There are advantages to recognizing some weeds when they are small! I use three tasty weeds that have just started growing with the return of the fall rains in the Pacific Northwest. They make a great bed of baby greens to go with a savory pumpkin custard – made from a Giant Pink Banana Squash.
Timing Is Everything, Sometimes
It’s amazing how many seeds of weeds are in the soil, just waiting for the right conditions. Here at Haphazard Homestead, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, that means the return of cool autumn rains after a terribly dry summer – with no rain at all for 3 months. Those rains have brought to life many weed seeds at the surface of the soil. Where the soil has been the most disturbed, the more weeds there are – and some of them are really tasty!
Right now, these weeds are small, like delicate microgreens. But they won’t stay that size for long. I was headed out of town for my job again, so I wanted to use these microgreens while they were still small. By the time I get back this weekend, they will be too big to be tiny enough for a fancy, elevated plate!
I gathered a few other plants that are either returning or headed out of season. Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) berries are starting to ripen up in larger numbers. They need to be completely ripe and black to be edible. And the Rose-of-Sharon shrub (Hibiscus syriacus) is shutting down for the winter, so these are the last of their pretty purple flowers.
Savory Beats Sweet, Sometimes
Pumpkin goes so naturally and well with sweet ingredients. But for this dish, I wanted to highlight savory pumpkin flavors. I’m using a Giant Pink Banana Squash. I have grown 30-pound ones in the past. This one is from a couple years ago. Cured and stored right, they can last over a year just sitting around. When I roasted this squash, I froze the extra and that’s what I’m using here.
I carmelized some onions and pureed that with the squash. Then I added butter, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. I put the mix into little round ramekin dishes – and then put the ramekins in a roaster holding a couple inches of water, into the oven.
It’s Always Worth Cooking for the Steemit Iron Chef Challenge, Not Just Sometimes
My work has been unusually demanding for the past few weeks. I’m not on Steemit as much as earlier this year. But the Steemit Iron Chef Contest has been my motivator to be consistent – once a week. That’s something for an admittedly Haphazard Homestead. I cooked all this yesterday, before leaving town early this morning. It was really tasty!
The pumpkin custard turned out more thick than I planned, but it was tasty! The olive oil, nightshade berries, and spruce tree balsamic vinegar dressing was just right for the pumpkin custard and the greens! I even took some of the pumpkin custard with me on the plane today.
What Do You Think?
- Do you like pumpkins sweet or savory?
- Do you have any edible weeds reappearing around you this autumn?
- Would you eat my Pumpkin Custard with its wild plants?
I eat a lot of wild plants and show you how, because I believe that we can all have lives that are richer, more secure, more grounded, and more interesting by getting to know the plants and the land around us – in our yards, our parks, and our wild places.
I would like Steemit to be the premier site for Foraging on the Internet! If you have any thoughts about foraging, or experiences to share, write a post and be sure to use the Foraging tag. And check out the @foraging-trail to see curated quality posts about foraging. Happy Foraging!
Thanks @progressivechef for creating the Steemit Iron Chef contest series. I haven't been able to be on Steemit much lately, but I can't miss the contest series or I would miss out on my 1 point! ;D
Plant List
Post Script – I’m writing this post in my hotel and the internet is down. So I’m headed out to find a place to edit my photos and upload the post. I’ll include my usual plant list when I have better Internet access.
