for liver problems and mushroom poisoning, see the University of Maryland Medical Center's information on "Milk Thistle," and A Radicle (Guido)'s blog on "Milk Thistle and Mushroom Poisoning."
Notes on Mushrooms
Knowing that milk thistles might help with mushroom poisoning may make you want to try wild mushrooms too. However, while many wild plants are edible, about half of wild mushrooms are poisonous. Unlike with other wild plants, the poisonous mushrooms taste great. Nevertheless, once ingested, in a few weeks, they destroy the liver.
In some cases, even a tiny bit of the mushroom can be harmful, so hand washing is needed if you handle these. Because of the difficulty in identifying mushrooms, only puffballs are discussed here.
Puffballs
The most easily identified of the edible mushrooms and fungi is the puffball. It does not grow in Florida but grows roadside in November in other parts of the Southeast. It's hardly the tastiest of the edible mushrooms. Thus it is best eaten as a "button" (baby), when, alas, it can be confused with the Amanita "destroying angel" button.
Fortunately the markings on the puffball look like engravings not ridges, unlike the markings of the "destroying angel". In addition, the older dried puffball sporecases are almost always nearby, so never pick this mushroom without seeing the black inedible sporecases in the vicinity.
The spore cases also help to distinguish the puffball from the generally much smaller and firmer earthball type of mushroom. The earthballs are poisonous. The puffball releases its spores through a hole at the top and dries, leaving the spore case. The earthball does not leave dried sporecases.
Sources
- Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books/Google EBooks). (Accessed 2011).
- Eat the Weeds. " Yucca's Not Yucky." (2008; accessed 2011).
- Extraplicity. "Notes on Yucca." Galleries. (Arizona.) (1999-2005; accessed 2011).
- Gourmet Sleuth. " Nopales: Something Delicious Beneath the Prickles,"
- "A Radicle" (Guido). "Milk Thistle and Mushroom Poisoning." (2007/05/18; accessed 2011).
- Roger's Mushrooms. Visual Key. (Accessed 2011).
- Szuchy and Kutz. "A Sampling of Native Edible Plants of the Central Florida Region." (Accessed 2011).
- University of Florida. "Mimosa Tree." IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. (2008; accessed 2011).
- USDA Forest Service. "Alibizia Julibrissin." FEIS Database. (Accessed 2011).
- University of Maryland Medical Center. "Milk Thistle." (Accessed 2011).
- The Vegan Forum. "Spanish Bayonet." (2007/05/01. Accessed 2011).
- Wild Food School USA. "Why Eat Weeds and Wild Plants?". (2010. Accessed 2011).
Catherine E Whitehead - C. E. Whitehead holds degrees in education and linguistics. She likes languages, computers, and cooking.
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