Foraging recipe: Oyster and honeycomb mushroom Sisig

Don't want to hear me go on and on about foraging? Click here to jump to the recipe. 

I find myself foraging the same foods (my favorites) year after year, rather than focusing on trying new things for variety. So this year I set out with clear goals in mind:

1.  I was going to try and find honeycomb fungus (Favolus brasiliensis), an early-season polypore superfood that can only be found in this part of Texas in unusually rainy springs. 
2. I was going to pick lots of early-season giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida, and experiment with it in the kitchen. 

Ultimately, I was successful in the first, but unsuccessful in the second. 

The flooding blocked off many familiar trails, and made others too dangerous to attempt

Here's what happened. I arrived at the park where I know lots of giant ragweed grows only to find that it was closed for safety considerations due to flooding. Several bridges were out, including the one I would have needed to use to get to the giant ragweed field. So that was a no-go. 

Instead, I decided to check out the nature preserve that butts up against the park in question. This preserve is on the other side of a large creek/small river from the park, but shares a lot of ecological features. Unfortunately, both entrances to the preserve were flooded out as well. 

Something compelled me to keep walking past the main entrances, uphill, to see if there was another way into the preserve. Eventually, I found a small desire path/trail, perhaps made by mountain bikers, that seemed to be clear, and I made my way inside.   

Even though I had been in this preserve many times before, I found myself in a part of it that was completely unfamiliar. Fortunately, more flooding and downed trees blocked most of the meandering and crossing trails, offering me only one way forward. Occasionally it would appear that there were alternate trails that were clear, but always I would find them blocked at some point, leading to a lot of climbing over downed trees, going off-trail to bypass bogs and a ton of backtracking. 

Eventually I did find one branch of the desire path I was on that connected to the main trails of the preserve, but ultimately those trails ended up completely impassable, leading me back to the desire paths made by mountain bikers and fishermen. 

After an hour and a half of that, I decided to give up on trying to find a field of giant ragweed and simply harvest the abundance that was all around me. Within 30 minutes my bags were bulging with favorites like curly dock, greenbrier, wood ear mushrooms and wild garlic scapes. And then I finally found some of the honeycomb fungus I've been looking for years! 

It took me another hour to get out of the preserve. I was absolutely drenched, covered in mud, and feeling amazing!

Once home, I had my first usable batch of honeycomb fungus, or Favolus brasiliensis, or possibly the related Favolus teniculus. Both are edible, grow in my area, and look very similar as far as I can tell. 

My history with this mushroom goes back 10 years now, to when I first moved to Texas and found the honeycomb fungus in a nature preserve during the early fall. 

I was disappointed at the time, since from a distance I had thought they might be oyster mushrooms, and I shared my disappointment on my Instagram. In all of my mushroom hunting books Favolus brasiliensis is listed as non-poisonous but also non-edible. To my surprise, one of my fellow foragers--a much better mycologist than myself--told me that the honeycomb fungus is not only edible, it's considered a superfood that's cultivated in Brazil, where it's known as the chicken breast mushroom. 

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Mind blown. 

I immediately began to research and found so much information on this mushroom, it's both amazing and sad that it remains so unknown in the US. 

Having finally found a nice amount to experiment with, I didn't want to waste them by preparing them incorrectly, so I decided to do some research on how other people prepared them. Unfortunately, as they are pretty much unknown outside of the Brazilian Rainforest, there wasn't a whole lot of information about how to properly prepare them. I only found 2 posts, one from the Central Texas Mycological Society and one from a blog called Retratos da Serra, which chronicles one couple's adventures in nature, living in the area. It's a fascinating blog, tbh. 

Anyway, in both posts the mushrooms were fried into a chip, which sounds interesting, but I didn't want to do that again, since it had been done. Forage.atx with the Central TX Myco society said that, once boiled, the mushroom has a texture similar to chicharrones or pig's ears. I like both of those things, pig's ears more so, and so I decided to try a classic Filipino dish that is traditionally made with them: Sisig. 

So, Sisig is a dish I've never made before and a cursory inspection of recipes online ranged from very simple to exceedingly complex, with some involving Asian mayonnaise and/or coconut milk. The simple preparations seemed to serve as the "core" of the more elaborate dishes, as well as standing as a dish on their own. 

Despite finding a fair number of mushrooms,
this is what was left after cleaning

You know me, so simple is what I was going for, especially since I had a relatively small haul. So, I focused on what all the recipes had in common, starting with what defined a "Sisig" in the first place. 

The term apparently means "to make sour," and while the original includes pigs' ears and/or cheeks and/or liver, the real key ingredient seems to be calamansi fruit or juice to make the sour. The calamansi, also known as Filipino lemon, Filipino lime, or calamondin, is a hybrid citrus fruit made by crossing a kumquat with an orange. I don't have access to the calamansi here, and I couldn't easily get my hands on any of the juice that wasn't in a "juice mix," since I am boycotting the country's largest internet retailer. So, I just used limes instead.

A fair number of Sisig recipes I've found omit the calamansi and replace with limes or even vinegar, so I'm not sure how much my version is a compromise. 

The dish officially calls for Thai birds' eye chillis. I used the first few ripening chilis from my Thai pepper plants, though I don't know exactly what they are. I exchanged some foraged mushrooms with a Thai neighbor for the seedling plants and she just told me they were Thai peppers. 

Recipe: Honeycomb fungus and oyster mushroom "Sisig"

• 
  2-3 cups dried oyster mushrooms
• 2-3 cups frozen honeycomb fungus
• 1 large jalapeño pepper, cut into matchsticks or coins
• 3-4 Thai hot peppers, minced (or to taste)
• 2 limes, juiced and zested
• 1 large shallot or half a red onion, sliced thinly
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2" of ginger, 1" grated & 1" sliced
• 1 bunch of scallions/green onions
• 3/4 cup light/regular soy sauce, divided into 1 portion of 1/4 cup and 1 portion of 1/2 cup
• 2 tbs dark soy sauce
• 2 star anise
• 2 tsps Asian 5-spice powder
• 2 tps lemongrass powder (optional)
• Salt
• 2 pats of butter (optional, omit for vegan)
• Avocado oil 
• Rice or rice vermicelli to serve

1. 
   To 5 cups of water, add in a spice bag that contains the sliced ginger, the soft, dark green tops of the green onions, the skin of the shallot or red onion, 2 star anise and 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Bring to a boil. 
2. Add in the frozen honeycomb fungus and dried oyster mushrooms. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until oyster mushrooms are fully reconstituted. I used this time to slice all of my vegetables. 
3. Drain your mushrooms, reserving liquid (optional). Dispose of spice bag. 
4. Squeeze as much moisture as you can from the mushrooms.
5. Reconstitute your rice or rice vermicelli in the reserved, seasoned liquid.  
6. Mix together the 1/2 cup of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, lemongrass powder (optional), 5 spice powder and the juice and zest of 2 limes. Divide in half and set aside.
7. 
   In a large sauté pan, (I used a 5 qt.), melt 1 pat of butter (optional) and heat a glug of avocado oil over medium heat. 
   
8. Sauté your mushrooms in the pan. You don't need to add more oil or butter. Let them get mostly dry, then sprinkle with salt to help bring out more moisture. Reduce temperature to medium and continue to sauté for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms develop a nice, tawny caramelization. 
9. Add the shallot or onion, grated ginger, scallions, peppers, and garlic to the pan. Sauté, stirring constantly. Add in the other pat of butter, if using, and another glug of avocado oil. Sauté until onion starts to become translucent. 
10. Pour in half the soy sauce mixture and stir through. Continue to cook until onions and peppers are fully cooked and the liquid is absorbed. 
11. Reduce heat to low. Mix in your rice or rice vermicelli and the rest of the soy sauce mix. Toss everything to combine, coat everything and heat through. 

The honeycomb fungus absorbs flavors more than any other mushroom I've found, but it still remains rather unpleasantly chewy, even after freezing and lots of cooking. 

Mushroom candy made with foraged wood ear mushrooms

A little while ago a stumbled across multiple huge flushes of some of the most perfectly formed, perfectly fresh, perfectly "ripe" wood ear mushrooms, Auricularia angiospermarum; also called jelly ear and tree ear mushrooms. If you want to learn how to identify these mushrooms, click here. 

They were so perfect that I was immediately inspired to try something I've wanted to do for some time: Wood ear mushroom candy.

Is this not the single most perfect wood ear mushroom you've ever seen?

I've been really interested in the idea of mushroom candy since I purchased my first (and still one of my favorite) edible mushroom identification book, Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America by David W. Fischer and Alan E. Bessette. In that book the authors introduce the jellytooth (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum) and apricot jelly (Phlogiotis helvelloides) mushrooms and mentions that while they lack a lot of flavor on their own, but act as a culinary novelty that can be turned into some truly unique foods, including desserts. Alan Bessette also includes a recipe for "glazed jellytooth." This dish is clearly a dessert with sugar, fruit-flavored liqueur, berries and apples. 

Both of those mushrooms fall into the large category of "jelly fungus." These two mushrooms are fairly uncommon and, when you do find them, rarely found in any abundance. But the wood ear mushroom is quite common throughout much of the continental U.S. and is often found quite abundantly. Interestingly, despite being abundant, easy to identify and having a long history as food in multiple cultures, the wood ear mushroom isn't mentioned in the book. 

I've also seen wood ear mushrooms used in desserts from foragers on blogs and on Instagram and the Central Texas Mycological Society posted one as well. So I really wanted to try my hand at my own. 

A note on orange liquor

This recipe, as is, does include alcohol. If you want to share with children or if you don't drink alcohol you can substitute with an orange syrup, orange extract or orange juice concentrate. You can also use the orange liquor but bring it and the orange juice to a boil and simmer for a few minutes to cook off the alcohol. 

These mushrooms have only a very small amount of alcohol in them though, they don't absorb much when they reconstitute.

Another note on dried mushrooms

Before you begin the recipe, you must first boil the mushrooms for at least 2 minutes. This is because you shouldn't eat wood ear mushrooms uncooked AND boiling wild mushrooms can help with any potential parasites.

The mushrooms must already be dehydrated for this recipe. This is because wood ear mushrooms pick up the flavor of whatever they are reconstituted in, and we want to infuse the mushrooms with flavor.

If you don't have a dehydrator you can dry in the oven. For oven drying, spread out on a baking sheet and bake on the lowest temperature your oven can produce, 140-170 degrees are ideal. If your oven can't go below 200 degrees, you should keep it cracked open. Check often, flip every hour, and remove mushrooms as they become dry--usually after 4-6 hours. 

After the mushrooms are truly dry you can wait as long as you like to begin. 

The dark area inside is the mushroom

Chocolate and orange wood ear mushrooms

Please note, this recipe does require a dehydrator or dehydrating mushrooms in the oven.

• 
  
  Around 3 cups of fresh wood ear mushrooms
• 7 oz of your preferred chocolate, I like a ~70% cacao dark chocolate
• 1 pint orange juice
• 1/4 cup orange or peach liquor, or whichever flavor you prefer
• Confectioners' sugar (optional)

1. For this recipe, you need to work with mushrooms that have been first boiled and then dehydrated. See above. 
2. Mix the orange juice and liquor in a large bowl. If you don't want these to have any alcohol at all, bring the mix to a boil for at least a minute and then let cool. 
3. Add the mushrooms in and set aside in the fridge for at least 2 hours to reconstitute. 
4. Spread parchment on a cooled baking sheet. Space the pieces of reconstituted mushroom out on the sheet. 
5. Melt the chocolate in either a double boiler or a microwave.
6. Drizzle with the orange juice/liquor and then the chocolate. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar if you wish.
7. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Then flip each piece and repeat the process. 
8. Enjoy, but they should be kept in the refrigerator and should either be consumed or frozen within 4-5 days or the mycelium will begin to re-consume the mushrooms, which isn't bad for you but does impact the texture. 

Purslane cucumber avocado yogurt gazpacho

As mentioned in my last post, my husband and I have a semi-wild, semi-cultivated space in our front yard that is covered in edible plants, both planted and wild. 

One of these plants that basically edges the entire length of the space is a favorite of mine--purslane! 

Purslane is one of the most nutritious wild plants that one can forage. It's a succulent native to North Africa and the Mediterranean, but has become either naturalized or invasive (depending on whom you talk to) in the southern United States. 

Purslane forms dense mats, becoming a succulent groundcover

Purslane has one of the highest concentrations of magnesium you can find in a plant, higher than spinach. It also has high levels of various anti-oxidants, calcium, sodium and Omega 3 fatty acids. It's actually one of the only terrestrial plants that has Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) fatty acid, most commonly found from animal sources. Generally vegan supplements use algae to provide this nutrient. However, purslane doesn't have enough of it to support your body's need all alone. It's just a fun fact!

Purslane also has high concentrations of oxalic acid, and so it shouldn't be eaten by those with liver or kidney disorders. 

I have a post all about purslane, including how to identify it, click here.

Personal story time

One of our many thriving basil plants 

Last Friday I had to undergo a total thyroidectomy. I am in recovery and doing extremely well. For example, I was given 7 days of double-dose  painkillers (omg!) but only ever took one pill at a time, and then only for 2 days. 

I've had to sponge bath since Friday though, and I am desperately looking forward to my first shower since the surgery. By the time this posts I expect I will finally have had one, I can shower again on Wednesday. My hair is a greasy mess, I can't seem to get it clean with a sponge bath. 

Anyway, I was told that I would need at least a week of cold, soft foods only, so the weekend before last I took some time to prepared a bunch of cold soups I could put in the freezer, and this gazpacho was one of them. Because I was freezing it, I didn't actually add the yogurt when I made it originally. Instead I mixed it in after defrosting. For this reason, my yogurt measurements might be a bit off. 

While mixing the soup, I was originally going to add cilantro, but tasting it as I was making it, I knew that was the wrong choice. I wondered out to the herb garden and decided that the freshness and subtle sweetness of Italian basil was required. 

Fortunately, the basil has been growing like mad this year. We have 6 very large, very full plants, despite making pesto every other weekend. 

Purslane, cucumber, yogurt & avocado gazpacho recipe

Serves 6-7 as a side or starter. Recipe can be halved

• 4-5 cups of roughly chopped purslane, about 1 large colander full
• 3 English cucumbers or 8 Persian cucumbers, roughly chopped
• 4 large avocados, just ripe or slightly underripe, skinned, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 1 medium lemon
• 8 medium fresh basil leaves
• 2 cups of water or unseasoned vegetable stock
• 1 clove of garlic, sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 5 cups of yogurt

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

Chickweed frittata with prosciutto, potatoes and shallots. High protein, gluten-free foraging recipe.

Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope you've had a fantastic holiday season: safe, healthy, fun and full of family and friends. 

For us, Texas has been magnificently warm, with temperatures in the 60s and even into the 70s throughout the month of December. 

As a result, the plants have been seriously confused as to season, with many spring plants sprouting and even flowering. The strangest I've yet seen are violets in flower!

Foraging has been superb, when I can get to it. A major project at work has kept me working late, and sometimes even weekend overtime. 

One of my favorite, generally spring-only ephemeral plants -- chickweed -- has been coming up in large patches or dense matts everywhere. 

Chickweed is delicious, one of the few wild greens that I will eat both fresh or cooked. It has a flavor like spring peas, with a hint of sweet corn and Boston lettuce. When you cook it it becomes slightly herbal, like spring onions. A very versatile plant, no one I know who has tried it has disliked it, making it great for new foragers. 

A quick recipe for today: a decedent frittata. This time I've made it properly, starting everything over the stove and only finishing in the oven. Previously, I've often made frittatas in the oven-only, which saves time and cleanup, but at the cost of flavor. 

This recipe is delicious, easy to do (though somewhat time-consuming), gluten-free, high in protein and great as a main course for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. 

Chickweed frittata with prosciutto, potatoes and shallots. 

Prep time: 10 minutes, cook time: 45 minutes. Serves 4-8 as a main course. 

6 eggs

4 cups of roughly chopped fresh chickweed

3/4 lb of prosciutto, diced

1/2 lb fingerling potatoes, chopped bite size

3/4 cup of sliced shallots

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup heavy cream

5 oz. grated hard cheese (asiago, parmesan, etc.)

1+ sticks of butter

Salt, pepper, ground celery seed

1. Lightly salt 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add your chopped potatoes and reduce heat to a slow boil. Continue until potatoes are soft, then drain.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and heavy cream. Set aside. 
3. In an oven-safe 11" sauté or cast iron pan, melt 1-2 pats of butter over medium-high heat. Add in your sliced shallots. Sprinkle with salt and celery seed and cook, stirring often, until shallots are translucent and beginning to brown. 
4. Add in your garlic, and more butter if needed. Continue to sauté until shallots are fully caramelized. 
5. Add the prosciutto and sauté about 5-7 minutes until the meat has softened. Add in the cooked potatoes, season with ground black pepper and celery seed, and stir. 
6. Working in batches, stir in chickweed. When each batch wilts you can add in more. 
7. The chickweed will release a lot of liquid. Make sure you cook, stirring frequently, until all the liquid has dried. You can increase heat to do so. 
8. Reduce heat to low. Stir for about 10 minutes to allow the temperature to reduce.
9. Add in 4 oz. of your grated cheese, stir to mix until melted. 
10. Slowly pour in your egg and cream mixture. Gently stir the pan, once or twice to allow the eggs to fill in around all the ingredients. 
11. Continue to cook over medium-low heat, without stirring, until the eggs are fully cooked. You can occasionally turn or shimmy the pan over the heat. 
12. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Top the cooked egg mixture with the remaining grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, until cheese melts. Remove from oven. 
    
    
    
13. Raise oven temperature to a broil. Return frittata to the oven, and broil for 3-5 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly. 

Enjoy! My pictures really don't do this dish justice!

Medicinal golden ginkgo leaf tea. Vegan, paleo, gluten-free natural medicine

November is autumn in Texas and the leaves are finally starting to turn -- some of them anyway. Many varieties of Southern trees will just go directly from green to brown and fall without ever hitting any of the vibrant shades of yellow, gold, orange, red and crimson that one will see in the North. 

But the ginkgo puts on a stunning display every year, regardless of climate. The fall leaves range from cheery lemon yellow to luscious gold, and stand out in vibrant contrast to the intense blue of the November sky. 

Now is the perfect time of year to harvest the leaves for medicinal herbal teas. Though ginkgo is most often harvested green (because you get a greater yield if you do so), it is generally considered that the medicinal qualities are concentrated and enhanced once the leaves turn. 

Furthermore, when the leaves go golden, they have lost most of their chlorophyl, and are no longer benefiting the tree by making sugars to store in the roots for winter. 

So by waiting to harvest till fall, you get a more concentrated herb, and the tree maximizes its survival and growth. A win-win for everyone!

Oh and by the way, if you would like to learn more about ginkgo, including it's history, how to identify it, and how to use the "nuts" please check out my post here!

Always pluck leaves from the tree, don't harvest from the ground. 

How to harvest ginkgo leaves -- DON'T pick them off the ground 

You do want to take the golden leaves from the tree, not fallen from the ground. Once they fall, there is a greater chance of them becoming contaminated with potentially dangerous terrestrial molds that shouldn't be ingested. Cooking/boiling doesn't always remove the dangers these molds can pose. 

It's perfectly safe to use the leaves on the ground for soaps, salves and crafts.  

Regardless of how you plan to use the leaves, make sure to inspect them for signs of fungal infection and insect larva or eggs.

Always inspect your leaves for signs of insect or fungal contamination

As a natural medicine

Ginkgo leaves are even more important to natural medicines than the ginkgo nut. Ginkgo extracts are actually made from the leaves, not the nuts, particularly the golden leaves in autumn.

Historically a very important herb in Eastern medicine, gingko biloba has been shown in Western clinical trials increase blood flow, which may be the key reason it is reported to help with memory and brain health. In addition, it may help prevent blog clots and stroke.

(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15549661)

Unfortunately, clinical trails to see if ginkgo helps with memory, dementia, and/or Alzheimer's have been mixed or conflicted in results. 

In addition to memory and brain health, Eastern medicine has used the extract of ginkgo for centuries. There, it's advocated for a wide range of ailments, including:

• Anxiety and depression, including seasonal affective disorder. 
• Vision health, including diabetes-related vision problems
• PMS symtoms
• Libido problems and sexual disfunction, at least in men. Use of ginkgo as a treatment for sexual issues in women remains controversial. 
• Respiratory ailments, including asthma
• Immune health and recovery of chemotherapy patients
• Circulatory health - which also may help with leg an extremity pain and/or tingling
• Brain health and memory function
• Reducing the symptoms of Schizophrenia
• Free-radical fighting antioxident
• Energy enhancement and stimulant (without caffeine)

A note of caution:

Because ginkgo can increase blood flow, it's advised that you avoid ginkgo if you have a bleeding disorder, are pregnant or looking to become pregnant, or are on blood thinning medicines.

There are other medicines that may interact, if you are on any medication or have health issues, check with your doctor before you try ginkgo.

Avoid taking ginkgo when you are breastfeeding, as it may pass into your milk and trigger an allergic reaction for the baby.

The first time you try ginkgo tea, have only a little bit to make sure you're not allergic. 

How I use ginkgo tea

I have personally found ginkgo tea to be effective against headaches, especially tension headaches, "vision-based headaches (like looking at a screen too long), and ophthalmic migraines (but sadly not full migraines).

I also find it to be a very mild stimulant, like a weaker version of ginseng. 

And honestly, it does wonders against mensural cramps, equal in it's effectiveness at reducing pain to a couple of extra-strength ibuprofen. However, I don't find the effects to last as long as over the counter medicines. In my experience, the tea's effectiveness starts to wear off after about 40-60 minutes after I drink it. 

Since ginkgo tea isn't something you should be drinking constantly, I don't find it to be something I can 

The gorgeous yellow color of the dried tea is almost too vibrant to be believed

How to make golden ginkgo leaf tea 

The most common way to benefit from the natural health benefits of gingko biloba is to use the golden autumnal leaves as a tea. This is best done with dried leaves. Depending on the size of the holes in your infuser, you might want to remove the stems before you dry the ginkgo. If the holes are large enough in size, the stems can come out into the tea. They are easier to remove when the leave is fresh. 

You definitely want to increase the surface area, so the water absorbs all of the benefit of the leaves. For dried leaves, this is best done by breaking up the leaf, either by hand, or with a mortar and pestle. If you're feeling really ambitious, dried leaves can be ground in a coffee or spice grinder, this will maximize your yield. 

I generally use about a teaspoon in my infuser and let it steep in very hot water, just under boiling, for about a minute to a minute and a half. 

Steeped on it's own, gingko leaf tea is a pale yellow color with green undertones.  The flavor is mellow, mild and faintly floral.  I would best describe it as tasting like marshmallows (the candy, not the plant) without any sugar. That's a hard thing to picture, I know, because sweet is the overwhelming flavor we associate with marshmallows. But if you try this tea you'll see what I mean. 

You can also mix it in with green tea, or with herbal tea blends. Some that I recommend giving a try: hibiscus, rose hip, any mint tea, ginger. Most any flavor will work, but the flavor of the ginkgo tends to get masked. If you really like the ginkgo flavor, just drink it on it's own.

Ukrainian green borscht with backyard curly dock weeds

So, as you can see, I'm not terribly good about updating my blog. 

That said, I have been out foraging, just not feeling like posting, trying new things, or communicating with the outside world. That happens with me.

So I did try something new this weekend: Ukrainian green borscht. Properly known as Shchavel borscht, it gets its name from Shchavel, the Ukrainian word for sorrel. 

Garden sorrel, Latin name: Rumex acetosa, is a garden vegetable grown mostly in Europe and the Mediterranean area--though it was popular in one time in America. Sorrel is a broad-leaf green rich with potassium, vitamin A and oxalic acid*. The latter gives it a sharp, sour flavor. 

Sorrel is popular, in part, because it's very easy to grow. The entire genus Rumex are known to grow in poor soil, both dry and we conditions, alkaline and acidic areas, and sun or shade. They are hardy plants that don't require much care. They are so hardy that one member, Rumex crispus--aka curly dock--has managed to naturalize itself throughout most of North America, having become a common weed. You almost certainly have some growing near you.

Curly dock in January in Texas is still very young and tender. These leaves are about 8 inches long,
at full growth they will be nearly double that. 

Generally a spring and summer plant, the mild climate of Texas means that curly dock can be found in the Dallas area from late fall through early spring, with December through March being peak.

Curly dock has many of the health benefits of garden sorrel, as well as being rich in iron. It's easy to identify in the wild, and was probably brought here originally as a food crop--but fell out of favor. 

I usually used curly dock as a substitute for spinach, but it actually makes a lot more sense to substitute it for sorrel, since they are very closely related, in the same genus. Spinach recipes are a lot easier to come by, but I was very excited to find a true sorrel recipe I could sub curly dock for. 

When very young, curly dock can lack the crinkled edges that make ID easy. If you are new to foraging you might want to remember the old saying: "When in doubt, throw it out!"

Sautéed mushrooms with black trumpets. Keto, gluten-free, low carb, vegetaritan

A few weeks back, my husband made me some truly decadent sautéed mushrooms, using our FAVORITE wild mushroom: the black trumpet.

Black trumpets don't get the fame of chanterelles, porcini, morels or truffles, but there is nothing else on earth quite like their flavor. Black trumpets taste like the essence of the forrest, woodsy, earthy, and super rich. Even their smell is like putting your face down to the earth, and taking a deep inhale: you get a heady aroma of moss, dead leaves, black soil. . .
and just a hint of funk. Kind of like truffles, black trumpet aroma is weird-good, and promises amazing things to come.

The thing about black trumpets is that they are rather small and fragile, very thin-fleshed, so they don't make a very good meal on their own. The good news is their flavor is so intense that you can use these mushrooms almost as a spice, where just a little goes a long way. The secret is to dry them first.

Backyard weed Green Goddess dressing with Greek yogurt. Gluten free, keto, made with cleavers and henbit.

A healthier take on green goddess dressing. This swaps greek yogurt for mayonnaise, and add in some of the earliest, freshest, wild green herbs of spring. 

I don't know why it never occurred to me before, to make a dressing using edible weeds. It seems like such a simple, obvious idea; but then sometimes its harder to think of the simple stuff, right?

A green goddess dressing seemed like the perfect homage to spring. In name, anyway.

The original "green goddess" dressing dates from the early 1920s, and was named for a famous play, not because of it's use of natural, fresh spring ingredients. In fact, the original green goddess dressing is none too healthy, being mostly mayonnaise thinned out with a little vinegar, and given the barest green tint with a few herbs.

This version remedies that by removing the mayo, adding in greek yogurt, and kicking up the herbs to be the major ingredient, rather than just a flavoring. Plus, I used wild foraged herbs, ones that you can most likely find in your own backyard.

Henbit can easily take over an entire field, turning it to soft purple. I love it for it's abundant growth (great for sustainability) and for it's strong, herbal flavor. 

I chose to use cleavers, (Galium aparine) and henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) because they both have such strong, herbal flavors. There's also a TON of garlic in this dressing, so it packs a ton of flavor.  If you don't love garlic as much as I do, cut my amount by half.

Any strongly flavored wild herb would probably do well in this dressing, like creeping charlie, wood sorrel, lemon balm, bergamot/bee balm, speedwell or goldenrod (later in the year). Or if you like milder flavors you could try nettles or docks.

 Veggie burgers: it's what for din. . .I mean lunch. 

Both cleavers and henbit are invasive species from Eurasia, though they have become more or less naturalized here in North America; their status as invasive species makes them excellent for sustainablity.

I've been enjoying this dressing on EVERYTHING this week: salads, meat, and it's versatile enough to double as a dip (really good for cucumber slices and crudités).

I made it in tandem with these chickpea and curly dock burgers that I posted the other day and they've been a great, quick lunch to heat up as needed. 

Cleavers are one of the most robustly-flavored wild herbs you can gather. 

Green goddess dressing made with greek yogurt and backyard weeds

Makes about 3 cups, can be halved. Total time: >10 minutes.

3 cups of packed cleavers
2 cups of packed henbit
10.5 oz. plain, unsweetened, fat-free greek yogurt (2 individual-size servings)
4-5 bulbs of wild garlic, or 4-5 cloves of cultivated garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
juice of half a lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper.

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add in your cleavers and boil for about 2 minutes, stirring regularly.  Add in your henbit and blanch for another minute. Drain.
2. Working in batches if needed, add your cooked greens and all other ingredients to a food processor. 
3. Dressing will keep in the fridge for 5 days. Remember to store in glass, not plastic or metal. 

Foraging recipe: veggie burgers with chickpeas and edible weeds, vegetarian and gluten-free

All week long I've been eating these veggie burgers/patties, just dripping with the foraged green goddess dressing.
I'll share the dressing recipe soon!

I love me a good veggie burger. (I love a good meat burger too!)

But I've never met a pre-formed frozen patty that I could actually call a good veggie burger. Not even the expensive, organic ones from places I rarely shop in. Part of the problem, I think, is that too many veggie burgers try to be meat substitutes. They try to emulate the texture, and in some cases, the flavor of ground beef.

I guess that makes sense for vegetarians and vegans, who might be craving something they can't have. But, since I am not a vegetarian, I eat plenty of actual beef. So when I want a veggie burger, it's because I am deliberately seeking out the unique flavors, textures and even colors that you can't get with meat.

Of course, some frozen veggie burgers DON'T go the meat substitute route, but they are still a product specifically designed to be mass-produced and shipped and stored in a frozen state for an indeterminate length of time, and reheated through whatever technique the user desires. They are formed first for connivence, and only second for flavor.

This time I used wild curly dock. These burgers are also good with nettles or sow thistle.
Not a forager? Try spinach or kale instead.

My version of a good veggie burger uses a lot of leafy greens. This time I opted for curly dock, because it was abundant and looking super tasty. Sometimes I use nettles, sow thistle, wild mustard greens, pokeweed or lambsquarters, or a mix of any of the above.

I use beans. Depending on the flavor profile I'm aiming for, I usually use black beans (with Mexican seasonings), chickpeas (with Indian or Middle Eastern flavors), or white beans (cannelloni) with Italian seasonings.

This time I mixed it up. I was craving an Italian twist, but I had chickpeas on-hand. As Bob Ross would have said, "It's your world. There are no mistakes, just happy accidents."

If you're thinking that these veggie burgers sound a lot like the pokeweed veggie patties I shared last year, you're right. And I'll probably share something similar next year, I simply love having a lot of these patty/burgers, made from different ingredients, on hand.

Creamed wild greens with Greek yogurt: vegetarian, high-protein, low carb, low fat, gluten-free optional

Non-foragers, don't run away, although I made this dish with wild, foraged greens, you could easily make it with spinach or kale--and it would still be a healthier take on the creamed side dish.

Spring is officially ON in north Texas, and a lot of our freshest, tenderest wild greens are peeking out above the duff. But it can still be chilly, this year more than most, with temperatures in late February dipping into the 30s. And cold weather craves comfort food.

This dish makes great use of 3 invasive species: bastard cabbage (Rapistrum rugosum) a member of the mustard/cabbage family, curly dock (Rumex crispus), and this field garlic, I'm not sure which one it is, but if you get that garlic smell, it's an edible garlic.

If you don't have either of these wild greens, feel free to sub any mustard greens, lambsquarters, dandelion greens, sow thistle, spinach, kale, etc.

Bastard cabbage, Rapistrum rugosum.
All members of the cabbage/mustard family are edible,
if you can identify them properly.

Curly dock, Rumex crispus. An abundant, invasive wild edible,
available throughout North America.
I have a post on how to ID this plant, see below for more.

As yet unidentified wild garlic. It appears to be a hybrid with
invasive crow garlic, Allium vineale

One of the best things about this meal is that it can be on the table in under 20 minutes, and only uses one pot!!! So easy for cleanup as well. It makes a great side dish for grilled meat, or to help stretch out leftovers.

This dish is vegetarian, low in carbs, low in fat, low sugar, high in protein, and gluten-free optional.