Battle of the Blands

When I was just beginning to learn the ways of the wild edible world, it seemed like every green needed to be "boiled, in two changes of water," to make it palatable. That sounds so British! If you boil a veg in two changes of water, what's left, nutrition-wise, except dietary fiber? Much better idea: learn which greens are palatable in their raw state, or minimally processed.

Last week we learned about Lamb's Quarters: nutritional rock stars that are nonetheless easy-going on our Western palates. Today, we're going to meet five new greens, prepared in three ways: raw, boiled, and sautéed in butter.

Steven declares, "sautéed in butter is always going to win." Let's see!

First let's try my recent discovery, Lady's Thumb. Verdict?

RAW: Bland, a filler, like white rice

BOILED: Better, chewy, slightly vinegary

SAUTEED: Tough, slightly vinegary, a good "delivery system" for butter, but not much else.

Now on to two of my oldest friends, Narrow and Broad-leafed (or Common) plantain.

It's kind of hard to believe these two guys are related, isn't it? (Don't forget to consult one or more field guides for positive identification!)

Raw, both are chewy and mushroomy, with the Broad-leaf variety having the better texture, in my opinion. (The plants shown above, already in flower, are pretty tough and past their prime; the mushroomy, woodsy flavor of young plantain leaves are, to my sensibility, one of Nature's delights.)

Boiled, both are a little mushroomy, a little lemony, but unpleasantly textured. Sautéed, the Narrow-leafed entry is clearly superior: spinachy, mushroomy, and much less tough.

Our next contender, Dock, is pictured above. Like the plantain, raw dock is much better when the leaves are young and tender, before the flower stalk appears. But even in early summer, you can find tender, lemony young leaves. Boiled, the greens still taste lemony, but become flimsy. I could imagine them making a wonderful soup base. The sautéed greens become even more sour; Steven declared them "interesting."

Finally: Burdock stem. These huge plants grow taller than me, and their fuzzy leaves can be longer than my forearm.

What you're looking for, though, is the flower stalk. Cut it off, cut off the leaves, and peel the stalk. You'll get a chewy, crunchy, pleasantly woodsy treat. Boiled, the same tidbit becomes tough and tasteless. It's sautéed that burdock stem really shines. It's crunchy but not fibrous or chewy; slightly bitter in a pleasant way.

The winners? For raw greens, I'm declaring young Broadleaf Plantain the champion. For boiled, greens, I'm intrigued by the potential of Dock as a soup base; I'll look into it and get back to you in the future.

Sautéed in butter: Burdock stem is the winner, hands-down. This experiment has also made me curious about the potential for Burdock stem as pickles. Another possibility to explore for a future post!