Maitake Mushroom Sauté

Ready to Eat Maitake Meal

Total prep time: around 15-20 minutes.

Total cooking time: around 15 minutes.

Serves 4-6 people.

Ingredients:

200 grams of Maitake mushrooms

1 small onion

1 small red pepper

1 medium zucchini

4 scallions

2 cloves of garlic

Half teaspoon each of rosemary, thyme, and sage

Coconut (or Olive) oil

Salt & pepper

Optional:

¼ cup of cooking wine

¼ cup of chicken broth

How to make:

Chop Maitake and all vegetables to preferred size for sautéing. Sauté onions, peppers, and scallions for 2-5 minutes on medium low heat in the oil. Add the chopped Maitake, the optional wine or chicken broth, and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add the herbs and salt/pepper, sauté for 2 more minutes, then add minced garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Enjoy your healthy, medicinal meal!

See Gabe's Blog for more information.  See my YouTube Video for a Demo. 

Pesto-Not Just for Basil

Pesto is traditionally thought of as that delicious basil paste available for pasta or pizza.  Many people make their own with basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and Italian cheese.  Pesto, a word coming from the Italian "pestare", "to pound", can be made from any fresh herb or green.  It is a great way to add a variety of tastes to dishes typically made with this yummy sauce.   However, it is also a great way to preserve herbs and herb combinations for future use.  I make all kinds of combinations and then freeze them in ice cube trays.  The video below, made in my own kitchen with my intern Anna, is a simple demonstration.  This is a Youtube video and at the end of the video Youtube makes other videos available.  Click the refresh button if you wish to see my video again.  I do not endorse any other video Youtube connects to mine.  Still learning about this stuff.

Don't Pull the Pig Weed and Toss It-Pull it and Eat It

Pig Weed, Lamb's Quarters or better yet Chenopodium album is a common garden weed that seems to appear whenever new compost or manure has been added to a garden.  In my case, it just comes up year after year from seeds lying dormant in the soil.  The leaves are tasty and edible, like spinach or chard and can be used in all the same ways.  It is great in salads raw when the leaves are small and young.  It can be cooked in oil or butter with other vegetables or steamed just like any green.  I have been pulling the small plants for a week now and will find them throughout the growing season.  They will get tall (2 feet) as the season progresses and I still pull it but use only the leaves.  I leave one or more to self-seed in a location that works for me.  Try it!

Check out greensmootiesblog.com where I borrowed the photo for more ideas on using weeds in your daily diet.

Here are additional sites for recipe ideas:

Wild Man Steve Brill

Mariquita Farm

Edible Wild Foods

Prairie Homestead

More Cooking with Nettles

                                            This is cooked Nettles, ready to be chopped.

Nettles (Urtica dioica) are everywhere right now and perfect for the picking (carefully that is).  I am starting to use them in everything.  Today I will feature two dishes I used nettle in this week.  Nettles in eggs are fabulous and I made a frittata and a scramble.  For both I used nettles that I had previously simmered in water, drained and cooled.  

Start with freshly gathered tops and leaves of the nettle plant, avoiding the longer stems.  Steam or simmer for a few minutes, strain and press through a strainer to remove most of the moisture.  Once cooled chop to the desired size.

For the frittata, I cooked the nettles (previously steamed) for a few minutes in butter, 1/4 cup of chopped onion, tablespoon of chopped red pepper (the vegetable) and one clove of garlic chopped.  I then added four beaten eggs to the hot pan and stirred everything together.  I added a little shredded cheddar cheese to the top and then put a cover over the pan to cook on med-low until the eggs have completely set.  I seasoned with salt and pepper but you could add any favorite seasoning to this dish.  The frittata can also be finished under a broiler in an oven proof skillet.

                                                                     Finished Frittata 

The Nettle Scramble was made in a similar way.  I chopped the nettles into small pieces, cooked them with a little dried onion in a tablespoon of coconut oil for only a few minutes.  Then I added three beaten eggs and stirred them until cooked.  I like a little salt and pepper but many seasonings would be tasty.

                                                          Finished Nettle Scramble

Still Loving the Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging Nettle will be a big focus for me this spring.  I feel the need to renew and refresh after the longest winter ever!!!  Nettles help to cleanse the system in a gentle yummy way.  The spring is the time for gathering when the plant is most tender.  I will be hunting for the first signs of growth later today and will begin to post some personal videos.  I plan to try every recipe I can get my hands on.  Some of those can be found at the links below.  It is amazing how this simple weed has taken off in the culinary world.  I actually love it best, lightly sauteed in some ghee or butter with a little onion and garlic, then salt and pepper when ready.  I find I can chop it more easily for cooking if I steam it a little before attempting to handle the leaves.  

Garlicky Nettle Pesto

Spinach and Nettle Spanakopita 

Spring lasagna with asparagus, peas, and stinging nettle  

Nettle Gnudi 

Nettle Mushroom Pie

Nettle Aloo

Nettle Ravioli 

Nettle Pizza

Stinging Nettle and Sharp Cheddar Omelet 

Nettle Soup

How to Make Ghee (clarified butter)

Ghee is made by heating butter (not margarine) slowly to separate out the milk solids and water from the oil.  This process produces a clear yellow oil, that can be used in cooking or in medicine (Ayurveda) and is considered healthier.  It can also be kept in a glass jar outside of the refrigerator whereas butter needs to be refrigerated.  This is a western method of making ghee.  Authentic ghee according to Ayurveda is more complicated.  Check out Wellnessmama.com for a good description of Ghee making for us westerners.

                                                                 Photo of finished Ghee from Marks Daily Apple

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), a common weed found world wide, is a yummy and nutritious food. The young leaves and shoots can be cooked like any green and are rich in vitamins and minerals. People who know it often call it "The Seven Minute Itch" or worse because the leaves have small hairs that cause stinging when touched. The sting, though painful, is not dangerous and can be relieved by rubbing a leaf of Plantain on the effected area (More on that later). Gathering Nettle requires little skill, but a few tricks. My technique is to use long scissors and a big bowl and cut the tops into the bowl without touching them.  As soon as the plant is cooked or dried the stinging hairs disappear. However, it is possible to touch nettle safely but you have to know how. Look for a video on this site in the near future. 

                           My grandson, Jacob demonstrates how to greet a nettle leaf.  

Eat those Dandelions!

Right in the yard is a powerful source of nutrition and "free" food.  I am pleased to see that the maligned Dandelion has fans all over the world.  Once we stop trying to murder it and everything around it with herbicides, we have a potentially unlimited resource for food, nutrition and medicine.  I will post recipes I make up as the season progresses but there are already many wonderful sites out on the web with dandelion recipes. Here are some below that you can check out:

Wellness Mama

Epicurious 

Common Sense Home 

Eating Well

Mother Earth News

Eat the Weeds 

Nourished Kitchen

Whole Foods Market

Dandelion Saute (Weed Them To Eat Them)

Ingredients:

• 2-4 cups of fresh spring dandelion leaves
• 1 medium onion - chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic - chopped
• 1 tbs of olive or coconut oil
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook onions and garlic in oil over medium heat until soft
2. Add Dandelion leaves in small amounts, stirring until wilted
3. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes 
4. Season with salt, pepper, or any other herbs/spices of your choice

Dandelion (Taraxacum) is high in minerals, vitamins A and C, and are a digestive, liver, and blood tonic.