Introducing a foraged wild greens recipe that you will want to make every spring. Garlic mustard grows abundantly in nature and has a long history for use as food and medicine. This garlic mustard recipe is easy and nutritious.
It really is exciting to experiment with wild edible weeds. I shared what I learned about garlic mustard in this blog post. Watch the video below for how to prepare garlic mustard.
Why Should We Eat Garlic Mustard?
Garlic mustard grows so prolifically that it is considered an invasive species in North America, as it crowds out native plants and disrupt diversity of the natural forrest. On the other hand, garlic mustard is non-toxic to humans. The wild greens are high in vitamin A, vitamin C, trace minerals, chlorophyll and enzymes. Consuming this edible weed is a win-win, good for humans as a food source and also good for the ecosystem.
How to Harvest Garlic Mustard
I like to pull the entire garlic mustard plant out by the root in the spring. At this time, the plant is either flowering or right before flowering, but it has not grown seeds. Removing the whole plant will curb the spread of garlic mustard.
When taking the whole plant, we also keep it alive for a longer period of time. I will pick the leaves and the shoots when I get home right before cooking to enjoy the freshest greens.
How to Prepare Garlic Mustard
You probably have read that the whole plant is edible. So I tried them all and here are my findings.
My favourite part of the plant is the shoot. That’s the top of the plant where the bulbs and flowers grow. Simply snap the top as far as you can go down, like how you would snap the asparagus. If the stem doesn’t break easily, it’s too fibrous to eat. You will want to keep only the most tender portion.
The leaves are also delicious and provide for the bulk of a dish. Pick the vibrant green leaves individually off of the stems.
Although the roots do smell like horseradish, in my experience they are too tough to eat. I tried to pulse them in a blender, the texture resembles the wood pulp. I also find the most part of the stems too tough as well.
I boiled the greens slightly to get rid of the bitter taste. Then I made a simple sauté with the shoots and leaves. This garlic mustard recipe is so tender and tastes like sautéed spinach.
Sautéed Garlic Mustard Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound garlic mustard shoots and leaves
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add garlic mustard into the pot and cook for 3 minutes.
- Drain the garlic mustard in a colander. Gently squeeze out excess water.
- In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add minced garlic and stir until fragrant. Add boiled garlic mustard and salt, then stir another 4 minutes or until tender.
Video
Nutrition
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