FOOD Weeds are a great source of vitamin C

Weed out the vitamin C


Organic growing
Hans Wieland

My message this week is: “Eat your weeds!” It might sound daft, but give it a try. It’s all in the recipe – you might not like the taste of a particular weed in a salad, but it could be fabulous in a sauce. And what a brilliant way to save money! Before you know it, you’ll no longer be cursing weeds, but salivating when you see them. Seriously.
Many years back after weeding in the polytunnel I discovered that Chickweed can be eaten, and after talking to my wife, Gaby, a trained herbalist, found out it is very high in vitamin C. It also contains protein and is as high in vitamin A as the ‘superfood’ broccoli. From then on I gave Chickweed a place in the garden and it now features in our salads, and more recently in ‘green smoothies’. Another discovery: Fat Hen. One of my neighbours was complaining about Fat Hen when he found the weed between his strawberries. A bit of reading around turned up some interesting news: It is high in magnesium, calcium and vitamins A and C, and higher in protein than most vegetables. And Fat Hen gazpacho is delicious!

Gold star for Silverweed
My weed of 2011, however, has got to be silverweed. This year I found myself literally stumbling over silverweed, especially on the footpath of our herb garden.
Silverweed (Potentilla anserina, or ‘Brisgean’ in Irish) is actually a very clever weed. If just pulled, it will snap above the root and readily re-root. It reproduces itself by creeping across the soil and rooting from its stem in the same manner as a strawberry reproduces through runners. If it has invaded the vegetable patch it has to be weeded out completely like dock or nettles.
The leaves of silverweed are very soft and silky, and the underside is quite silvery in appearance – hence it’s common name. The plant is a favourite food of cattle, horses, goats, pigs and geese; only sheep decline it.
Gaby tells me that in modern herbal medicine, the whole herb is used, dried, for its mildly astringent and tonic action. According to Maude Grieve, who wrote ‘A Modern Herbal’ in 1931, an infusion of Silverweed, sweetened with honey, is an excellent gargle for a sore throat.
Not discounting the medicinal properties and uses of Silverweed I was more interested in the nutritional value and wanted to find out if it can be eaten and how it tastes. Some books on wild foods say the starchy roots of silverweed root can be boiled and eaten and that they taste a bit like parsnips. I tell you I would much rather boil parsnips than dig up thin and fiddley Silverweed roots.
Silverweed has the highest content of vitamin C of all the weeds. Here is Gaby’s wonderful recipe for broccoli salad that uses silverweed in the mayonnaise.

Ingredients

• Broccoli salad
• 1-2 heads broccoli (or a mix of broccoli and cauliflower)
• 1 small red onion chopped finely

Dressing - cashew mayonnaise

• Cashews (soaked for a couple of hours, rinsed and drained)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 tbsp chopped spring onions
• 125ml water
• 1 tsp honey or agave syrup
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• A pinch or two of cayenne pepper
• Bunch of silverweed chopped finely

Method
For the dressing, blend all dressing ingredients except the silverweed in a high-speed blender until smooth. Add the silverweed and blend very briefly.
Cut up the broccoli floretes (or/and cauliflower) into bite-sized pieces, leaving just a little stem. Add chopped red onion and the cashew mayo and mix well.
Either serve immediately or cover and marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge. Decorate with edible flowers like nasturtiums, calendula or heartsease, or a couple of rose petals and some red onion rings just before serving. Enjoy!

Hans Wieland is joint manager of The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, which offers courses, training and information in organic growing, and runs an Eco Shop and an online gardening store. For more information, visit www.theorganiccentre.ie, e-mail info@theorganiccentre.ie or phone 071 9854338.Questions or comments? Contact Hans at living@mayonews.ie.