Foods from the Wild

April 1, 2016

All About Foraging in Northern Michigan

With spring just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about our next round of seasonal foods. What better way to pay culinary homage to spring than with some eats direct from the wilds of northern Michigan? Desiree Winans from the Michigan-based natural health blog Modern Hippie tells us what to look for, where to find it and what to do with it once you do.

FUN AND FRESH

Winans, who began herbal and naturopathic training at a seven-month herbal class in Dexter, Mich., said that learning how to identify, harvest and use edible and medicinal plants has been “a blast.” She’s currently continuing her studies at the Naturopathic Institute for Therapies and Education in Mt. Pleasant.

“It’s changed my whole life,” she said.

“When I first started, I loved being able to pick something straight off of the ground and pop it into my mouth. I love the taste of freshly picked food; there is nothing quite like it. And the program I’m in now is an amazing one to which I owe everything. I’m submerged in people who love to live off of the land with a healthy respect for nature.”

DOUBLE CHECKING

For the average person who wants to get started, Winans suggests relying on this trio of references: first, Google your town to find local wild foods experts. You might be able to attend lectures or classes or join them on field trips. Next, pick up a good wild foods field identification book for your region (“I personally like Lisa Rose’s ‘Midwest Foraging,’” Winans suggested.) If you’re already out in the wild, check YouTube, where you can compare video and images on your smartphone before picking. While some plants may just give you an upset stomach, others, especially mushrooms, can make you very ill, so if you’re questioning whether or not it’s safe, don’t ingest it.

“Any time I’ve been in doubt about a mushroom or plant, I’ll hold off until I can check YouTube,” she said. “If you’re still not sure, skip it until you can get a book to verify or find someone local who is foraging. People who forage love to share what they know.”

And never, Winans said, take more than 75 percent of any plant you pick, “so that nature can continue providing for us.”

IN YOUR BACKYARD

One of the coolest things about foraging is that it’s local and can sometimes be as easy as just walking out your own door.

“The easiest wild edibles to find are in my own backyard,” Winans said. As long as you don’t spray pesticides on your property or live next to agricultural or industrial activity, your yard, as Winans puts it, can be your first “wild edibles classroom.”

Forested property and fields (public lands) are also great places to forage. Most northern Michiganians are familiar with the popular morel mushroom, the chef ’s favorite that often comes from secret morel-picking spots in, and on the edge of, forested areas (make sure you have a true morel, not a false morel; false morels can cause serious, and dangerous, gastrointestinal issues), but morels are only the start.

THE FAMILIAR

Beginning with some of the more abundant plants, chickweed is one of Winans’ first suggestions.

“It’s lush, flavorful and very nutritious, chopped into a salad, soup or smoothie,” she said. “It’s also easy to find, loves shady places and grows abundantly until the hottest part of summer.”

Leeks and ramps are what she calls “small, but potent, foods.” “They’re excellent for flavoring sauces, stir-fry and salads,” she said.

Garlic Mustard is another that’s easy to identify, especially by its aroma.

“Chop up a bunch for soups, baked potatoes and more,” Winans said. It may surprise you to know that dandelions — the bane of any homeowner who likes a tidy lawn — can be eaten.

“The flower heads are best as soon as they’ve opened,” Winans explained. “They can be tossed into a salad or even soaked in honey to infuse the beneficial nutrients and antioxidants of the flowerhead into the honey.”

Dandelion greens can be eaten several ways: as salad greens, as ingredients in pesto or as an American substitute for the Italian dish cicoria, sauteed with olive oil and garlic.

THE UNUSUAL

If the above aren’t enough of a challenge, or you want even more variety, there are plenty of wild edibles you may not have heard of yet. Purslane is one of them.

“It looks like a jade plant or succulent, and is very rich in healthy fats, so it adds a beautiful texture to salads,” Winans said. “It loves to grow in your driveway, parking lot or other forgotten places for plants; it really is everywhere, sometimes to a fault!” Fiddlehead ferns are another; they can be found around northern Michigan in early May.

“Look for a brown, dead fern top from the previous season to scout out where new fiddlehead ferns might pop up,” Winans said.

After soaking the fern coils in salt water to chase away any insects, they can be blanched and sauteed with garlic, onion, thinly sliced carrots and a few leeks; plate them up on rice for a great vegetarian dish that tastes similar to artichokes.

Finally, Winans’ own (if unlikely-sounding) favorite is stinging nettle, which you’ll have to pick with gloves.

“It’s a plant most people avoid like the plague, as it causes itching and a rash,” she laughed, “but when heated up and steamed, the leaves lose their sting and become a dense, tasty, healthy food.”

While you can simply add them to soups and stews, her pick is to bake them into a quiche.

“And if you’re trying to cut back on caffeine, you can add the leaves to boiling water for a beautiful tea. I’ve never met a soul that doesn’t enjoy a good cup of nettle tea.”

Learn more at modernhippie.org. Additional information sourced from trails.com and foraging.com.

WILD EDIBLES CHECKLIST

Winter foraged foods are pretty scarce in northern Michigan, relying primarily on things like pine needles (check the variety of pine first, as several are poisonous) and cattails, as most others are buried under the snow, but spring, summer and fall are prime for an eclectic list of wild foods found across our region. In addition to the obvious picks like wild apples and berries, here is a short list of what else you can find.

Acorns
Asparagus
Beechnuts
Burdock
Chanterelles
Chestnuts
Chickweed
Chicory
Cleavers
Clover
Dandelions
Fiddlehead ferns
Hickory nuts
Leeks (Ramps)
Morels
Mulberries
Purslane
Rose hips
Stinging nettle
Watercress
Wild garlic
Wild onions