Often, admiring the elegance of our favorite plants, we do not even suspect that we could use them for practical purposes, for example, as ingredients for country dinners. You can color the taste of familiar dishes and surprise friends with the help of the most ordinary “tenants” of the garden.
1. Bistorta officinalis
Bistorta officinalis provides both tops and roots for culinary creativity. Since September, large roots with a slightly astringent taste have been used for vegetable casseroles with cheese, but first they are cut into thin slices and soaked overnight in water.
From May to the end of August, the leaves are added instead of spinach to salads and other dishes made from leafy vegetables, and since August, nutty-flavored seeds are harvested, which are germinated in winter to obtain fresh greens or eaten immediately.
2. Pulmonaria officinalis
Juicy tender young leaves of Pulmonaria officinalis, collected before the beginning of May, are an excellent component of spring salads. Until August, they can be combined with spinach, added to vegetable dishes, soups and sauces, fried in batter in a deep fryer.
Fresh flowers will decorate cottage cheese with herbs, and dried ones will become a pleasant component of tea mixes.
Important: Pulmonaria officinalis adds a light cucumber note to all dishes.
3. Achillea millefolium
Achillea millefolium has a spicy, nutmeg-like taste. Young basal leaves (in early spring), soft leaves directly under the inflorescences (until September) and buds (from June to July) can be used as a seasoning for vegetable dishes and salads, as well as in the manufacture of salt and oil with spices, pasta dough and even vinegar. Flowers can be added to tea.
4. Ajuga reptans
From the beginning of the season until July, young leaves, buds and flowers of Ajuga reptans can be used as a tart seasoning for fried dishes and potato snacks. They taste quite sharp and even bitter, so they should be mixed into salads or cottage cheese with herbs in limited quantities.
Ajuga reptans can be added to dishes undergoing heat treatment (soups, purees, stews, vegetable fillings, cutlets, casseroles, omelets) in a larger volume.
5. Hylotelephium telephium
The tender tips of Hylotelephium telephum shoots are harvested from April to June, and large juicy leaves are also harvested during flowering. Usually they are used in salads, but first do not forget to remove the transparent thin skin — then the taste will be more pleasant. Add the tips of shoots and leaves of Hylotelephium telephum to vegetable dishes (spinach salads and stews), and passing them through a juicer, get the basis for multivitamin juice.
Important: the taste of Hylotelephium telephium resembles a mixture of kiwi with bell pepper.
6. Solidago canadensis
From May to June, young shoots of Solidago canadensis (upper 20 cm) are harvested. The light green inner part of the young stems is used for food. They go into salads, potato casseroles, they can be stewed and fried with vegetables.
Tip: it is important to thoroughly clean the stems, as the skin and leaves are slightly bitter.
The cooked tops of the shoots taste like green beans. From the moment of flowering until October, tart tea with a honey note can be brewed from fresh Solidago canadensis flowers.
7. Calamintha nepeta
Calamintha nepeta will give the dishes a pleasant aroma, reminiscent of a mixture of oregano and mint. Fresh leaves and tips of shoots of the plant are collected from May to August, they are put in tea and cold drinks.
From July to September, the small flowers of the plant are used as an edible decoration for various dishes.
8. Betonica officinalis
From May to July, tender shoots and young leaves of Betonica officinalis are good as an additive to spinach salad, soups and vegetable dishes. Their taste is quite sharp, and the aroma is light mushroom.
9. Lythrum salicaria
The tops of the shoots and leaves of Lythrum salicaria are planed into salads, and the lemonades infused on them acquire a fruity note. Until mid—June, peeled shoots are used boiled or fried, and salted and slightly fried in oil are served with potatoes.
Important: in spring and early summer, they taste vaguely like prunes.
10. Alchemilla vulgaris
Small soft light green shredded leaves of Alchemilla vulgaris are added to salads from May to July, and large leaves are used for cooking vegetable fillings, casseroles and cutlets.
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