u/joross31

I have some American Black Nightshade (Solanum americanum) growing wild in my yard. The berries are edible when completely ripe and it was my first time trying them and the taste really does remind me of tomatoes crossed with blueberries. I decided to use the very small harvest I had to make a raw scallop dish. Added some sliced wild fennel, olive oil, and salt to a scallop tartare and served that surrounded by a juice of the nightshade mixed with a bit of lemon and elderflower syrup (also homemade). Garnished with a wild radish flower, nasturtium petal, elderflowers, and a few whole black nightshade berries.

I have some American Black Nightshade (Solanum americanum) growing wild in my yard. It was my first time trying them and the taste really does remind me of tomatoes crossed with blueberries. I decided to use the very small harvest I had to make a raw scallop dish. Added some sliced wild fennel, olive oil, and salt to a scallop tartare and served that surrounded by a juice of the nightshade mixed with a bit of lemon and elderflower syrup. Garnished with a wild radish flower, nasturtium petal, elderflowers, and a few whole black nightshade berries. I included a few pics of the nightshade plant, as well as some of the other foraged ingredients and process. Located in California.

I have some American Black Nightshade (Solanum americanum) growing wild in my yard. It was my first time trying them and the taste really does remind me of tomatoes crossed with blueberries. I decided to use the very small harvest I had to make a raw scallop dish. Added some sliced wild fennel, olive oil, and salt to a scallop tartare and served that surrounded by a juice of the nightshade mixed with a bit of lemon and elderflower syrup (also homemade). Garnished with a wild radish flower, nasturtium petal, elderflowers, and a few whole black nightshade berries. I included a few pics of the nightshade plant, as well as some of the other foraged ingredients and process.

The Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) grows all over where I am and every spring they send out beautiful new tips that also happen to be delicious with a citrusy pine note.  I’ve used them a few times over the last couple of years and thought I’d share the dishes I’ve made here.

California Bay Laurel and Redwood Salmon with Sunchoke Puree, Lemon, and Radish (the redwood tips are blended in the seasoning on the salmon)

Warm Chestnut Mushroom Salad with Pea Shoots, Redwood Jelly, Pickled Shallots, Dandelion Petals, and Nasturtiums

Redwood Ice Cream with White Chocolate Pine Nut Shell and Dehydrated Raspberry Powder

Redwood White Chocolate Truffles and Candy Cap Dark Chocolate Truffles (they are rolled in a variety of things mixed with powdered sweetener including passion fruit, blue spirulina, matcha, and pitaya)

Season Lollipops (also includes pine nuts, pansy, and dandelion)

I foraged some stinging nettles and blended them along with some spinach (for a bit more color) into a cake and crumbled that to serve along with the blackberry mousse and pistachio crumble. Garnished with whole and sliced blackberries, piped jam and lemon gel as well as some lemon verbena leaves, calendula petals, and pansy petals from my garden.

I posted a couple of other stinging nettle dishes and thought I’d also share the dessert I made with them today. I tried to plate it two ways and I think I like the oval shaped one best. I blended the nettles along with some spinach into a cake and crumbled that to serve along with the mousse and pistachio crumble. Garnished with whole and sliced blackberries, piped jam and gel as well as some lemon verbena leaves and pansy petals from my garden. I also included a process photo of the assembly while the mousses were thawing.

Slender Stinging Nettle (Urtica gracilis) grows in abundance near the waterways in my area. It tastes like spinach with a nutty note. I picked a bunch of the young leaves and used them to make several dishes:

Seared Scallops with Nettle and Corn Puree, Radish, Madeira Wine Poached Garlic, Miner's Lettuce, and California Poppy Petals

Nettle and Sunchoke Soup with Crème Fraîche, Fried Sunchoke Chips, and Fried Nettle Leaves

White Wine Poached Sole with Nettle Soubise and Three Cornered Leek Oil (garnished with sticky monkey flowers, wild radish flowers, sheep sorrel, and tuiles)

Made this back during our heatwave and really enjoyed it so thought I'd share what I did. Most of the components for this can be made ahead for easy and quick assembly. And you can often find premade fried shallots, if you want to skip that step. I like the ones from Trader Joes since they are only shallots, oil, and salt. Also included a picture of how I took the photo (on a little printed background on a table beside a window with natural light).

Ingredients:

Pickled Apricots:

4 ounces dried apricots

1/3 cup red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup sweetener (I used allulose to make it lower sugar)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon pickled mustard seeds, optional

Fried Shallots:

1 cup avocado oil

4 shallots, sliced thin (ensure they are cut to an even thickness so that they all cook at the same rate and you don’t end up with any burned pieces)

salt, to taste

Pistachio Pesto Vinaigrette:

1 cup lightly-packed fresh basil leaves (reserve a handful for garnish)

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

1 clove garlic, peeled

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground

1/3 cup olive oil

zest of one Meyer lemon

2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

2 tablespoons white balsamic, or more lemon juice

1 teaspoon sweetener

Water, as needed to adjust consistency

Salad:

6 cups arugula

1/2 cup roasted pistachios, roughly chopped

6 ounces mortadella, torn

8 ounces burrata, torn

Instructions:

For the Pickled Apricots:

Combine the vinegar, sweetener, salt, chili flakes, and mustard seeds in a microwave safe glass container (or in a small pot on the stove). Bring to a boil and then stir to mix. Add the apricots and press to make sure they are all submerged. Let cool completely and then cover and refrigerate until needed (can be made one week ahead and kept refrigerated). Allow to pickle at least a few hours and preferably overnight. 

For the Shallots:

Add the avocado oil and shallots to a small pot (Use a light color pot so that you can easily see the color of the shallots as they cook.) and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a fork to ensure even cooking. The shallots will begin bubbling and will simmer slowly in the oil. When the amount of bubbling reduces and the shallots are a straw color, begin stirring more often and cook until rich golden brown. Remove the pot from the heat. Transfer the shallots from the oil to a paper towel to drain excess oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and set aside. Keep the oil after cooking as it makes delicious salad dressing or cooking oil where you want to add onion flavor. It will last for several weeks refrigerated.

For the Pistachio Pesto Vinaigrette:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend oh high until smooth. Adjust consistency to desired thickness with water and then adjust seasoning to taste with more vinegar, salt, or sweetener as needed. Can be made a day or two ahead and kept refrigerated.

For the Salad:

Toss the arugula with the dressing (start with half the dressing and add more as needed - you want to lightly coat the leaves or else they will all stick together). Transfer to a serving plate. Add the mortadella and burrata cheese then sprinkle with the pistachios. Roughly chop the pickled apricots and scatter them on top. Finally, sprinkle with fried shallots and extra basil leaves. Serve immediately.