Weeds - They're What's for Dinner

The image above doesn't scream "dinner" to most -- especially those who spent childhood summers grubby-pawed and overheated, plucking them out of the cracks of walkways, driveways and wherever else they lurked.

But as this timely Wall Street Journal story reports, weeds are spreading to places other than just your garden, including the dinner table. Dandelion greens, purslane, burdock and lamb's quarters are becoming staples of both haute restaurants and homespun summer salads. They can now be procured both high-end ($9 per pound in one farmers market) and low-end (via elbow grease).

But can one waltz down a Brooklyn street and pluck a handful of dandelions from the edge of a vacant lot to pop in a pan for dinner? The short answer, says 27-year veteran forager and author "Wildman" Steve Brill, is "no." He quickly follows that it's not as hard as one would think, and that hunting for a free dinner "is like learning how to swim, dance or drive a car. Learning to recognize very tasteful, very healthful wild food is no different than any other skill."

His tips, a weedy poll and an additional "expert" opinion after the jump.

First, says Brill, make sure you're actually looking at dandelions (which, as he points out, were at peak season in March, not May or June, in the Northeast, and that now they are very bitter unless properly cooked. He suggests keeping an eye peeled for chickweed, lamb's quarters, purslane, wood sorrel or sheep sorrel instead). Lots of plants look like dandelions, but some mimics taste horrible, so pluck with caution. The young, partially developed plants without blooms are the ones whose leaves you want. Dandelions also have a brief season in the fall.

Brill suggests choosing a handful of wild nuts, berries, roots or mushrooms that have no poisonous lookalikes (see his Web site) to seek out when foraging. He notes that there are poisonous lilies, for example, that resemble onions or garlic, and that you should check for the familiar scent of onions or garlic before consuming these. (A good general rule: When in doubt, don't eat!)

We approached one other weeding "expert" -- this reporter's father, who liked to assign his children the annual task of de-dandelion-ing the yard. What does he think of charging $9 per pound for dandelion weeds? The question is met with laughter, and a thoughtful pause, "If I'd known they were that good, I would have said to the two of you, 'pick them, prepare them and sell them.' It would have saved me a lot of money on allowances."

Is eating weeds an abhorrent thought? Which have you tried?