Curly dock rollatini | Vegetarian cusine with foraged ingredients

This foraged take on Italian American rollatini comes together much quicker and easier than any eggplant dish could ever dream of. It's quite tasty too! 

Rollatini is an Americanization of the word involtini, which is apparently Italian for "small bundles," an accurate description of the dish. 

Regardless of what you call them, when you swap the eggplant for curly dock you don't have to bread or pre-fry the rolls, cutting calories from breadcrumbs and oil. More important to me, it cuts over 20 minutes (more like 30) off the cook time! 

But this dish comes together FAST. Almost too fast, to be honest, as it can be easy to over-cook the curly dock leaves. They are no less delicious overcooked, but the texture is more pleasing when it's just a little bit toothsome. 

For this reason, the recipe works best if your curly dock leaves are largely the same size, thickness/toughness, and maturity, so they all cook together the same amount. 

Wild garlic

Curly dock rollatini with wild garlic & horseweed

Serves 4 as a main course

8 large, mature, curly dock leaves *

15 oz. ricotta cheese 

1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided

3 cups tomato sauce, homemade or store bought 

~ 10 wild garlic stalks with bulbed heads, minced *

6 - 8 horseweed leaves, minced *

5 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 egg

Salt to taste

Olive oil, optional

1. For around 1 minute, lightly cook the minced garlic in a drizzle olive oil over medium heat, stirring constantly to keep from burning. Use the same pan you will cook the meal in. This step is optional. 
2. In a medium or large bowl, mix the ricotta, half the mozzarella, wild garlic, basil, egg, garlic powder, a pinch of salt, and horseweed.
3. Rinse your curly dock leaves carefully. Don't trim the petioles (leaf stems). Spread the curly dock leaves out and coat thinly (1/4 inch) with the ricotta mixture. 
   
   
   
   
   
4. Starting with the narrow end, roll your leaf up on itself till you have a little bundle. Wrap the petiole loosely around the bundle.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Place your bundles in the pan, petiole side down. Generously pour tomato sauce over and around the bundles. Cover the pan and simmer over medium-low for 10-15 minutes, or until petioles are tender. 
   
   
   
   
   
6. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, uncover and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese. (Though, of course, I forgot to do this.)
7. Remove from heat and serve immediately.  Also makes good leftovers!

You can use skim or part-skim for the ricotta and mozzarella. 

* You can substitute 4 cloves of regular garlic for the wild garlic, and oregano for the tarragon. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for the curly dock. For this recipe, I recommend leaves that are 10-14" long and at least 3" wide at the widest part. 

When it comes to portion size, it's important to remember that these rollatini have a larger cheese to vegetable ratio than traditional eggplant rollatini, as the leaves are thinner. 2 rollatini should be a portion size, and pair nicely with a side salad. 

Pasta fagioli with foraged horseweed, edible wild weedy plant

Pasta fagioli, pronounced pasta fazool by my Italian American in-laws, is a traditional Italian peasant meal whose name means "pasta and beans."

Like most peasant fare, pasta fagioli was derived of simple, affordable ingredients and cooked as a soup or a stew to make those ingredients go farther. It's warm, filling and nutrient-dense, with lots of protein, packing a ton of flavor in every bite. It's one of my all-time favorite soups!

The version I make is vegetarian, though you can add bacon, pancetta or prosciutto if you aren't tied to a vegetarian diet. Honestly though, I've never found that meat adds anything of value. Using chicken stock instead of veggie can be quite nice though. 

You certainly have this plant near
you somewhere

Horseweed is an incredibly common and abundant plant in the aster family. It can be found in all 50 states (introduced into Alaska and Hawaii), every Canadian Provence except Nunavut and the Yukon, throughout Mexico and in most of the non-island nations of Central America. It has been introduced into Eurasia and North Africa.

Horseweed is somewhat related to the herb tarragon, though not especially closely; I only mention it because they have a similar flavor profile, though horseweed tastes more like oregano and less like anise. I also think horseweed is less versatile, though certainly a flavorful, enjoyable herb in its own right. It has a mild version of the famous/infamous "aster" flavor. And it smells amazing. 

Because horseweed reminds me of oregano, I tend to put it in Italian dishes, egg dishes, and soups and stews of all kinds. I've made it in pasta fagioli before, but this is the first time I really feel like I got everything right--the base soup recipe and the horseweed balance--so now I'm sharing it with you. 

A nice patch of horseweed in my yard

Pasta fagioli with foraged horseweed wild plants

Serves 4-5 as a main course

8 oz (1/2 lb) small pasta, like ditalini
12 cups of broth or stock*
Two cans of white beans, cannellini or great northern, drained and rinsed
One can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
One can of diced tomatoes
Two large handfuls of young horseweed leaves, roughly chopped
4 oz parmesan cheese or cheese rind, cubed (omit for vegan)
1 large, sweet yellow onion, diced
1 entire head of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 stick of butter, or equivalent olive oil
Optional (omit for vegan/vegetarian): 2 oz diced pancetta, bacon or prosciutto 

1. Heat butter or oil in a large stockpot, add in onion and sauté until translucent.
2. When onion starts to brown, add in garlic, horseweed, and meat if you are using, continue to sauté until onion is caramelized, garlic is fragrant and horseweed is soft. Remove all from pan. 
3. Add beans, cheese, tomatoes and broth or stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. 
4. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. 
5. Continue to simmer the beans, stirring only occasionally, for around 30-40 minutes, until the beans are super soft, almost mushy. 
6. Using a slotted spoon, strain about 1/2 of the beans from the pot and add to the onion/garlic/herb mix you set aside. Try not to remove any of the tomatoes or the cheese, leave them in with the broth. 
7. Using a hand-mixer or food processor, puree the stock, tomatoes, 1/2 beans and cheese. This will make the soup thick and hearty. 
8. Add the pasta, the onion/herb/garlic mix and the removed beans back to the main pot and heat till warmed through. Season as desired with salt and/or pepper. Serve immediately with crusty bread and/or a salad. 

*I used "Better than Bouillon" Italian Herb base

I really cannot emphasize enough how delicious this soup is. It's my favorite pasta fagioli version of all time!

Garlicy bastard cabbage flower buds and stalks - Italian style

Ok spring in Texas has been quite delayed this year due to reoccurring cold spells throughout the mid-to-late winter. December was comfortably mild, but January and February saw short but deep chills every week or two. As a result, we are about three weeks behind where we usually are in the foraging season. And it's been quite frustrating for me. 

Usually at this time I would have an abundance of pokeweed, wild garlics, cleavers, chickweed, dock, thistles. mustards, and more. Henbit and deadnettle, often found in February, are just now starting to peak.

The perfect stage for harvesting flower stalks and buds,
Make sure to break the stalk at a natural snapping point.

But if there is one good thing about the delayed season, it's that its forcing me to look outside of my comfort zone to find plants to forage. Bastard cabbage, Rapistrum rugosum, is a highly invasive mustard species which is found in abundance in Texas, though often sprayed and therefor not safe for consumption. 

While generally not highly regarded as a food source, I've found it to be utterly delicious when properly prepared. The secret is in the hairs all over the plant, which can be unpleasant in texture, but are softened by blanching. Blanching also brings out a mellow sweetness, and overall R. rugosum is perhaps my favorite wild mustard, with a flavor combining brocollini, sweet corn and asparagus with a very mild mustard spiciness. It's truly delicious. 

Though I've cooked extensively with the mature leaves of the bastard cabbage plant, this week was my first stab at using the tender young flower stalks and flower buds. Foraging author Sam Thayer describes this as his favorite part of the garlic mustard plant (Alliaria petiolata), also in the mustard family. I've tried garlic mustard that way, and was not impressed. But bastard cabbage was another story. 

From my husband, "This is one of the best wild plants we've tried." And I have to agree with him. 

Right now R. rugosum looks pretty much like the picture above, leaves are smallish, and generally the plants aren't flowering, though they have formed buds. You are going for the central and side stalks, with the very smallest leaves attached and the flower buds at the ends. You want to feel down the stalks until you find the area where it breaks off easily. If it doesn't break easily, and only bends, then that stalk is too mature and will be woody. Generally speaking, once most of the buds are in flower, they will be too tough and woody. 

Once the buds have flowered, the stalks are generally
tough and woody

Once picked, the buds and stalks strongly resemble rapini/broccoli rabe or broccolini/baby broccoli. Broccoli rabe is a favorite in Mediterranean and Italian cuisine, and broccolini is most often eaten in Japan and other Eastern countries. Both are usually given simple seasoning and then sautéed or stir-fried briefly, over very high heat. 

I decided to try a classic Italian preparation here, modified with the addition of a quick blanch, and ended up with an excellent, 3-ingredient side dish that took only around 10 minutes to prepare. 

Italian-style garlicy bastard cabbage flower buds and stalks

Serves 2-3 as a side dish

2 cups of bastard cabbage buds and stalks

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

3 tablespoons high-heat olive or avocado oil

Sea salt to taste

1. Bring enough water to cover the bastard cabbage buds to a rolling boil. Add in the bastard cabbage and blanch for around 2 minutes, or until the green color brightens. Drain and rinse with cold water. Shake the greens in the colander, leaving them a little damp.
2. In a large sauté pan or wok (preferred) bring the oil to high heat. Add the bastard cabbage to the pan, and sauté on high, moving the greens and the pan constantly for about 2 minutes, until the color becomes a very vivid green. 
3. Add the garlic to the pan and continue to sauté/stir-fry, moving constantly until the garlic is soft and very fragrant, about 3-4 more minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately. 
4. 
   

This side dish is very diet restriction friendly. It's low in fat, carbohydrates and sugars, gluten-free, Keto diet-approved (mustard greens being very low in net carbs), vegetarian, vegan, and Paleo, depending on the oil you choose. 

For a very Texas meal, serve as a side to steak

Wild mushroom chicken marsala with foraged oyster mushrooms

So much for my plan to post new content every week.

This happens to me every so often, I get overwhelmed with life and have to withdraw from online socialization for a while.

Then to make matters worse, I developed plantar fasciitis, and have been struggling with it for months. Finally, with the help of new sneakers (I've spent a small fortune trying different pairs), and a lot of reflexology, I'm feeling good enough to forage again. However, I can only go on the weekends, as I have to get a foot massage afterwards, to keep things from tensing up again. I've only been feeling this good for a couple of weeks, so hopefully it keeps up.

Of course, the past few weeks have had incredibly unseasonable cold here in the DFW area, so I wouldn't have been out anyway. And a lot of the plants and mushrooms I enjoy in December were killed off by the low temps. Still, this weekend reached the upper 60s, and I was able to get out into the woods, where the mild temps and moisture created an oyster mushroom fungal bloom!

This is my take on your classic chicken marsala recipe. It’s pretty standard except for the use of wild mushrooms (in this case oysters) and the addition of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and aged balsamic.

I’m going to soapbox for a bit about oyster mushrooms, and human/forest interaction. If you just want the recipe, please feel free to skip down to where you see the recipe subhead.

Vegetarian garlicky cleavers walnut pesto. Keto foraging recipe, paleo and vegan optional.

This pesto is not only the best pesto I've ever made, it's the best pesto I've ever tasted, period. If you have cleavers, please try this pesto now. If you trust no other recipe on this site, trust this one. This garlicky cleavers pesto is something you need in your life.

This pesto is fast, simple and can go on absolutely ANYTHING, but of course, I enjoy it best simply tossed with some pasta. This wild herb pesto is a great condiment, it's super healthy because of the nutritious cleavers, and low-carb keto, as well as being vegetarian. If you omit the cheese, it's also Paleo and Vegan!

This recipe has some weird steps, that I came upon entirely by accident, but they worked out so well!

Cleavers are a very common backyard "weed" that's super easy to identify. If it's early to mid-spring, I guarantee that you can find some near you, perhaps in a local park. They have a great herbal flavor, vaguely like oregano, but mostly uniquely their own. Cleavers should be boiled before eating, and I prefer them pureed as well, to avoid textural issues.

Low carb, keto, gluten-free lasagna made from edible curly dock weeds

Before I started formally foraging, I hit a mental wall. I was afraid to pick wild plants, not because I wasn't sure of my identification, my grandmothers had been teaching me since I was able to walk, but because I was afraid they would go to waste. I thought I didn't know how to cook wild greens. I saw some of the pros make amazing, gourmet meals entirely out of foraged ingredients, and I knew I could never do that.

But eventually I realized I didn't have to. Using foraged wild edible plants is easy. It doesn't need require a million crazy ingredients, expert techniques, or a lot of time. All you need to start foraging and eating is to make simple replacements in your day-to-day meals.

Pasta free lasagna is a favorite dish if you are trying to eat keto, low carb or gluten-free. It usually substitutes strips of zucchini or eggplant for the pasta, but on a whim I made an easy foraged substitution: curly dock leaves!

Vegetarian henbit, macadamia, and asiago pesto recipe. Keto, gluten-free, foraging recipe made with edible "weeds" of early spring

Pesto is one of the easiest and most common ways to prepare wild greens. But just because it's been done with some plants, doesn't mean it's the right way to prepare them.

I've seen, and tried, pesto for greens like chickweed, and I've been a bit disappointed. To me, chickweed tastes like a refreshing Boston or bibb lettuce. It's delicious, but would you make a lettuce pesto? Probably not. The taste of chickweed gets totally lost with spices and cheese and nuts.

Henbit, however, is perfect for pesto. It's like it wants to be pesto. It's rich, intense, herbal. . . the strong flavors really hold their own when blended with others. I feel like this pesto really hits the balance right. I opted for macadamia nuts, with their buttery creaminess to balance the punch of the henbit, and a small amount of sweet white onion -- instead of garlic -- to offset the slight bitterness of the greens.

I hope you try it and agree!

Balsamic soy wild mushroom pizza. Vegetarian foraged honey, oyster and velvet shank recipe.

When my husband and I lived in the Northeast, one of our favorite restaurants was The Continental. They have locations in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and the surrounding areas. The food is great, the atmosphere is retro, and they do awesome things with mixing and fusion cuisine.

Winter oyster mushrooms

One seasonal dish they make is a balsamic soy flatbread pizza with wild mushrooms. I've seen a lot of balsamic soy mushroom recipes, but something about theirs always stood out. Maybe it's the wild mushrooms or the quality of the aged balsamic, but the dish was really superior. Since then we have played around with a ton of variations, and they've all been good (my favorite is with hen-of-the-wood mushrooms!). This one uses honey, velvet foot, and wild oyster mushrooms - all foraged. 

I hope you like this recipe, it's one you can make with store-bought mushrooms if you like - try cremini, shiitake, or store-bought oysters or hen-of-the-woods.

The rich flavors of wild mushrooms and aged balsamic mean you don't have to go crazy with the cheese to still have a decadent pizza, keeping it low in fat and as healthy as pizza can be. Which isn't very healthy, but still. . . sometimes you just have to have pizza!

Velvet shank or velvet foot mushrooms, another winter species that makes a great pizza topping

Florentine curly dock & ground beef pinwheels. Gluten free, keto, paleo optional

Curly dock is one of those plants which I historically categorized as being grossly overrated. Foragers go on and on about the succulent texture, the rich, slightly sour flavor, and the versatility. Meanwhile, I would turn my nose up at the bitterness, the stringiness, the coarseness, and the fact that it was a small, dirty plant, which frequented polluted areas. "No thanks!" I'd say, "None for me, I like my forage large, lush, full of flavor, no bitterness, and, above all, CLEAN!"

Well, then I moved to Texas and had to eat crow, because I discovered this:

Foraged Pizza with Chickweed and Caramelized Greenbriar

I was having foraged pizza envy, after seeing a post by @nibblingonnature on Instagram. I realized it had been a long, long time since I last made a foraged pizza. That one had had dryad's saddle on it. It had been amazing and I completely forgot to take pictures or make a post.

Homemade pizza is a Good Friday tradition with my in-laws. As the last Friday in Lent, you can't eat meat. Everyone gets together at my husband's aunt's house, makes a ton of pizzas, with 3-4 toppings, and then stuffs themselves silly. It's a good time, and a great meal. My favorite of those pies is the white pizza with cartelized onions.

They also make another dish which I would share, but it's a family secret. It's called grass pie and it uses a ton of dandelion greens! It's really heavenly.

Of course, having moved away from New Jersey, I didn't get to participate in this year's Good Friday, but I was still craving pizza. A weekend forage netted a bunch of Greenbriar shoots (Latin name: Smilax, also known as catbriar).

The tender new growth of greenbriar is edible

Foraged Spring Stracciatella with Nettles & Field Garlic

Spring foraging should be well underway mid-April, but it's a week or two late this year. So I came up with this dish as a way to make the most of the small edibles one can find just starting to come out here and there.

Field garlic: the tube-like leaves are hollow
and smell strongly of garlic when broken

Traditional stracciatella is made with spinach, and has a very mild flavor, so henbit, deadnettle, or lambsquarters (when they start to come up) would be great, but I wanted something with a bit more of an herbal punch--and these greens, a mix of bitter (dandelion), pungent (field garlic and ramps) and sweet (nettles) satisfied my craving for the flavors of spring. But the recipe isn't exact, feel free to substitute whatever comes your way or strikes your fancy.

The base recipe is vegetarian. I added pasta and Italian sausage to the dish to make it a main course meal. You could leave both out, and make it a starter course or light lunch. Or you could replace with cannelloni beans and make it gluten-free and vegetarian. If you have a little more time on your hands to run to the bakery, serving the soup with some whole-wheat bread and ramp butter would be amazing!

Foraged Milkweed Minestrone Recipe

So, the season for milkweed shoots is passing, and the season for milkweed buds begin. The flowerbuds of milkweed are many people's favorite part of the plant, though I think I personally prefer the shoots. The flavor of the buds is similar to that of the shoots (a mixture of broccoli and green beans), but the texture is very much like that of over-sized broccoli florets. The buds do best with a quicker cooking than the shoots, but they should still be blanched to remove the chalky taste of the sap.

Remember, don't take all of the flower buds. I usually take one per plant. Taking more than that will rob you of the opportunity to harvest both the edible flowers and the edible seed pods later in the season. It will also prevent the milkweed from any chance of reproducing this year.

Taking the flower buds doesn't hurt or kill the individual plant, (like taking the shoot does), and thus you can harvest the buds--in moderation--from smaller patches of milkweed.

When harvesting milkweed buds, it is essential that you check for small monarch caterpillars. The milkweed family is the only food which young monarchs can eat, and they are frequently found crawling around the buds. Simply relocate them to a new home on another part of the plant. . 

Ribollita with Foraged Garlic Mustard

Ribollita is a rich, hearty Tuscan stew made from a variety of vegetables, beans, tomatoes, and decadently served day-old bread, which becomes saturated, breaks down, and adds a thickening agent to the broth. Top all that with a generous helping of grated parmesan, and mmmmmm! Like much Tuscan cuisine, ribollita has its origins in peasant fare, though the exact history is lost.

Warm and filling, this stew lends itself to wintry days, though I found it quite satisfying over the rainy spring afternoons we had last week. There is no set recipe, and I have borrowed from numerous sources, as well as adding my own touches. Classically, ribollita uses kale, specifically dark, purply Tuscan kale; but in this dish, the role of leafy, slightly bitter greens will be played by garlic mustard leaves. Garlic mustard efficiently does double duty here, filling the flavor profile for garlic as well.