Then they cooked their own bread over a fire:
It was such a fantastic day! Some of the plants (and mushrooms) we saw and discussed were:
Edible/Herbal Plants:
- Wild Carrot/Queen Anne's Lace (Use caution! has poison look alikes including Poison Hemlock, Water Hemlock, and White Snakeroot)
- Boneset (Use with the utmost of caution! Poison look-alike is White Snakeroot)
- Goldenrod
- Wood sorrel
- Plantain (Plantago major)
- Lambs Quarters
- Purslane
- Ground Ivy/Creeping Charlie
- Broad-leaf dock leaves and seeds
- Mugwort
- Asiatic Dayflower
- Smartweed
- Deadnettle
- Acorns
- Black Walnut
Edible/Herbal Mushrooms included:
- Turkey tail
- Various boletes
- Various polypores
- Aborted entoloma
Poisonous/Non-edible/Allergen Plants Included:
- White snakeroot (poison)
- Pokeweed/Pokeberries (poison, though earliest shoots are edible in spring, properly prepared)
- Ragweed (common allergen)
We identified and discussed various trees:
- Black Walnut
- Oaks, distinguishing white oaks from red/black
- Tulip poplar
- Thyme
- Basil
- Chocolate Mint
- Rosemary
- Chives
As you can see we had a busy day of discovery, fun, learning, and feasting!
Recipe for White Bean Potato Soup: (gluten-free, oil-free, vegan)
I will tell you the ingredients I used, but I was cooking for 20 people, so I won't share the amounts! You'll have to use your judgment when making the soup. It is a thick creamy soup though, so don't skimp on the beans and potatoes!
I used an instantpot and dried beans for this recipe, cooking the (unsoaked) beans first for about 45 minutes, then adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking for 15 more. I added the red lentils with the vegetables for the second cooking, since they do not take as long to cook as white beans and chickpeas. You can use canned beans, in any combination, even choosing to use all white beans. I'll share a secret: I only added the chickpeas and red lentils because I ran out of white beans. But the red lentils really added a lot to the soup, and took the flavor to the next level, so if you have them, I would recommend using them.
Ingredients:
- white beans, I used dry, you can use canned
- chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), I used dry, you can use canned
- red lentils (dry)
- onion (I used red onion because it's what I had)
- garlic
- celery
- carrot
- Better Than Bouillon, seasoned vegetable base
- Potatoes (I used yellow because it's what I had, you can use any kind)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Seasonal wild greens, herbs, and flowers of your choosing! We used: goldenrod leaves and flowers, smartweed greens, Asiatic dayflower greens, wood sorrel, deadnettle, lambsquarters
Directions:
- In an instant pot/pressure cooker: cook white beans and chickpeas for 45 minutes on high pressure. If you don't have an instant pot, you can use canned beans or soak the beans overnight and cook on stove for half an hour before adding other ingredients.
- Add all other ingredients except wild greens with just enough water to cover. Cook 15 more minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook until potatoes and carrots are soft.
- When finished cooking, use a potato masher to mash enough of the beans and potatoes to make the soup nice and creamy.
- Add the wild greens, herbs, and flowers while soup is still hot. Cook at least 5 more minutes until greens are wilted.
- Season to taste.
- ENJOY!
Please join me on patreon where I will be adding slides and information of all the wild plants we saw over the next few weeks.
Hope you are enjoying the fall!
~ Melissa
