i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
I made this with hairy bittercress but you could potentially do it with a lot of different mild flavored greens (spinach, shepherd’s purse, edible chrysanthemum, goosefoot, stinging nettle). My particular version only has 3 main ingredients–egg, shiitake mushroom, and the greens, but other versions can include …
Make sure you wash the hairy bittercress well so you don’t get a mouthful of grit, and that it’s from an area where you are certain no pesticides or herbicides have been applied! In the mornings during spring, one of the things I like to collect …
Along with dandelions and garlic mustard, hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) is one of the first greens to come out during the spring. Often viewed as a weed, it’s actually a delightful vegetable that, while a pain to collect, is quite tasty in that it can be enjoyed by a wide variety of audiences. It’s name doesn’t do it justice, for it is neither hairy nor bitter, and is mild flavored. Those who can’t get used to the strong flavor of dandelions, which is usually considered the staple of foraging, will find that hairy bittercress is right up their alley.
In the spring, it has attractive little white flowers, making it charming and white easy to miss in the lawn. However, if you have zoysia grass, it stands out like a green little mound among the still yellow dormant grass. It spreads its seeds through a spring loaded mechanism, and during the summer my kids love touching the seed pods that explode on contact. They think it’s a lot of fun (and it keeps them occupied!) It lives in both sun and shade, any kind of soil, and is wide spread across the globe.
I collect as a vegetable to eat like kale–its flavor and texture similar. It does not turn slimy the way spinach does, and is excellent sauteed or steamed or blanched. Sometimes in the mornings, I’ll go out to add it to my pan baked eggs, just so I have some dark greens to start me off on the day.
If you forage for it, make sure it’s from an area where you are certain no pesticides or herbicides have been used. I just pull the entire thing out of the ground (it comes up very easily) and pinch off the root.
Breakfast Pan with Hairy Bittercress
Steamed Vegetable Dumpling
I rarely go to the Asian supermarket because I’m so far away from any (which has resulted in me making a lot of things at home) but when I do go, I like to pamper myself a bit. I bought this beautifully fresh and insanely …
That bumper crop of tomatoes sitting in your freezer can come out when the wood burning stove starts roaring to make this delightful tomato jam. Paired with burrata or on some buttery biscuits, its tangy tomato-y sweetness is wonderful for a laid back brunch charcuterie …
We went over to my husband’s mom’s house for Easter yesterday, and came away with quite a bit of lamb. My husband actually really dislikes lamb and often complains about the gaminess of it. However, he is quite fond of Mongolian and Xi’an stir fries …
“…I was almost there when Nielsen’s head poked out from his cooking cell. ‘You miss your lunch, Mr. Herriot. You have tough time, you look tired, Wait there.’ He held up a hand. ‘I make you something.’ I stood in the doorway as he laid …
The wood stove is nearing the end of the season but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it for a last hurrah. Roasting peppers in it is especially fun and easy, as I can just nestle the peppers into the coals/wood, close the door, and come back about 15 minutes later for perfect fire roasted peppers. The smokiness is unparalleled, but you can do it in the oven if you don’t have access to a wood stove. Serve it with olive oil crackers (an easy recipe here) or a crusty french bread! I love it with a dollop of ricotta cheese, but a nice mozzarella or burrata would make it heavenly too.
Ingredients
1. Roast peppers in wood stove until outside is charred or in the oven at 400 degrees F for 45 – 60 minutes.
2. Run charred peppers under cold water and brush away skin. De-seed and dice.
3. In a pan over medium high heat, sautee garlic and onions until translucent, add peppers, olives, capers, balsamic vinegar, salt, tomato, alcohol, and sugar. Mix well and cook until alcohol has burned off.
4. Place into container and chill. Serve with burrata, ricotta, mozzarella, and toast points.
Once my onion chives are out, I know spring is right around the corner. A wonderful substitute for scallions, onion chives are a staple in my kitchen. They’re often the first to appear after winter, and the last to leave after fall. Allium schoenoprasum, common …