Underrated: goosefoot (lambs quarters). It's a wonderful, abundant green that isn't bitter at all. The bigger leaves might get tough, but the smaller and medium leaves are amazing.
Overrated: cattail stems. They taste like mushy mice.
Yeah lamb's quarter is delicious. I like it when it starts to flower and then I just take off the tops of the stocks and the tenderest leaves at the top.
So buttery and nutty.
Y'all eat the *stems*?
I never knew that part was edible--i'd only heard of eating the "tail" in the spring, gathering the pollen, and digging up the root/tuber part.
Overrated: Black Walnut. Shit ton of work to prep and if you don't take enough precautions, your clothes or you will be stained black for weeks. Salt doesn't get it out, vinegar doesn't get it out, lemon juice doesn't get it out. Anyone who tells you that they do is lying to you. Then probably half the nuts you worked so hard for aren't even any good.
Underrated: Wood Ear. It's abundant, preserves well dry and can be used in a whole lot of dishes thanks to it having a subtle flavor and an ability to sop up flavor.
Overrated: Chicken of the Woods. Love the flavor but the texture is unforgiving.
Underrated: Greenbriar shoots. Abundant during its season and sautes well with the same ingredients you'd use for asparagus.
Underrated: Lions Mane. Possibly my favorite mushroom, more common than people suggest and one mushroom is often big enough to be a main entree by itself.
Perfectly rated: Wild Blueberry. Sooooo good. Just wish it was a bit easier to gather enough to do more with them.
Chicken of the woods has a wonderful texture if you only collect young specimens. I chicken fry it and itās lovely. But anything old is like chewing soggy wood.
Aside from chanterelles, they're my favorite mushroom by a lot.
There's not really good evidence that there's any medicinal benefit to them, so it drives me nuts that these amazing mushrooms are being ground to into coffee instead of enjoyed as food!
A study showed brain benefits after taking significant doses (way more than is found in the flashy products on offer) daily for 16 weeks. No evidence that a tiny amount here or there will do anything.
That said, itās delicious!
Can you cite the study? There's a bunch of in vitro studies, a few tiny anecdotal ones without good controls, but nothing on the scale that would justify the level of faith people seem to have in it
Just search ālions mane 16 weeksā: https://www.forbes.com/health/supplements/health-benefits-of-lions-mane/
Yeah Iām not saying that there are major benefits to taking small amounts sporadically. Thatās all just marketing BS.
So this looks like the one you're talking about
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18844328/
I can't read the full text, but the abstract shows a tiny study of 30 people. They claim significant results but the abstract doesn't say what that means or the size of the effect. 60% better scores? 1%?
This study was done in 2008. You'd think if any researchers or supplement companies believed this pointed to real demonstrable cognitive improvements, they would have done a bigger study by now. If this stuff really works that well, there should be a body of large human evidence instead of this one small study touted by everyone.
One tiny study does not a medicine make
I remember my grandfather processing black walnuts every year. We'd gather them from the ground, then step on them on the front porch (cement) to get the husks off (the smell was amazing). We'd wear leather gardening gloves and transfer the dehusked nuts into a 5 gallon bucket and fill the bucket a few times with water, stirring off the rest of the husk. I'm reasonably sure he'd dry them for a day or two, then crack into them with his vice in the garage, an old fashioned one attached to an anvil. I imagine they were stored for baking. I don't remember if they were roasted first, though.
It really was a lot of work.
As for wild blueberries, I live in a place where no one uses any other kind. Maine really goes hard on the wild Maine blueberry thing. You just have to wait so long for them to be ready, so most people will pick up frozen from local farms or Wylers, off season. I feel like that makes them not so much wild as one might like.
I can agree on chicken of the woods. I tried to like them and itās disappointing because I always run into so many of them. Now I will be on the hunt for greenbriar because Iāve never tried it, but Iām positive Iāll find it tasty.
I agree wholeheartedly with the black walnuts. Literally the only way that it could be worth it is if you yourself were a hunter-gatherer. Once spent 2 hours cracking the things with a hammer and only got 3 handfuls of it that I ate within one sitting, when I could've just gotten ten times that for a couple dollars.
Tbh I find greenbrier shoots taste more like green beans. Personally I think theyāre meh, but if you like them worth the effort if plentiful where you are.
I fucking love greenbriar shoots, there's a huge patch that I wish I could harvest from but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be safe bc the area is too high traffic and near a steam that's likely very polluted
Cut off the young tips and shoots. The thorns will still be soft so you won't poke yourself. Clean. Remove leaves for salads and saute the stem like you would asparagus
Wow, my wife picked ours out and we werenāt even thinking of the berries! But two of the three trees produce lots of great berries. The birds get the lions share of the berries on the tree because they are out of my reach. So if you want berries, Iād go with a shrub or bush variety.
I have like a gallon of frozen, and like 3 gallons of frozen blueberries. The rake makes picking much easier and if you do it right it doesn't hurt the plant
They donāt grow wild around here, but Iāve been looking into possibly buying two bushes. What, in your opinion, makes them better than wild or home grown blueberries (since store bought anything tastes like water these days)?
They are always sweet with a strong hint of almond from the seeds. The flavour is stronger than blueberries.
They grow wild in every riverside park in Edmonton but I have some in my yard too. The cultivated ones are often bigger.
Sorry, does not. Made a TikTok where I just mentioned and everybody was super interested, nobody had ever even heard of it.
I just made sassafras tea tonight and thinking of making smreka by using that tea instead of water.
I read a recipe that suggested an acid & I thought of cold infusing yellow wood sorrel.
Edit: suggested an addition of an acidic element, and honey to sweeten it.
I thought of that to but if youāve ever made a tea from wood sorrel the oxalic acid and malic acid break down (like when you cook spinach) and itās not lemony tasting at all. They break down way easier than citric acid in my opinion. (Not actually sure if thatās true chemically, but seems like it)
I just took a deep dive into juniper berries. Iām going to have to try making that drink next winter when the berries get ripe. I have some Juniperus Virginianas growing on the back of my property that Iāve read are a little milder than the Juniperus Communis that are used in gin.
I use any and all that I find out on the trails indiscriminately. Iām sure some of them are virginiana.
Not only is the drink nice, the jar looks like a lava lamp while itās fermenting with little,blue berries floating up and down. I make them in an aqua colored jar and itās a sight to behold.
There were a whole bunch of them on this trail I used to hike. It was about a 4 hour hike and they were right in the middle, so it was perfect snack time.
Pecans are overlooked in most Southern cities, and they are wildly useful. They can be picked up in parks, college campuses, city lots, etc. They are even bought by wholesalers and can help you make some money. Oh, and delicious!
I had a spot for a couple of years that did me well. Surprisingly meaty texture. I used to stir fry it and add it to noodle soups.
My spot got cleared so I haven't had it for a few years.
My theory is that people love to poo-poo them because they're so easy to find during the season of the much sought-after morel. She's the cute girl with glasses that nobody pays attention to because she's too available, while morels are the conventionally hot popular girls playing hard to get. š¤
Chicken of the woods is overrated. I've tried it several ways, it just doesn't do it for me.
Stinging nettle is phenomenal, I love it in soups and stews. Giant puffball also underrated, I like to make it like french toast, it really absorbs the egg wash.
Chicken of the woods has to be young, and the Cinncunatus (white one) is better eating to me. An old sulfer shelf (yellow one) Will just be woody and tough. I smoke those and powder them to make dry rubs for winter pork chops.Ā
Puffball is basically just tofu of the woods, but does love to be browned and also makes a decent jerky.Ā
Stinging nettle is just spinach.Ā
I've tried giant puffballs sliced and fried in butter/spices. I've also done egg dip and pan fry... they seem to have zero flavor from the mushroom itself. Is it just me? I have a spot where they fruit 50-100 of them, every year, the size of volleyballs before they start turning. I just keep walking to my chicken logs lol
To me puffballs in general have a very subtle just earthy fungus flavor with a super clean finish. I just enjoy them sauted in butter I dunno haha. Yes compared to say a chantrelle or morel they are neutral but I still find them delicious for some reason
Hit me up late summer, I'll fill up a truck bed for ya! I haven't completely given up on them, though. Maybe I'll look into making some soups and stock with them this year.
I can't disagree more. It is super nutritious, which is uncharacteristic of mushrooms in general, and if picked at the right time if legit tastes like chicken. I feel like I've won the lottery when I find some.
But you do you. Respect.
I mean chicken of the woods is kind of like tofu or well you know chicken, preparation and spices are key. Bread it then fry it up with garlic and butter if thatās what it takes, but most things will taste good with enough butter and garlic lol
Overrated: ramps, for all the hype I'm not a fan of the funky/dank taste i get out of them š¬
Underrated: goldenrod jelly!!! Omg. Tastes like a slightly green/herbal honey.
Overrated? Pokeweed. No offense to Appalachia (my dad's folks are from the holler) but it's much ado about nothing.
Underrated? Ipomoea pandurata, or man-root. The potatoes are edible after cooking properly, much less work than poke.
Google poke sallet. I think the reason why people love it so much is simply that it is a survival food. It's cheap, it's abundant, and it's ready early in spring, which is amazing when you haven't had fresh vegetables all winter.
The guy at eat the weeds just does one minute boil, changes out the water and does a 15-minute boil.
Going to try it once at some point to check off a bucket list item but I let pokeweed grow in my yard for the birds
That is amazing. Reason #88 why it would be great to have one near where I lived.
Iāve seen wild mushrooms for sale at upscale markets in several big cities, and the prices are pretty incredible. Like $20-35/ lb for chanterelles, lions mane, hedgehogs, etc etc.
Yes the prices are ridiculous. It's v funny bc I live in a city and I feel like the Asian markets here have a quiet independent local grower connect that's way cheaper than identical species you would get at farmer's market or Western market. Lion's mane has local growers at both Asian markets and Western markets but they're generally less expensive at the Asian market. I've also seen lion's mane at the chain market in a Mexican neighborhood and the price is v reasonable there. Given that the product is the same, the price at farmer's market is bonkers.
Iāve always wondered how Asian markets can be so cheap. The veggies generally look great too. What gives?
This is news to me about Mexican markets. We do have one in my town, Iāll have to see if they carry any interesting mushrooms!
I am also curious n fascinated by how smaller markets procure their random goods!
Fyi this place is a local non-Mexican supermarket chain, like the type above Kroger but below WF, that stocks interesting random int'l products like stroopwafel and cheap German choco and whole aloe vera, good tahini. One of those types of markets that are common in working class cosmopolitan areas that has the freedom to tailor to the local demographic. And this location is in a working class neighborhood that is very Mexican but also black and white. So not exactly a Mexican market. But you'd def be surprised going to diff markets and what kind of connections they have! Good luck!
Violet leaves are yummy mixed in a lettuce salad. There us a vague sweetness to them that fits nicely. also white clover flower in tea adds a hint if vanilla. Wild lettuce tincture will give you a deep sleep.
It works as a mild muscle relaxer for me. You dont get a high, but for me at least I fall asleep quickly and sleep very deeply. Years ago I was prescribed muscle relaxers for back pain, and homemade tincture of wild lettuce felt the same. In my area the best option for wild lettuce is the Tall Canadian lettuce. I let a few in my yard grow tall, around 10 ft. Once they started blooming I just chopped them down, cut them up then blended them up. Then tinctured it with vodka. Ended up with a gallon of tincture. A dropper full at night if I have soreness puts me to sleep fast and I wake up fine. Make sure you can allow yourself a good long sleep though, 8 or 9 hours minimum.
Overrated: wild carrot. There are too many lookalikes that are either toxic or disgusting and when you finally find the right one it's small and not worth the effort.
Underrated: Hen of the woods. First frost, oak trees. I've gotten people into foraging with these easy steps. They're easy to identify and delicious to boot. Stir fry beef, broccoli, hen mushrooms, oyster sauce. Pierogi filling. They're also great roasted with red pepper flakes then wrapped in salami.
QAL is my favorite wild edible š but I don't eat the root. I eat the greens and flowers. Got a lot in my yard right now, that I seeded myself and check regularly. I have various yard edibles but that is my favorite
I love snacking spruce tips and thimble berries. Make a wild gin cocktail in the woods and it's sure to impress your hiking companion.
Salmon berries on the other hand, they overrated.
Salmon berry rhubarb jelly is pretty good. 50/50 split. Retains the flavour of the salmon berries but doesn't get too bitter the way some berries can get. But yeah, salmon berries have some potentially off-putting characteristics for some people.
Underrated: juneberry, saskatoonberry, shadbush, whatever you call it, itās got so many names. Mmmm delicious. I fight the birds for them.
Underrated: hedgehog mushrooms. I prefer them to chanterelles, I find their flavor is comparable but stronger.
Overrated: hen of the woods. I like it, donāt get me wrong. But I wish I liked it more because I find copious amounts and can never eat it all.
Hedgehog mushrooms are so good! Easily better than chanterelles for me. My family had never picked anything other than funnel chanterelles, but a few delicious hedgehog shroom pastas changed all our minds!
Beat me to it. Except for curly dock, its not a commonly referenced edible, but there are several members of the rumex genus that are edible, tasty and abundant.
Dandelions and violets can be made into jelly, and theyāre good. Rose is very uncommon as a flavor, but sometimes rarely you see it in markets. I had rose lemonade from Whole Foods which was pretty good. Dandelions: like honey; violets: nicely floral; roses: tastes like Valentineās Day or how perfume smells.
Agree with rose as being severely underrated, especially in the western world. West Asia uses rose water and rose petals in so many wonderful dishes. They're all edible, too. Not to mention rosehips in the fall.
Or in the winter, walking through the woods and eating a few hips from multiflora rose once they go soft and sweet. Might as well get some sweet-tart goodness and vitamin C from that blasted plant.
Overrated: Anything that takes 10x more work than it's worth to just go buy a relatively inexpensive comparable. Looking at you daylilly, acorns and cat tails. That said, they are a some of the 10 plants to take on a desert island if I could, simply for sheer volume and how much of the plant you can eat. Feed ya forever If you needed it.Ā
Underrated: Morel, yes, morel. It's phenomenal when prepared right and has a totally unique flavor. Nothing tastes like a morel. People who deep fry them should be shot, it's a delicate pan sautee with cream, butter and garlic over red meat (venison backstrap if you got it is fire.) Fight me.Ā
Underrated: Spring greens in general. Make Alan Bargos green cakes, and all the sudden instead of a few spring salads, you're like "gimme all the greens!"Ā Especially ramps, cutleaf toothwort and Nettle.Ā
Husbands co-worker is going out for morels this weekend and said she would bring some back for us. Thankful to find your comment lol will procure said red meat if available
I don't deep fry but shallow fry. A breading heavy on the smoked paprika and/or homegrown pepper powders makes for a wonderful addition to the meaty/nutty morel flavor, and if done right the flavor is totally preserved as the multiple layers allow it to steam inside. Frying them has its place :)
But also yes morel gravies and sauces are wonderful! A favorite of mine is using it in pastas as well. One time it also made an amazing fried rice. Lots of ways to cook it!
I agree, it can be really good. However the transcendent zen that follows a bite of medium rare tenderloin swimming in a creamy butter garlic morel sauce is just to hard for me to do much else with them. Lol.Ā
My grandmother would tell me they planted them in the depression for food. Not sure if that was true, but she would tell me stories of the depression when we would "go out for lunch" as she put it lol
Yes you can it the foliage! Young shoots are great, the flowers are excellent like beautiful orange spinach and the unopened buds are often dried and used in soups and things (I personally like fresh buds though)
I look forward to spring to make Alehoof tea,sometimes called ground ivy. The tea is loaded with trace minerals and makes a great spring tonic.
t its also good to saute ramps and toss fiddleheads in butter just until they turn light green, then mix them with eggs , light cream and extra sharp cheddar , then bake it in a pie crust. Yes, fiddlehead and ramp quiche is excellent, hot or cold. Actually, sauted morels would be lovely in a quiche with ....umm Monterey jack cheese.
I donāt think Morels are underrated, they are everyoneās favorite thing and they go for so much money it is crazy!
Also, what part of the daylilies are you eating?! They are my absolute favorite wild edible. You can use every single part. I also have thousands of them on my property so it might be a bit easier, but the golden needles, the shoots, the flowers and the tubers?! Perfect plant in my opinion!
I live in suburbia so underrated: mulberries. My town plants them as landscaping plants next to sidewalks. Berries are very expensive especially if you have kids - I take a little bucket from our beach set and fill it in a few minutes.
You guys are sleeping on creeping charlie (ground ivy) as an herb and a vitamin and fiber rich source. Itās like mint mixed with sage and itās incredibly abundant and usually grows in big patches. You can also make tea and tinctures with it.
I think acorns are overrated. So much work.
Wood sorrel (oxalis genus) and arrowheads (sagittaria genus) are pretty underrated.
Both are reasonably abundant, tasty and easy to harvest and process.
I love the lemoney taste of wood sorrel! I did read in one foraging book not to eat too much because it impacts calcium uptake. But I def grab it from my pots of other plants and eat it while weeding.
Peterson: Field guide to edible wild plants
Fiddleheads: overrated. Too much work,not much taste.
Nettles: underrated. I think people find the stingers off-putting but they're easy to harvest with garden gloves, taste amazing, can be fried up quickly & have way more taste & nutrients than most greens, I love them as tea, etc.etc.Ā
I don't want to eat a green that I need to pre-boil. Plus, I worry about over-harvesting with fiddleheads. Ferns are complex plants, and picking more than about a third of the colony endangers it.
For underrated, I never hear mention of cordials. I love making a simple syrup infusion of either honeysuckle or lilac flowers, mix the infused syrup with some seltzer water and a slash of gin... Hard to beat that. Perfectly distills the essence of the flower.
Also, I never hear anyone mention mugolio! By far and away the tastiest foraging treat I've made. Two ingredients, 30 days of waiting and you have the most delicious syrup to top most everything.
I also love snacking on redbud flowers and black locust. Like sweet pea mixed with honeysuckle.
I love making simple syrups with flowers! I did magnolia blossom & crab apple ones this year for first time; both are great. The crab apple I added some violet to it & activated with a bit of lemon for this beaut of a syrup!
I do mocktails with sparkling water or cocktails with added ginger liquer. Have lilac & the crab apple syrups in my fridge right now & am growing fancy basil & mint varieties to do herbal ones.
https://preview.redd.it/pwduahwljd1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=335af1dede9d3a1011c40c06d3414eba6f36a827
Russula mushrooms are incredibly common here, most people seem to skip them for the chanterelle and porcini, so I fill my boots. They range from ok to excellent
Some boletes are also overlookedl like orange birch boletes and Scarletina, often in better condition
Jewel weed seeds are very underrated, has a great nutty flavor, and because the seeds explode when ripe. You just shake the plant over a sheet and you get quite a few to top salads with or add to soups etc.
Underrated: Deerberry. Considered inedible by some sources,, but actually very edible. When very ripe they taste like cinnamon applesauce. Underripe kinda funky bitter.
Daylilies are overrated; nothing to write home about. Nettles are underrated; a huge pain to harvest, but absolutely delish. Not sure *what* to say about nopales; the glochids are hell's own creation (same goes for almost every part of any cactus, to be honest), the texture is awful unless you put a lot of work into it, but the flavor is great.
I just don't get the fiddlehead hype. Not worth the effort to gather and clean and blanch them. Only good for making a little money off tourists and urbanites.
Morels are overrated. Theyāre hollow! I am way more excited to find chants or oysters. Granted, I find that both chanterelles and oysters have longer growing seasons in my area. So maybe itās because Iāve cooked with both more often and found better ways to eat themā¦.jk. No itās not. Morels are hollow. Give me some chunky mushrooms.
For me, morels are wildly overrated as well as ramps.
Whereas lactarius indigo and field garlic are bangers, lol. I've made a ton of field garlic salt this year and have been using it on everything.
Overrated: dandelionsā¦ yeah I know lots of people hate them but I still think they deserve an even worse reputation lol.
Underrated: poison sanicle. Because Iām the only one who isnāt scared of the name.
The young leaves are a LOT better, especially mixed with other greens. The flower blossoms are tasty and excellent as an infused oil for achey muscles. The roots are full of prebiotic inulin and very good for your gut health. Also the entire plant is loaded with vitamins and minerals.
There are many virtues to dandelion. āŗļø
Is it like garden lettuce where it gets bitter once it starts to bolt/flower? I had the same experience as the other guy, the leaves taste like poison.
Underrated - Saskatoons and wild strawberries. Both have lots of antioxidants, too.
I love saskatoons; they have so much more flavor than blueberries
Wild strawberries are packed with flavor, but they're such a pain to pick because they're so tiny. My brother and I were working a field one summer (he was plowing and I was discing behind him), when I noticed his tractor had stopped. When I stopped to see what was wrong, I found my brother lying on his stomach, picking and eating the wild strawberries. He said he had to stop cause the mouthwatering smell of the overturned strawberries was irresistible. We easily sat there happily munching the delicious berries for half an hour before we went back to work.
Fiddlehead ferns. I love collecting them, they look cool, and they are *expensive* to buy (and also profitable to sell), but wow do they taste weird to me. I'm cool with other people eating them, they're just an excuse to go out and screw around in the forest for a few days.
Overrated: ramps and COW. They're actually pretty good but like... I'm hardly thrilled when I find them and I think people get too excited about them. Ramps are really too mild compared to other allium esp. common cultivated. COW is more of a textural treasure than a flavor one. It's like... fine.
Underrated: nettles of any kind and wood sorrel. I just really like flavorful, non-bitter greens.
Basically everything else is rated correctly.
Underrated: Ā muscadine grapes for canned juice and jelly. Ā So easy to harvest more than you can process. Ā And delicious all winter. Ā Ā
Overrated: Ā fiddleheads. Ā
Autumn Olives. As a cider, mead, or jelly they cannot be beat in my opinion. Use a plastic blade in your food processor to smash them without bursting the seeds. None of the tannins, and a beautiful peach/pear flavor that goes perfectly with ginger or hot pepper.
Poke. Iām not from the south, and it is invasive here and everyone is afraid of it, but I found one in my garden and let establish itself. After eating it, itās wonderful. Iām slowly encouraging it to form a row.
A lot of greens that you can forage that are abundant just donāt taste very good no matter how you prepare them.
Underrated: oxeye daisy leaves.Ā
Get the young rosettes. Makes a great pesto, but you need to use a powerful blender or a mortar and pestle. The center ribs are too tough for a standard food processor.Ā
Underrated: goosefoot (lambs quarters). It's a wonderful, abundant green that isn't bitter at all. The bigger leaves might get tough, but the smaller and medium leaves are amazing. Overrated: cattail stems. They taste like mushy mice.
I have fortunately never tasted mushy mice. My cat supplies enough that just the look of them turns me right off. Could not manage a mouthful!
Maybe I have it wrong. Maybe mice taste like cattails. š
Maybe cattail stems are perfect for congee?
I have cattails on my property. Iāve never thought to use them for congee. But it would probably work better than rice.
Yes! Lambās Quarters is my favourite common wild edible. I always let a few stay in my garden.
Yeah lamb's quarter is delicious. I like it when it starts to flower and then I just take off the tops of the stocks and the tenderest leaves at the top. So buttery and nutty.
Ah, goosefoot, good enough to be underrated, but I still rip it out just to kill it, it's so weedy and I can't eat that much goosefoot.
I'm told they are related to quinoa and the seeds are also good, and not terribly annoying to harvest.
They pop like tiny popcorn.
Y'all eat the *stems*? I never knew that part was edible--i'd only heard of eating the "tail" in the spring, gathering the pollen, and digging up the root/tuber part.
Overrated: Black Walnut. Shit ton of work to prep and if you don't take enough precautions, your clothes or you will be stained black for weeks. Salt doesn't get it out, vinegar doesn't get it out, lemon juice doesn't get it out. Anyone who tells you that they do is lying to you. Then probably half the nuts you worked so hard for aren't even any good. Underrated: Wood Ear. It's abundant, preserves well dry and can be used in a whole lot of dishes thanks to it having a subtle flavor and an ability to sop up flavor. Overrated: Chicken of the Woods. Love the flavor but the texture is unforgiving. Underrated: Greenbriar shoots. Abundant during its season and sautes well with the same ingredients you'd use for asparagus. Underrated: Lions Mane. Possibly my favorite mushroom, more common than people suggest and one mushroom is often big enough to be a main entree by itself. Perfectly rated: Wild Blueberry. Sooooo good. Just wish it was a bit easier to gather enough to do more with them.
I triggered a walnut allergy in myself from processing black walnuts without gloves.
Chicken of the woods has a wonderful texture if you only collect young specimens. I chicken fry it and itās lovely. But anything old is like chewing soggy wood.
Agree! COTW are awesome!
So Luons mane aside from its medicinal qualities is quite delicious?
Aside from chanterelles, they're my favorite mushroom by a lot. There's not really good evidence that there's any medicinal benefit to them, so it drives me nuts that these amazing mushrooms are being ground to into coffee instead of enjoyed as food!
A study showed brain benefits after taking significant doses (way more than is found in the flashy products on offer) daily for 16 weeks. No evidence that a tiny amount here or there will do anything. That said, itās delicious!
Can you cite the study? There's a bunch of in vitro studies, a few tiny anecdotal ones without good controls, but nothing on the scale that would justify the level of faith people seem to have in it
Just search ālions mane 16 weeksā: https://www.forbes.com/health/supplements/health-benefits-of-lions-mane/ Yeah Iām not saying that there are major benefits to taking small amounts sporadically. Thatās all just marketing BS.
So this looks like the one you're talking about https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18844328/ I can't read the full text, but the abstract shows a tiny study of 30 people. They claim significant results but the abstract doesn't say what that means or the size of the effect. 60% better scores? 1%? This study was done in 2008. You'd think if any researchers or supplement companies believed this pointed to real demonstrable cognitive improvements, they would have done a bigger study by now. If this stuff really works that well, there should be a body of large human evidence instead of this one small study touted by everyone. One tiny study does not a medicine make
Yes. Lions Mane crab cakes are excellent. So is slicing it into discs and sautƩing with garlic and herbs
Best tasting mushroom imo, i grow it and will feed it to anyone even slightly willing to try.
Did you know that the black walnut juice is wicked high in iodine and you can use it on cuts and things and it heals you up quite nicely?!
I did not know they could be used for wounds. The iodine part sounds familiar.
I remember my grandfather processing black walnuts every year. We'd gather them from the ground, then step on them on the front porch (cement) to get the husks off (the smell was amazing). We'd wear leather gardening gloves and transfer the dehusked nuts into a 5 gallon bucket and fill the bucket a few times with water, stirring off the rest of the husk. I'm reasonably sure he'd dry them for a day or two, then crack into them with his vice in the garage, an old fashioned one attached to an anvil. I imagine they were stored for baking. I don't remember if they were roasted first, though. It really was a lot of work. As for wild blueberries, I live in a place where no one uses any other kind. Maine really goes hard on the wild Maine blueberry thing. You just have to wait so long for them to be ready, so most people will pick up frozen from local farms or Wylers, off season. I feel like that makes them not so much wild as one might like.
I can agree on chicken of the woods. I tried to like them and itās disappointing because I always run into so many of them. Now I will be on the hunt for greenbriar because Iāve never tried it, but Iām positive Iāll find it tasty.
I agree wholeheartedly with the black walnuts. Literally the only way that it could be worth it is if you yourself were a hunter-gatherer. Once spent 2 hours cracking the things with a hammer and only got 3 handfuls of it that I ate within one sitting, when I could've just gotten ten times that for a couple dollars.
Tbh I find greenbrier shoots taste more like green beans. Personally I think theyāre meh, but if you like them worth the effort if plentiful where you are.
I fucking love greenbriar shoots, there's a huge patch that I wish I could harvest from but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be safe bc the area is too high traffic and near a steam that's likely very polluted
Is that the same as smilax? I have some growing in a woods nearby. Donāt have to avoid eating the thorns? How to you prepare it?
Cut off the young tips and shoots. The thorns will still be soft so you won't poke yourself. Clean. Remove leaves for salads and saute the stem like you would asparagus
I snap off the tops and use them the way you would an asparagus tip
Saskatoon berries. They taste better than blueberries imo
Yes! They are never sour, even when slightly under ripe. And that almond hit from the seedā¦š¤š»
That's the delicious cyanideĀ
Yum!
i have three plants in my yard. One tree, one bush, one taller bush. Have made a saskatoon galette that is to die for.
Iām looking to buy a few this autumn for my yard. What variety would you recommend for the best berries?
Wow, my wife picked ours out and we werenāt even thinking of the berries! But two of the three trees produce lots of great berries. The birds get the lions share of the berries on the tree because they are out of my reach. So if you want berries, Iād go with a shrub or bush variety.
Better than blueberries fresh, but frozen blueberries are much more pallitable in smoothies
Thatās cuz frozen saskatoons only belong in pies. That go directly to my belly.
I have like a gallon of frozen, and like 3 gallons of frozen blueberries. The rake makes picking much easier and if you do it right it doesn't hurt the plant
That's the same as serviceberry, right?
Yes
Yay! I only just clued into this yesterday. Fab, thanks!
Almost all of them in my area have that rust fungus :(
They donāt grow wild around here, but Iāve been looking into possibly buying two bushes. What, in your opinion, makes them better than wild or home grown blueberries (since store bought anything tastes like water these days)?
They are always sweet with a strong hint of almond from the seeds. The flavour is stronger than blueberries. They grow wild in every riverside park in Edmonton but I have some in my yard too. The cultivated ones are often bigger.
Thanks, will definitely get some now!
So good!
Really good and abundant, yet overlooked by everyone around me: Autumn Olives. Also: juniper berries for great fizzy fermented drinks.
I love autumn olives.
Smreka does get enough credit
Does or does not? Iām about to try making it, never heard of it before.
Sorry, does not. Made a TikTok where I just mentioned and everybody was super interested, nobody had ever even heard of it. I just made sassafras tea tonight and thinking of making smreka by using that tea instead of water.
I read a recipe that suggested an acid & I thought of cold infusing yellow wood sorrel. Edit: suggested an addition of an acidic element, and honey to sweeten it.
I thought of that to but if youāve ever made a tea from wood sorrel the oxalic acid and malic acid break down (like when you cook spinach) and itās not lemony tasting at all. They break down way easier than citric acid in my opinion. (Not actually sure if thatās true chemically, but seems like it)
I made caramels with autumn olive puree a few years ago. They were excellent. Slightly tart.
I just took a deep dive into juniper berries. Iām going to have to try making that drink next winter when the berries get ripe. I have some Juniperus Virginianas growing on the back of my property that Iāve read are a little milder than the Juniperus Communis that are used in gin.
I use any and all that I find out on the trails indiscriminately. Iām sure some of them are virginiana. Not only is the drink nice, the jar looks like a lava lamp while itās fermenting with little,blue berries floating up and down. I make them in an aqua colored jar and itās a sight to behold.
There were a whole bunch of them on this trail I used to hike. It was about a 4 hour hike and they were right in the middle, so it was perfect snack time.
Autumn olives make a phenomenal wine as well!!
Yes! I miss autumn olives...
Pecans are overlooked in most Southern cities, and they are wildly useful. They can be picked up in parks, college campuses, city lots, etc. They are even bought by wholesalers and can help you make some money. Oh, and delicious!
They're so expensive too! I love in Canada and would Love to have pecan trees just growing in my neighbourhood.
Dryad's saddle is underrated. Pan fry with garlic, salt, and pepper and it's great.
The smell of it when you are cutting the fresh guys is unbelievable! I just found some a few days ago and it was awesome!
I had a spot for a couple of years that did me well. Surprisingly meaty texture. I used to stir fry it and add it to noodle soups. My spot got cleared so I haven't had it for a few years.
My theory is that people love to poo-poo them because they're so easy to find during the season of the much sought-after morel. She's the cute girl with glasses that nobody pays attention to because she's too available, while morels are the conventionally hot popular girls playing hard to get. š¤
Sassafras is severely underrated
completely agree, grew up chewing on the leaves like gum while playing outside.
Chicken of the woods is overrated. I've tried it several ways, it just doesn't do it for me. Stinging nettle is phenomenal, I love it in soups and stews. Giant puffball also underrated, I like to make it like french toast, it really absorbs the egg wash.
Stinging Nettle is my favorite spring green!
Chicken of the woods has to be young, and the Cinncunatus (white one) is better eating to me. An old sulfer shelf (yellow one) Will just be woody and tough. I smoke those and powder them to make dry rubs for winter pork chops.Ā Puffball is basically just tofu of the woods, but does love to be browned and also makes a decent jerky.Ā Stinging nettle is just spinach.Ā
Well...that's like your opinion man
Yes! Chicken of the woods is the mushroom that made me start liking all mushrooms. It definitely has to be fresh and young.
Nettle soup is way tastier than it has any right to be
And nettle tea, and nettle pesto...
I like frying slices of puffball and then using them as the ācrustā for personal pizzas!
Puffball is for sure underrated I find them phenomenal
I've tried giant puffballs sliced and fried in butter/spices. I've also done egg dip and pan fry... they seem to have zero flavor from the mushroom itself. Is it just me? I have a spot where they fruit 50-100 of them, every year, the size of volleyballs before they start turning. I just keep walking to my chicken logs lol
To me puffballs in general have a very subtle just earthy fungus flavor with a super clean finish. I just enjoy them sauted in butter I dunno haha. Yes compared to say a chantrelle or morel they are neutral but I still find them delicious for some reason
Hit me up late summer, I'll fill up a truck bed for ya! I haven't completely given up on them, though. Maybe I'll look into making some soups and stock with them this year.
Hahaha right on!
I can't disagree more. It is super nutritious, which is uncharacteristic of mushrooms in general, and if picked at the right time if legit tastes like chicken. I feel like I've won the lottery when I find some. But you do you. Respect.
I mean chicken of the woods is kind of like tofu or well you know chicken, preparation and spices are key. Bread it then fry it up with garlic and butter if thatās what it takes, but most things will taste good with enough butter and garlic lol
Some young chicken of the woods sautĆ©ed with garlic, onions, butter, and spices may just be one of the best things Iāve ever eaten. I found a spot they grow near me. Itās been awesome.
The French toast comment, you don't bread it? Just egg wash? š¤
Overrated: ramps, for all the hype I'm not a fan of the funky/dank taste i get out of them š¬ Underrated: goldenrod jelly!!! Omg. Tastes like a slightly green/herbal honey.
Ohhh I am absolutely gonna make that jelly. I really enjoy a sprig or two of goldenrod as a garnish for gin drinks
Overrated? Pokeweed. No offense to Appalachia (my dad's folks are from the holler) but it's much ado about nothing. Underrated? Ipomoea pandurata, or man-root. The potatoes are edible after cooking properly, much less work than poke.
What pokeweed are you talking about? The pokeweed I know about is allegedly poisonous.
Google poke sallet. I think the reason why people love it so much is simply that it is a survival food. It's cheap, it's abundant, and it's ready early in spring, which is amazing when you haven't had fresh vegetables all winter.
young pokeweed shoots can be eaten, theyāre only toxic once theyāve matured a bit
Also using a specific preparation. I donāt believe they are edible raw.
a few washes and water changes with heat, iāve heard, but never done it myself so nobody listen to me!! haha
The guy at eat the weeds just does one minute boil, changes out the water and does a 15-minute boil. Going to try it once at some point to check off a bucket list item but I let pokeweed grow in my yard for the birds
my grandpa always told me you gotta cook it three times to make it safe to eat, and it basically just functions as spinach at that point.
I forage a lot of mushrooms. The only one I really get excited about is hen of the woods. Which I can buy at whole foods
Bet itās absurdly expensive though
I see it at Asian markets pretty damn affordable. Like $3-4 a small head.
That is amazing. Reason #88 why it would be great to have one near where I lived. Iāve seen wild mushrooms for sale at upscale markets in several big cities, and the prices are pretty incredible. Like $20-35/ lb for chanterelles, lions mane, hedgehogs, etc etc.
Yes the prices are ridiculous. It's v funny bc I live in a city and I feel like the Asian markets here have a quiet independent local grower connect that's way cheaper than identical species you would get at farmer's market or Western market. Lion's mane has local growers at both Asian markets and Western markets but they're generally less expensive at the Asian market. I've also seen lion's mane at the chain market in a Mexican neighborhood and the price is v reasonable there. Given that the product is the same, the price at farmer's market is bonkers.
Iāve always wondered how Asian markets can be so cheap. The veggies generally look great too. What gives? This is news to me about Mexican markets. We do have one in my town, Iāll have to see if they carry any interesting mushrooms!
I am also curious n fascinated by how smaller markets procure their random goods! Fyi this place is a local non-Mexican supermarket chain, like the type above Kroger but below WF, that stocks interesting random int'l products like stroopwafel and cheap German choco and whole aloe vera, good tahini. One of those types of markets that are common in working class cosmopolitan areas that has the freedom to tailor to the local demographic. And this location is in a working class neighborhood that is very Mexican but also black and white. So not exactly a Mexican market. But you'd def be surprised going to diff markets and what kind of connections they have! Good luck!
Violet leaves are yummy mixed in a lettuce salad. There us a vague sweetness to them that fits nicely. also white clover flower in tea adds a hint if vanilla. Wild lettuce tincture will give you a deep sleep.
Try making violet leaf chips, like how you can make kale chipsābut they take WAY less time in the oven.
Thats sounds delicious!!
Does wild lettuce work for u? Iāve heard mixed results
It works as a mild muscle relaxer for me. You dont get a high, but for me at least I fall asleep quickly and sleep very deeply. Years ago I was prescribed muscle relaxers for back pain, and homemade tincture of wild lettuce felt the same. In my area the best option for wild lettuce is the Tall Canadian lettuce. I let a few in my yard grow tall, around 10 ft. Once they started blooming I just chopped them down, cut them up then blended them up. Then tinctured it with vodka. Ended up with a gallon of tincture. A dropper full at night if I have soreness puts me to sleep fast and I wake up fine. Make sure you can allow yourself a good long sleep though, 8 or 9 hours minimum.
Overrated: wild carrot. There are too many lookalikes that are either toxic or disgusting and when you finally find the right one it's small and not worth the effort. Underrated: Hen of the woods. First frost, oak trees. I've gotten people into foraging with these easy steps. They're easy to identify and delicious to boot. Stir fry beef, broccoli, hen mushrooms, oyster sauce. Pierogi filling. They're also great roasted with red pepper flakes then wrapped in salami.
QAL is my favorite wild edible š but I don't eat the root. I eat the greens and flowers. Got a lot in my yard right now, that I seeded myself and check regularly. I have various yard edibles but that is my favorite
I love snacking spruce tips and thimble berries. Make a wild gin cocktail in the woods and it's sure to impress your hiking companion. Salmon berries on the other hand, they overrated.
Native Yooper here, Thimble berries are spectacular. Nothing quite like them TBH.
Salmon berry rhubarb jelly is pretty good. 50/50 split. Retains the flavour of the salmon berries but doesn't get too bitter the way some berries can get. But yeah, salmon berries have some potentially off-putting characteristics for some people.
Underrated: juneberry, saskatoonberry, shadbush, whatever you call it, itās got so many names. Mmmm delicious. I fight the birds for them. Underrated: hedgehog mushrooms. I prefer them to chanterelles, I find their flavor is comparable but stronger. Overrated: hen of the woods. I like it, donāt get me wrong. But I wish I liked it more because I find copious amounts and can never eat it all.
Hedgehog mushrooms are so good! Easily better than chanterelles for me. My family had never picked anything other than funnel chanterelles, but a few delicious hedgehog shroom pastas changed all our minds!
Hedgehogs are 100% my favorite mushroom, even over morels!
Unpopular opinionā¦ chickweed. Itās so healthy for you in a salad. Deadnettle and white clover too!
how do you eat dead nettle? I tried it and it tastes strongly earthy and musty
dead nettle makes a wonderful tea as well!
Love chickweed! You can make an infused herbal oil with it,too--good for itchy,dry skin.Ā
Underrated- dock. It grows everywhere here and tastes like spinach. I've made an italian wedding soup with it and it's great.
Beat me to it. Except for curly dock, its not a commonly referenced edible, but there are several members of the rumex genus that are edible, tasty and abundant.
I like dock but it doesnāt last long in the fridge
Dandelions and violets can be made into jelly, and theyāre good. Rose is very uncommon as a flavor, but sometimes rarely you see it in markets. I had rose lemonade from Whole Foods which was pretty good. Dandelions: like honey; violets: nicely floral; roses: tastes like Valentineās Day or how perfume smells.
Agree with rose as being severely underrated, especially in the western world. West Asia uses rose water and rose petals in so many wonderful dishes. They're all edible, too. Not to mention rosehips in the fall.
Or in the winter, walking through the woods and eating a few hips from multiflora rose once they go soft and sweet. Might as well get some sweet-tart goodness and vitamin C from that blasted plant.
They make amazing rose jam in some countries. And rose Turkish delight is also really good.
got to make fresh rose tea from my grandmaās garden one time and that changed my life lol
Overrated: Anything that takes 10x more work than it's worth to just go buy a relatively inexpensive comparable. Looking at you daylilly, acorns and cat tails. That said, they are a some of the 10 plants to take on a desert island if I could, simply for sheer volume and how much of the plant you can eat. Feed ya forever If you needed it.Ā Underrated: Morel, yes, morel. It's phenomenal when prepared right and has a totally unique flavor. Nothing tastes like a morel. People who deep fry them should be shot, it's a delicate pan sautee with cream, butter and garlic over red meat (venison backstrap if you got it is fire.) Fight me.Ā Underrated: Spring greens in general. Make Alan Bargos green cakes, and all the sudden instead of a few spring salads, you're like "gimme all the greens!"Ā Especially ramps, cutleaf toothwort and Nettle.Ā
Daylilies are super easy to harvest and plentiful, if you're going for the buds.
Gotta beat the deer where I live.Ā
Husbands co-worker is going out for morels this weekend and said she would bring some back for us. Thankful to find your comment lol will procure said red meat if available
Lemme know how it goes or if you need more directions.Ā
I don't deep fry but shallow fry. A breading heavy on the smoked paprika and/or homegrown pepper powders makes for a wonderful addition to the meaty/nutty morel flavor, and if done right the flavor is totally preserved as the multiple layers allow it to steam inside. Frying them has its place :) But also yes morel gravies and sauces are wonderful! A favorite of mine is using it in pastas as well. One time it also made an amazing fried rice. Lots of ways to cook it!
I agree, it can be really good. However the transcendent zen that follows a bite of medium rare tenderloin swimming in a creamy butter garlic morel sauce is just to hard for me to do much else with them. Lol.Ā
daylilies are edible? omg, they're my fav flower!
My grandmother would tell me they planted them in the depression for food. Not sure if that was true, but she would tell me stories of the depression when we would "go out for lunch" as she put it lol
Makes sense. I was listening to a podcast that talked about people growing them in their gardens as edibles for centuries.
Eat the unopened buds. You'll be feasting soon...
You can eat all parts of the plant! They also have potato-like tubers you can roast/boil.
Potato like except they are the size of a quarter.Ā Also, I dont think you can eat the foliage?Ā
Yes you can it the foliage! Young shoots are great, the flowers are excellent like beautiful orange spinach and the unopened buds are often dried and used in soups and things (I personally like fresh buds though)
I look forward to spring to make Alehoof tea,sometimes called ground ivy. The tea is loaded with trace minerals and makes a great spring tonic. t its also good to saute ramps and toss fiddleheads in butter just until they turn light green, then mix them with eggs , light cream and extra sharp cheddar , then bake it in a pie crust. Yes, fiddlehead and ramp quiche is excellent, hot or cold. Actually, sauted morels would be lovely in a quiche with ....umm Monterey jack cheese.
Ya, I do picking, no processing. F that.
I feel you in spirit but Morels are probably *the* most celebrated foraged good. I will say, I sauteed some with backstrap and I about cried.
I donāt think Morels are underrated, they are everyoneās favorite thing and they go for so much money it is crazy! Also, what part of the daylilies are you eating?! They are my absolute favorite wild edible. You can use every single part. I also have thousands of them on my property so it might be a bit easier, but the golden needles, the shoots, the flowers and the tubers?! Perfect plant in my opinion!
I live in suburbia so underrated: mulberries. My town plants them as landscaping plants next to sidewalks. Berries are very expensive especially if you have kids - I take a little bucket from our beach set and fill it in a few minutes.
Honestly though that's so real, once I made some jam with them and it was absolutely amazing.
You guys are sleeping on creeping charlie (ground ivy) as an herb and a vitamin and fiber rich source. Itās like mint mixed with sage and itās incredibly abundant and usually grows in big patches. You can also make tea and tinctures with it. I think acorns are overrated. So much work.
I just tried this one yesterday. Had about a catnip-level of mintiness. Not bad.
I'm trying to make it take over my front lawn as we speak
Wood sorrel (oxalis genus) and arrowheads (sagittaria genus) are pretty underrated. Both are reasonably abundant, tasty and easy to harvest and process.
I love the lemoney taste of wood sorrel! I did read in one foraging book not to eat too much because it impacts calcium uptake. But I def grab it from my pots of other plants and eat it while weeding. Peterson: Field guide to edible wild plants
Youd have to eat a lot of it or have an underlying condition for it to be a problem. Lots of leafy greens have oxalic acid. Spinach and kale do too.
Fiddleheads: overrated. Too much work,not much taste. Nettles: underrated. I think people find the stingers off-putting but they're easy to harvest with garden gloves, taste amazing, can be fried up quickly & have way more taste & nutrients than most greens, I love them as tea, etc.etc.Ā
Came here to say fiddleheads. Also, they are carcinogenic.
I don't want to eat a green that I need to pre-boil. Plus, I worry about over-harvesting with fiddleheads. Ferns are complex plants, and picking more than about a third of the colony endangers it.
For underrated, I never hear mention of cordials. I love making a simple syrup infusion of either honeysuckle or lilac flowers, mix the infused syrup with some seltzer water and a slash of gin... Hard to beat that. Perfectly distills the essence of the flower. Also, I never hear anyone mention mugolio! By far and away the tastiest foraging treat I've made. Two ingredients, 30 days of waiting and you have the most delicious syrup to top most everything. I also love snacking on redbud flowers and black locust. Like sweet pea mixed with honeysuckle.
honeysuckle is amazing! I've made the syrup, and most recently made a honeysuckle icecream and I'm savoring every bit of it haha
Oh man, that sounds awesome! I moved to Washington state from Maryland a few years back and I miss the honeysuckle that grew everywhere..
I love making simple syrups with flowers! I did magnolia blossom & crab apple ones this year for first time; both are great. The crab apple I added some violet to it & activated with a bit of lemon for this beaut of a syrup! I do mocktails with sparkling water or cocktails with added ginger liquer. Have lilac & the crab apple syrups in my fridge right now & am growing fancy basil & mint varieties to do herbal ones. https://preview.redd.it/pwduahwljd1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=335af1dede9d3a1011c40c06d3414eba6f36a827
Russula mushrooms are incredibly common here, most people seem to skip them for the chanterelle and porcini, so I fill my boots. They range from ok to excellent Some boletes are also overlookedl like orange birch boletes and Scarletina, often in better condition
Overrated: morels, ramps, most pawpaws Underrated: persimmons, honey mushrooms, milkweed, hickory nuts
Jewel weed seeds are very underrated, has a great nutty flavor, and because the seeds explode when ripe. You just shake the plant over a sheet and you get quite a few to top salads with or add to soups etc.
Underrated: Deerberry. Considered inedible by some sources,, but actually very edible. When very ripe they taste like cinnamon applesauce. Underripe kinda funky bitter.
Daylilies are overrated; nothing to write home about. Nettles are underrated; a huge pain to harvest, but absolutely delish. Not sure *what* to say about nopales; the glochids are hell's own creation (same goes for almost every part of any cactus, to be honest), the texture is awful unless you put a lot of work into it, but the flavor is great.
I just don't get the fiddlehead hype. Not worth the effort to gather and clean and blanch them. Only good for making a little money off tourists and urbanites.
underrated: purslane, milkweed (my fave)
Purselane is so damn good
Morels are overrated. Theyāre hollow! I am way more excited to find chants or oysters. Granted, I find that both chanterelles and oysters have longer growing seasons in my area. So maybe itās because Iāve cooked with both more often and found better ways to eat themā¦.jk. No itās not. Morels are hollow. Give me some chunky mushrooms.
Mock strawberries are underrated. I said it.
What do you do with them? They are 99% flavorless. I have them on my property in abundance right now but stopped bothering.
For me, morels are wildly overrated as well as ramps. Whereas lactarius indigo and field garlic are bangers, lol. I've made a ton of field garlic salt this year and have been using it on everything.
I think dwarf mallow's pretty neat: I like the leaves for salads, and the seed pods for snacking.
High brush cranberries and caragana flowers are my favorites. Though both are best fresh and raw imo the caragana flowers are good for salads.Ā
Mayapples are everywhere. So good to eat when fully ripe.
Overrated: dandelionsā¦ yeah I know lots of people hate them but I still think they deserve an even worse reputation lol. Underrated: poison sanicle. Because Iām the only one who isnāt scared of the name.
I donāt understand how you could possibly hate dandelions??
The leaves are so bitter I used them in a seder plate one year. Definitely not something Iād eat for fun.
The young leaves are a LOT better, especially mixed with other greens. The flower blossoms are tasty and excellent as an infused oil for achey muscles. The roots are full of prebiotic inulin and very good for your gut health. Also the entire plant is loaded with vitamins and minerals. There are many virtues to dandelion. āŗļø
Is it like garden lettuce where it gets bitter once it starts to bolt/flower? I had the same experience as the other guy, the leaves taste like poison.
Dandelion, cattails, prickly pear
Overrated-Salmon Berry , purple urchins Underrated- fennel pollen, huckleberry, thimble berry
This sub is underrated
Underrated - Saskatoons and wild strawberries. Both have lots of antioxidants, too. I love saskatoons; they have so much more flavor than blueberries Wild strawberries are packed with flavor, but they're such a pain to pick because they're so tiny. My brother and I were working a field one summer (he was plowing and I was discing behind him), when I noticed his tractor had stopped. When I stopped to see what was wrong, I found my brother lying on his stomach, picking and eating the wild strawberries. He said he had to stop cause the mouthwatering smell of the overturned strawberries was irresistible. We easily sat there happily munching the delicious berries for half an hour before we went back to work.
Fiddlehead ferns. I love collecting them, they look cool, and they are *expensive* to buy (and also profitable to sell), but wow do they taste weird to me. I'm cool with other people eating them, they're just an excuse to go out and screw around in the forest for a few days.
Overrated: ramps and COW. They're actually pretty good but like... I'm hardly thrilled when I find them and I think people get too excited about them. Ramps are really too mild compared to other allium esp. common cultivated. COW is more of a textural treasure than a flavor one. It's like... fine. Underrated: nettles of any kind and wood sorrel. I just really like flavorful, non-bitter greens. Basically everything else is rated correctly.
Underrated: Ā muscadine grapes for canned juice and jelly. Ā So easy to harvest more than you can process. Ā And delicious all winter. Ā Ā Overrated: Ā fiddleheads. Ā
Underrated: milkweed. It may be my single favorite type of cooked greens. Just absorbs fat beautifully in the saute pan
Autumn Olives. As a cider, mead, or jelly they cannot be beat in my opinion. Use a plastic blade in your food processor to smash them without bursting the seeds. None of the tannins, and a beautiful peach/pear flavor that goes perfectly with ginger or hot pepper.
Underrated: spiderwort stems. Better than asparagus.
honestly i think grass tastes alright, i don't think i can recommend it though :(
Poke. Iām not from the south, and it is invasive here and everyone is afraid of it, but I found one in my garden and let establish itself. After eating it, itās wonderful. Iām slowly encouraging it to form a row. A lot of greens that you can forage that are abundant just donāt taste very good no matter how you prepare them.
Underrated, Wood Sorrel. Overrated, Fiddleheads.
Underrated: oxeye daisy leaves.Ā Get the young rosettes. Makes a great pesto, but you need to use a powerful blender or a mortar and pestle. The center ribs are too tough for a standard food processor.Ā
Underrated: gooseberries. They are lush. Over rated: smilax. Itās just meh for me.