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Greens of the Wilderness Salad
 
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes
Cook Time: 0 Minutes
Ready In: 0 Minutes
Servings: 4
The wilderness is filled with greens, from grassy glade and mossy rock to the leaves upon the trees. But how to celebrate this verdant splendor, when one eats neither grass nor moss, neither leaf-lined branch nor bud? The salad bowl is just the place for a pageant of greenery, as one can fill it with a tender mix of lush edibles scooped from the field. We prefer a wild salad to be austerely dressed; too much accessorizing can distract from its simple beauty. A drizzle of lemon and oil and perhaps a scattering of edible blooms are all that are needed here.
Ingredients:
8 cups mixed wild greens, such as purslane, dandelion (best used sparingly
sprightly lemon vinaigrette
kosher salt, to taste
freshly milled black pepper, to taste
edible flowers, for garnish, optional
Directions:
1. Tear the greens into bite-size pieces and drop them into a large salad bowl. Pour enough dressing over the salad to lightly coat the greens. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Garnish with edible flowers, if one strives for fanciness.
2. Edible Blooms If the notion of eating flowers calls to mind a pasture cow chomping on clover, it is time to revise one's thinking. A colorful blend of delicate blossoms instantly makes a salad of simple mixed greens more elegant, and depending upon the chosen blooms, will add lemony, peppery, tart, or honeyed flavor. Before dashing off to the nearest meadow, take note: not all flowers are edible. Pluck only those one is certain can be safely digested, such as violet, hyssop, borage, calendula, lilac, nasturtium, dandelion, pansy, and marigold. Remove all pistils and stamens before eating and avoid any flowers suspected to have received pesticide treatment.
3. From Campfire Cookery: Adventuresome Recipes and Other Curiosities for the Great Outdoors by Sarah Huck and Jaimee Young. Copyright © 2011 Sarah Huck and Jaimee Young Stewart. Foreword © 2011 Melissa Clark. Photographs © 2011 Tara Donne. Published in 2011 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of ABRAMS.
By RecipeOfHealth.com