Fresh Wild Spring Salad
Recipe provided by Calvin De Jong
This salad was made with mostly all wild foraged food from Lumby BC. Plus one store-bought cucumber. There's nothing like a fresh spring salad full of nutrients to help replenish lost nutrients the body experiences throughout winter when it typically doesn't get enough.
Ingredients
-
2 cups fresh wild watercress
-
1 cup fresh violet flowers
-
1 cup fresh violet leaves
-
1.5 cups dandelion leaves
-
1 cup fresh dandelion flowers
-
1 small field cucumber
I never used dressing in this recipe, but one can add their favorite dressing, I find a light balsamic vinaigrette dressing goes well with this fresh-tasting salad or an olive oil dressing with fresh lemon and a hint of salt and pepper. I even add some goat cheese to it if I'm feeling ambitious.
When harvesting wild food one should make sure to only harvest in areas that are free from environmental contamination. The last thing you want to do is ingest some wild food that is full of heavy metals and other toxins.
​
Places I foraged for the ingredients.
​
The watercress was harvested in a natural spring runoff outside of Vernon BC.
The violet flowers and leaves were harvested in a meadow near Lumby BC.
I found the dandelion flowers and leaves growing in an old logging cut block.
The cucumber was bought from our local Co-Op store.
​