A Wild Salad!

Last night I asked my husband to bring in a few beet greens for a dinner salad. I was cooking - frozen pizza and salad. >-) What he came back with was the most *wild* and creative salad I've ever eaten!

All of the ingredients came from our yard. Most were grown intentionally in our garden. A few were grown *wildly* in the grass. Here are the green ingredients: New Zealand spinach (does well in the heat), loveage, beet greens, dandelion greens (*wild* - aka weed), purple basil, regular basil, lamb's quarter (*wild*), oregano, tarragon, plantain (*wild*). Here are the edible flower petals: marigold, calendula, cilantro, and geranium.

The salad tasted wonderful! We had it with a vinegar/oil/herbed vinaigrette. Now, I don't think the average American palette would immediately enjoy this...but I loved it! It was such an acrobatic event for my mouth. The oregano was very peppery. The tarragon and basil tasted like licorice. The dandelion and beet greens were bitter. The flower petals added an interesting texture. It all blended together nicely!

How does this relate to tea? Well, I'd like to say that I had a nice glass of iced tea with dinner. But I didn't - I had water. >-)

PS - A word to the wise: Don't try this at home unless you're really sure what you'll forage is safe. My husband is more plant than human, so we're cool with that. In addition, only eat weeds that are "grown" pesticide-free. There are some super-nasty lawn chemicals out there.