New! Improved! Better! Bigger! Faster!
The weeds are none of these. Here they are again: The same old weeds. With the same flavors and textures and tastes. Unimproved. Giving us the same optimum nutrition. Not better. Not bigger. And not even faster, global warming not withstanding.
We have been trained to be consumers, to want to buy things. We have been led to believe that there must be progress, development, change. We tell ourselves that new is better than old. Certainly the car I have now requires far fewer repairs than the first cars I had. My computer is faster and has a much bigger memory. (Ditto for my smart phone.) Progress can be wonderful and it has made the average life much easier, longer, and far more full of things. New things!
And the weeds are the same old weeds. The same old weeds that have been smiling at me every spring for decades. There they are, my old friends, still wearing the same clothes, still living in the same places, still telling the same stories. There's garlic mustard, ready to add a bitter tang to my salads. Here's tender gallium tops, delighted to be included in spring meals. There and here and everywhere are wild chives eager to enliven everything from salad to butter.
One by one the same old weeds reappear and find their way to my table: chickweed, nettle, violet, cronewort, docks, dandelions, plantain, and so many more. I think of them as permanent residents of the blue zone. They teach me how to cherish that which is familiar, common, and underfoot.
No matter how big the city, weeds are there. No matter how chem-lawned the suburbs, weeds find ways to grow. No matter how well tended your garden, there are weeds aplenty. When you are friends with the weeds, you are never alone.
I took the last name "Weed" to champion the weeds. (My married name "Susun Swede," became "Susun S. Weed.") So come with me, outside into the sun, into the rain, into the breeze, into the stillness, outside where the weeds await. Grab your scissors and basket and let's make Angel-ed Eggs, my answer to Deviled Eggs.
Angel-ed Eggs
The lengthening days of spring trigger egg-laying in many birds, even domestic ones. Time to eat more eggs. And what better way to do it than with weeds.
To begin, please use old eggs. Really! Ever had a hard-boiled egg that you could not peel? Where the egg white stuck to the shell, rather than the shell coming away easily? That egg was too fresh. Fresh eggs push against their shells. As they age, they lose a little moisture and shrink away from the shell. Since I usually buy eggs from local farms, they are too fresh for hard boiling. So I mark a dozen with the date and let them sit at least two weeks before using them for this recipe. Most eggs purchased in a supermarket are at least two weeks old.
I use 2 ½ eggs per person as a main dish and 1 egg per person as an appetizer or side dish.
Hard boil the eggs. I cover the eggs with cold water, bring them rapidly to a boil, let them boil for five minutes, turn off the fire, and let them sit until the water is cool, then peel them. (Crack the shell into hundreds of tiny pieces by rolling the egg on a hard surface using moderate pressure. Beginning at the large end of the egg, grasp peel and the membrane that underlays it and pull. The shell ought to come right off. Running water and a spoon help if your eggs are too fresh.)
Cut hard-boiled, peeled eggs in half lengthwise and gently remove the yolks and put them in a bowl. Using a fork, mash the egg yolks.
Choose a pretty plate and arrange the yolkless egg halves on it.
Go outside with your basket and pick 1-2 leaves per egg of any one weedy green, such as garlic mustard, violet leaves, baby mug/cronewort, dandelion, baby dock, gallium, chickweed, or wild chives.
Chickweed
Wild Chives
Back in the kitchen, mince them very finely. Do not wash them please. One of the health benefits of eating wild food is that they (or rather, the terrestrial bacteria they provide) improve your gut flora, thus increasing the health of the immune system. Washing interferes with that.
Cronewort
Dandelion
Add half of your minced weeds to the egg yolks and mix well. If the yellow and the green (yolk and weeds), are about the same amount, go no further. (Throw the rest of the minced weed in your salad or your breakfast omelet.) If not, add more green.
Garlic Mustard
Wild Madder
When you are happy with the ratio of yellow and green, add some salt and a teaspoon of mayonnaise per egg. Mix well. You have made the angel.
Put small spoonfuls of angel into the egg whites. Sprinkle with smoked Spanish paprika.
Serve.