What a lovely morning visiting with Andre’s old roommate,
Mark, in Wicker Park. We strolled
the streets, and I pointed out all the greens I saw along the way—purselane
(apparently Gandhi’s favorite food), dandelion, plantain, lambsquarter. I realized I’m constantly on the hunt
for food, not necessarily to pick, but merely to take in the cornucopia that
exists around me. When we pull
over for a break from driving, I look around the grass. When walking through the neighborhood,
I look in sidewalk cracks and front yards. When you take the time to notice, you see so much!
We arrived at Britt’s house (an expert mushroom enthusiast, more to come about him in the book)
just before sunset and spent the evening talking mushrooms over a gourmet meal
of curried turkey salad, delicious meat stew, and green bean casserole. This wasn’t the sort of green bean
casserole typically served at holidays in the Midwest (canned beans, cream of
mushroom soup, and those fried onion bits that come in a can). Instead, it was a wonderful casserole
made from fresh beans just harvested from his garden, topped with foraged white
chanterelles that were simmered in cream, then the whole thing was baked until
it was lightly golden. I had
seconds of everything, and maybe thirds of the casserole.
The following morning, after a coffee, breakfast, and then
lunch (we ate like kings at his place), he offered to let us forage in his
garden. We harvested 3 pumpkins, two were for the kids we were planning to
visit in the coming days, a handful of chard and kale, a tomato, and a few
onion greens. We still had so much
fresh produce from our dive, but I couldn’t resist picking a few things. I was most excited about the amaranth
seeds, which I’ll winnow and try mixing into the blend of other seeds that I
have recently harvested to whip up a batch of wild seed and acorn flour
crackers. I’ll keep you posted on
how they turn out, and if they’re good, a recipe will follow!
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