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What's for Dinner? Check Your Backyard!
If you take a look at the current economic situation, there's no wonder people are making cuts everywhere possible and food seems to be no exception. Luckily, we can always turn to our forefathers for ideas on how to combat these high food prices. Some of the most common edible items from long ago can be found today...in your own backyard (or growing up telephone posts, buildings, or really any structure). Weeds can be found nearly everywhere and many of them are edible, although we probably do not think of these as our ideal food sources. People have been eating weeds for thousands of years, and now people are beginning to pay top dollar to eat them once again.
The edible weed trend is being promoted by chefs around the world, who encourage eaters to try the new flavors provided by weeds. This trend also extends into the new movement to eat more organic and local foods. In order to encourage the use of local foods, experts advocate foraging through your backyard for these edible weeds that are often overlooked. However, before you go out and pick all the weeds from your yard, please keep in mind that you must take time to carefully identify the weeds you are picking. Edible weeds can sometimes be confused for ones than can potentially be dangerous, even poisonous. Weeds can also be partially edible, but not fully, so make sure that you only eat the edible part of a weed. You should also cook weeds carefully to ensure that you and your family are safe from toxicity.
In order to help you identify and know how to properly cook weeds, check out the following chart:
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COMMON EDIBLE WEEDS |
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SCIENTIFIC NAME |
PICTURE |
COMMON NAME |
APPEARANCE / DISTRIBUTION |
HOW TO EAT / PREPARE |
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Arctium minus |
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Burdock |
Big, coarse plant that can grow up to 6 feet tall with hollow stems and large, toothed leaves. commonly found in many parts of the country, particularly in fields and abandoned areas. |
Useful in soups and stews, the stalk is similar in taste and appearance to celery. |
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Stellaria media |
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Chickweed |
Low, mat-forming plant producing clusters of small white flowers at the tip of its long, slender stems. Frequently found in lawns. |
Mild flavored, can be used in salads. |
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Taraxacum officinale |
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Dandelion |
Long, toothed leaves form a circle around the base of stems, which produce an unmistakable yellow flower. |
Bitter greens can be used in salads or cooked. |
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Pueraria lobata |
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Kudzu |
Persistent, fast-climbing vine common in the south. |
The leaves can be battered and fried. In Asia, the roots are commonly converted to flour. |
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Chenopodium album |
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Lamb's quarters |
Triangular leaf, with a grayish cast when the plant is young. Common in suburban lawns. |
The leaves can be cooked as an alternative to spinach, which belongs to the same plant family. |
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Phytolacca americana |
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Pokeweed |
Hollow-stemmed perennial grows up to nine feet long with characteristic clusters of purplish-black berries. Common at roadsides and abandoned areas. |
Purslane |
A hot-weather succulent, common in lawns, gardens, and fields. |
Leaves, stems and flowers may be stewed or eaten raw. Succulent stems ca be pickled. Ashes of burned purslane can even be used as a salt substitute. |
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Capsella bursa-pastoris |
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Shepherd's purse |
Rosette of toothed leaves at the base of long, slim stems. |
A member of the mustard family, the leaves offer a peppery kick to salads, or can be added to a cooked "mess of greens." |
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