Greek Wild Foods Feast
Our Menu
Rose Hip Cordial
Fruit Bowl w/Mountain Mint
Sumac, Peach, Beebalm, Spearmint, Peppermint Teas
Wild Greens Salad, Edible Flowers and Wild Dressing
Gyro Meat w/Cattail Shoot Tzaziki Sauce
Dolmathes, Stuffed Wild Grape Leaves
Kima Sauce w/ Milkweed Shoots & Burdock Roots
Milkweed Buds Feta Cheese Casserole
Elderflower Fritters w/Elderberry Syrup and Peaches
Hot Peppermint Tea or Dandelion Root Coffee
Thanks to my wonderful wild guests: Gerald, Morgan, Joy, Cheryl, Margaret, Alaina, Jennifer, Loretta, Catherine and Judy our Greek feast was a delicious success!
We foraged for, cooked with and ATE 30 different wild delectables.
Drinks: Roses, Sumac, Beebalm, Spearmint, Peppermint
Salad: Dandelion, Violet, Lambs Quarter, Purslane, Daisy, Chickweed, Red Clover, Raspberry, Marshmallow, Sheep Sorrel, Wood Sorrel, Amaranth, Autumn Olive Berries (in the dressing)
Flowers: Elderflower, Lilly, Chamomile, Beardstongue, Daisy, Primrose
Dinner: Wild Grape, Parsley, Mint, Milkweed Buds, Cattail Shoots, Milkweed Shoots, Nettle, Dandelion, Purslane, Dill, Burdock
Dessert: Carolina Pecans, Elderflowers and Elderberries
Pictures and recipes of each individual dish are found in the Cooking section under Wild Recipes
Following Nature’s Wave is a great deal of fun and so very rewarding. The early Spring greens are getting a bit more bitter but the Summer flowers and berries are emerging to bring their gifts of health and joy. Cheryl and Joy brought two grocery sacks full of primetime Milkweed flower buds for one of our casseroles.
We began the adventure learning together about foraging rules and tips for shopping in the wild. Each person chose a recipe to cook and forage for the plants around my yard. As we took our plant walk I had fun introducing my guests to the plants we would be using in our dinner. We talked at length about Elderflower, Burdock, Plantain, Lambs Quarters and Purslane. Even though Mullein was not on the menu I could not pass up this tremendously powerful and beautiful wild blessing without extolling it’s many gifts. Milkweed and Cattail were main ingredients in our dinner but I don’t have them here on my acre, not yet anyway!
Gerald brought a grocery sack of Violets from his land to share and the salad preparers were blessed to discover that the greens were not the tasty Violet leaves but the unedible look-a-like Groundsell. I’ll write a separate blog on the importance of accurate identification when foraging and as a safety net, ‘garbling’ the groceries to sort out the various plants. Thankfully we had a ‘Groundsell free’ salad complete with Kalamata olives and an amazing dressing that Morgan made with Autumn Olive Berry infused apple cider vinegar.
With baskets full, the chefs kicked into high gear and manned their stations cooking up our wild Greek feast. As usual, we watched my mentor, Linda Runyon’s fabulous DVD while eating baklava with wild Pecans and Elderflower funnel cakes with peaches and Elderberry syrup, sipping Peppermint tea or Root coffee.
An evening to remember. Thanks everyone for your hard work, great attitudes, the interesting discussion… I hope the wild fire is burning in each heart!
May you eat wild everyday and reclaim your heritage as God’s children on His green earth.
Wild Blessing abound!
Holly
“They all wait for You to give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up.You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created and You renew the face of the ground.” Psalms 104:27-30
Just had to say how much I enjoyed our time together. Thanks for all the hard work and interest in learning. Wild blessings do indeed abound! Holly
Love this, Holly! I have been giving out your blog address because I enjoyed this dinner menu so very much! Pure genius!
What A Wild Blessing !! Another life changing…memorable day eating my favorite wild foods with Kindred spirits !! Thanks Holly for teaching us all about edible plants and how to “live off the land.”
You are welcome Cheryl!
I just came back from the Milkweed patch to collect more flower buds. The morning sun glinted gently through the swaying Locust saplings that shade the Milkweed Shoppe….butterflies danced about the pungent pink flower balls and bees buzzed. Feeling wildly blessed!
What a feast! You are a treasure Holly!
I have a whole field of milkweed near me. How late can you eat the milkweed and or parts of the plant? BTW, I ordered Linda R’s dvd. Thanks!
Faith, I am writing about Milkweed right now and there is much to know. May be awhile till that blog is out so in the mean time. Harvest the seed pod stage when they are an inch or less in length (but not too small). I’ll put pics up under Milkweed so you can see what I am talking about now. Harvest them like CRAZY. Freeze, pickle, can for a Winter supply.
How awesome that you have a field of these green gifts. Cattail and Milkweed are my two FAVORITE wild plants!
I have not stopped thinking about the amazing you prepared for David and I before Koen arrived. And the teas, oh my goodness, your teas. You have an incredible gift, Holly!
Thanks Kristen! I’m brewing Spearmint, Peppermint, Bee Balm teas today and Sumac Lemonade as well. Preparing for Jordan’s visit from NYC. The Sumac is at it’s peak in lemony tartness! Pick on a dry day 🙂
Holly ~ DEAR Holly – Thank you so much for sharing what you have with all of us…..I am really wanting to get some Milkweed seed and sow on the bank for next year, along with Lamb’s Quarter!!!! I am amazed at all the Lord has given us and that He is opening our eyes to see it!!!!
I’ll collect seeds for you. Seeds are sooooooooooooooooo fascinating! All that life and potential packaged in such creative ways. “In wisdom God has made them all!”