Understood - but why didn't other prolific
green things (I'm thinking of lamb's quarters
in particular, an invasive weed whose leaves
contain an exceptionally high concentration of
vitamins) achieve that kind of popularity?

I think they probably did in the past.

Hard to tell with a culture with no
surviving written language, or oral
for that matter.

Danelions come up very early. Lamb's quarters, a Chenopodium,
related to quinoa and the equally delicious pigweed, an Amaranth,
come up later on by the time gardens are already producing domestic vegertables, Purslane, another tasty but overlooked wild green, is
later still when it's hot and dry out.

I thought that Chenopods, Amaranths, pigweeds, and
lamb's quarters were pretty indistinguishable.

Title: Appalachian Wild Greens
1 lg Paper bag full polk salad,
Washed and parboiled twice
(only tender leaves and tops
are used)
1 lg paper bag full lamb's
quarters, washed good
4 to 5 stalks pepper weed,
washed good

That's poke salad, of course. Later: I see
you already fixed that in your comment.

From: Kevin Jcjd Symons

Interesting sort of Appalachian.

Pepperweed is Lepidium genus, perfoliatum or virginicum var
pubescens in the Brassicaceae (Mustard) family - JW

We have various Brassicaceae in the yard, the
normal wild mustard as well as at least one
Lepidium.

Pokeweed contains several toxins. The berries and roots are VERY
toxic. Only early spring young leaves and tips are ever eaten,
never mature plants, and even then a minimum of two parboilings
and thorough draining are required before cooking a third time.

My father once fed me pokeberries; they were
bittersweet with a pucker and an acrid aftertaste.
He later claimed that he was under the impression
that they were CHokeCHerries. English and good
sense were never among his best skills.

Vegan Greek salad with thistles
Categories: side
Serves: 2 or 3 as a side dish

6 ripe roma/plum tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1 English/hothouse cucumber, diced
2 c thistle stalks and/or mid-ribs, finely diced
1 lg red or sweet white onion, finely diced
1/2 c your favorite olives, pitted, quartered
1/4 c red vinegar
balsamic vinegar
1 ts aged balsamic
kosher or sea salt
dried parsley
dried basil
dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper

Mix all your diced veggies (tomatoes, onion,
cucumber, olives and thistle) together and
sprinkle lightly with salt. Toss/stir and
re-salt. Toss/stir again, and re-salt a final
time. Set aside for at least 5 min.

Once the veggies have released some liquid,
sprinkle lightly with the dried herbs, and
coat liberally with the freshly ground black
pepper, drizzle the aged balsamic in as well.
Give everything a good mix.

Just before serving, add in the red vinegar and a
generous glug of balsamic vinegar, and mix one
final time. Enjoy immediately, it doesn't keep
well in the fridge.

The thistles really work well here, the slight
bitterness adding complexity to the salad, and
a ton of great crunch! Store-bought bitter greens,
like endive, radicchio, escarole and rocket, are
some of our most expensive, because of the unique
profile they bring to a salad.

foragedfoodie.blogspot.com
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