Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Common Dandelion is certainly one of the most well-known weeds in this area. This perennial weed was introduced to Canada hundreds of years ago by French colonists, and has since proliferated throughout the country. Although found most often on disturbed and cultivated lands, it is quite hardy and can thrive in a variety of environments. Many people eat young dandelions raw or cooked as wild greens, as older leaves tend to be bitter in flavour. Dandelions are more nutritious and rich in vitamins A and C than most vegetables growing in gardens. When dried, roasted, and ground dandelions can be consumed as a coffee substitute.

Did you know? These weeds are often the first source of pollen for our pollinators!

Before foraging for the required ingredients, we recommend taking a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

Nehiyawewin: ᒥᔪᐢᑲᒣᐊᐧᐢᑯᐢ miyoskamêwaskos

Although dandelions are a weed in this region, they are often regarded as a plant with numerous benefits. Many believe that dandelions spread into Canada by mistake, but they were in fact cultivated intentionally throughout Canada by European colonists.

Like the common plantain, many Indigenous groups saw the benefits of dandelions and incorporated them into their diets and medicines. Young dandelion leaves were commonly harvested as food by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and the Anishnaabe (Ojibway). The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) used dandelions for many different medicines. They used the roots, flowers, and whole plant for back pain, anemia, liver spots, and sores. The Nehiyawak (Cree) used an infusion of the roots as a famine food.

Ingredients:

Dandelion flowers
Vegetable oil (choose one that is heat stable with a high smoke point). Canola, avocado, and grapeseed work well.
Flour
Eggs
Salt
Aioli or other sauce for dipping

Method:

Cut the stems off of the dandelion flowers. You can also remove the bracts (the green petal-like protrusions on the base of the flower) to lessen the bitterness. Make sure not to cut too close to the flower as it may come apart,
Batter the flowers by dipping them into egg followed by flour, or make a seasoned batter of your choice. Note that the batter should be quite thin to retain the shape of the flowers.
Bring enough vegetable oil to cover the flowers up to medium heat in a skillet.
Add the breaded flowers to the skillet and fry for around 45 seconds or until golden brown
Flip and fry for another 45 seconds
Place the flowers on a paper towel-covered plate to absorb any excess oil
Sprinkle salt on top and serve with aioli

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging Nettle is a perennial weed that returns each year after remaining dormant during the winter. It is fairly easy to find as it grows in moist woodlands, thickets, open areas, streambanks, and disturbed areas.

The leaves are covered with tiny, hollow, pointed hairs that contain small amounts of formic acid which can cause itching and burning if touched. For this reason we recommend using gloves or tongs when collecting and working with raw stinging nettle.

But don’t let that deter you! Heating or drying the leaves makes them perfectly safe to touch and delicious to eat! Stinging nettle has a mild taste quite similar to spinach, but without an iron flavour.

It is best harvested in the spring, before the plant starts flowering. New, younger leaves are better in taste, as the leaves can become quite bitter once the plant has started flowering Try it in soup, pesto, tea, or just sauteed.

Before foraging, take a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

ᒪᓵᐣ Masân

Although stinging nettle is often seen as something to avoid, many nations learned how to cook it and use it as medicine. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) boiled it to use for a seasoned vegetable dish.

The Nîhithaw (Woodland Cree) also boiled the plant and used it as an aid in childbirth recovery. Members of Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) used the roots as a diuretic, and the Anishnaabe (Ojibway) would soak the leaves and use them as a treatment for heat rash.

Ingredients

225g white flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
60g butter, chilled and cubed
1 tbsp chopped chives or garlic scapes
40g strong cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
stinging nettles, chopped and blanched
2 tbsp plain yogurt
milk

Method

In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and butter.
Use your hands or a pastry cutter to mix the butter into the flour mixture
Add the blanched nettles, cheese, yoghurt, and chives or garlic scapes to the bowl and mix together
Add small amounts of milk while stirring until a soft dough forms. The batter should not be sticky.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until 3-4cm thick
Pat with your hands to round out the edges of the dough and ensure the circle is even
Cut into 6 wedges and brush the tops lightly with milk
Bake for 15 minutes at 430 degrees F

Recipe adapted from Slamsey’s Journal

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging Nettle is a perennial weed that returns each year after remaining dormant during the winter. It is fairly easy to find as it grows in moist woodlands, thickets, open areas, streambanks, and disturbed areas.

The leaves are covered with tiny, hollow, pointed hairs that contain small amounts of formic acid which can cause itching and burning if touched. For this reason we recommend using gloves or tongs when collecting and working with raw stinging nettle.

But don’t let that deter you! Heating or drying the leaves makes them perfectly safe to touch and delicious to eat! Stinging nettle has a mild taste quite similar to spinach, but without an iron flavour.

It is best harvested in the spring, before the plant starts flowering. New, younger leaves are better in taste, as the leaves can become quite bitter once the plant has started flowering Try it in soup, pesto, tea, or just sauteed.

Before foraging, take a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

ᒪᓵᐣ Masân

Although stinging nettle is often seen as something to avoid, many nations learned how to cook it and use it as medicine. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) boiled it to use for a seasoned vegetable dish.

The Nîhithaw (Woodland Cree) also boiled the plant and used it as an aid in childbirth recovery. Members of Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) used the roots as a diuretic, and the Anishnaabe (Ojibway) would soak the leaves and use them as a treatment for heat rash.

Ingredients

Lavender Buttercream

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups powdered icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp dried culinary lavender, ground with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder

Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups packed raw young nettle leaves, blanched
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest and juice of ½ lemon
2 cups plain flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Cupcakes

In a medium bowl, cream softened butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add in eggs and mix.
Blanch and puree nettle leaves and add to mixture.
Add in vanilla extract, baking powder, lemon juice and zest, salt, and flour.
Mix until well combined
Add spoonfuls of the batter into a pre-lined muffin baking sheet
Bake at 325 F for 15 minutes

Buttercream

While the cupcakes are baking, make the icing.
Grind up the lavender in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
In a small bowl, cream the butter. Add the icing sugar, lavender, and milk.
Ice the cupcakes when slightly cooled and enjoy!

Recipe from veggie desserts

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging Nettle is a perennial weed that returns each year after remaining dormant during the winter. It is fairly easy to find as it grows in moist woodlands, thickets, open areas, streambanks, and disturbed areas.

The leaves are covered with tiny, hollow, pointed hairs that contain small amounts of formic acid which can cause itching and burning if touched. For this reason we recommend using gloves or tongs when collecting and working with raw stinging nettle.

But don’t let that deter you! Heating or drying the leaves makes them perfectly safe to touch and delicious to eat! Stinging nettle has a mild taste quite similar to spinach, but without an iron flavour.

It is best harvested in the spring, before the plant starts flowering. New, younger leaves are better in taste, as the leaves can become quite bitter once the plant has started flowering Try it in soup, pesto, tea, or just sauteed.

Before foraging, take a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

ᒪᓵᐣ Masân

Although stinging nettle is often seen as something to avoid, many nations learned how to cook it and use it as medicine. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) boiled it to use for a seasoned vegetable dish.

The Nîhithaw (Woodland Cree) also boiled the plant and used it as an aid in childbirth recovery. Members of Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) used the roots as a diuretic, and the Anishnaabe (Ojibway) would soak the leaves and use them as a treatment for heat rash.

Ingredients

4 cups packed young nettle leaves
butter
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 large leeks, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
4 cups of vegetable or bone broth
2 tbsp lemon juice
lemon zest of 1/2 lemon
nutmeg, freshly grated to taste
2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper

Method

Blanch the nettle leaves. Use tongs to place leaves in a pot of boiling water until bright green, about 30 seconds. Transfer the leaves immediately to an ice bath and strain.
In a dutch oven or large soup pot, melt the butter and add the garlic. Cook until fragrant.
Add the sliced leeks and cook until softened.
Add the potatoes and broth, and cook until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.
Add the nettles, lemon juice, lemon zest, and nutmeg
Add more broth if needed, and simmer. Stir occassionally.
Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth
Add the heavy cream
Season with salt and pepper to taste

Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album)

Lambsquarters is an annual weed, with tiny green-blue flowers, which grows within one season. It is an aggressive, introduced weed found on distributed and cultivated land and is often sprayed with herbicides. The leaves of Lambsquarters are grey-green in colour and are rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin A. It is important to collect Lambsquarters from areas that have not been sprayed with herbicides. Lambsquarters also contains oxalic acid, and can cause digestive irritation so it is important to consume it in moderation.

Did you know? A single Lambsquarters plant can produce over 70,000 seeds.

Before foraging for the required ingredients, we recommend taking a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

Lambsquarters was cultivated by the Eastern woodland peoples in the Americas, including the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and the Anishnaabe (Ojibway). There are only around ten different places in the world where we can trace the origins of agricultural development, and it is now recognized that cultures in areas north of Mexico developed their own agriculture. In Southern Alberta, stowed away Lambsquarters seeds from 1500 A.D. were found by archaeologists in lands occupied by the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot).

Lambsquarters was an important food source for many different nations. The Anishnaabe, Haudenosaunee, Elnu (Mi’kmaq), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux), Iñupiat and many other nations all used lambsquarters for its leafy greens. The Anishnaabe and Niitsapi both gathered lambsquarters seeds for food. The Anishnaabe would grind the seeds into flour to make bread. Lambsquarters was also used as medicine by many different cultures. The Nehiyawak (Cree) used a decoction of the plant to treat arthritis, and the Haudenosaunee used a cold tea made from the whole plant to treat diarrhea.

Ingredients

3 cups lambsquarters leaves, rinsed and chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
3 tsp. butter + 1 tsp for buttering the tortillas
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2/3 cup shredded cheese
2 flour tortillas

Method

Filling

In a large skillet, melt 3 tsp of butter and add chopped onions and garlic. Cook until onions are softened and translucent and garlic is fragrant.
Add fresh mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are browned and juices have evaporated
Add the lambsquarters leaves and cook until wilted

Quesadillas

Butter the outsides of two tortillas and place one butter-side down in a large hot skillet
Add 1/3 cup of shredded cheese to the tortilla, then the lamsbquarters and mushroom filling, and the remaining 1/3 of the cheese on top.
Place the other tortilla on top with the buttered side facing up
Cook until the bottom is evenly browned and crispy and flip
Top with green onions and cilantro and serve with salsa and sour cream

Recipe adapted from here.

Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Common Chickweed is an introduced weed found on cultivated an disturbed ground. It is an annual weed which grows within one season, and is circumpolar, meaning it can be found in northern regions across the globe. Small white flowers appear on Common Chickweed plants throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The stems and leaves can be eaten fresh or cooked, so there is a variety of ways to incorporate it into your favourite meals, while adding sources of vitamin A and C.

Did you know? Common Chickweed is often called ‘hen’s inheritance’ because the greens are a favourite food of chickens and wild birds.

Before foraging for the required ingredients, we recommend taking a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

Nehiyawewin: ᐲᒪᐦᐆᐸᑯᐢ pîmahôpakos

Chickweed was used as both food and medicine. The Anishnaabe (Ojibway) strained the leaves and used the resulting decoction as a wash for sore eyes. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) used chickweed to treat arthritis and as a poultice for cuts and wounds and swellings. In more recent history they used it as chickenfeed.

Chickweed can be collected any time before it goes to seed, but is best harvested in the spring when the leaves are young

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups of fresh chickweed leaves and tops
1/2 parmesan cheese
lemon juice and zest of one lemon
1/3 cup walnuts or pine nuts
3-4 cloves garlic

Method

Mix all ingredients in a food processor
Enjoy on pasta, pizza, paninis, or chicken!

Saskatoon Berries (Amelanchier alnifolia)

Saskatoon Berries can be found on shrubs in dry to moist forests, thickets and open hillsides on well-drained soils. Whitish flower blooms are produced from April to July and turn into berry-like pomes, which range from purple in colour to nearly black, during the summer and fall. The berries are very sweet and are often mixed with less palatable berries when made into jams, jellies, or pie fillings.

Before foraging for the required ingredients, we recommend taking a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

ᒥᓵᐢᑲᐧᑑᒥᓇ (misâskwatômina cree dictionary)

The word Saskatoon is an Anglicization of the Nêhiyawêwin (Cree) word misâskwatômina. The berries were used widely throughout western Canada, namely by the Nêhiyawak (Cree), Dené, Nakota (Assinoboine), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and Anishnaabe (Ojibway). Saskatoon berries were an important trade item, especially on the B.C. coast where they were less plentiful. Saskatoon berries were frequently used in pemmican, which is an energy-rich mixture of dried animal meat, fat and dried berries. This dish was important for hunting and travelling and was made by various plains cultures, including the Niitsitapi and the Nêhiyawak. The Niitsitapi also made another similar dish, a type of sausage with the berries and animal fat stuffed into a length of the intestine which was then boiled.

Ingredients

1 cup saskatoon berries
1-3 teaspoons sugar to taste
Thick-cut bread of your choice (we used sourdough)
Brie or other cheese

Method

In a medium skillet, add saskatoon berries and sugar. Mash some of the berries with a fork and simmer on medium-low until reduced
Slice your bread and butter both sides
Place one of the slices of bread in a skillet. Add the cheese and a spoonful or two of the saskatoon berry mixture and top with the second slice of bread
Cook on medium-low until the bottom is golden brown and crispy. For cooking, low and slow is the way to go! It takes a while to melt the cheese through the thick-cut bread, so be patient
Flip and cook until the other side is golden brown and crispy

White Spruce (Picea glauca)

White Spruce trees are one of the most widespread conifer trees in Alberta’s boreal forest. They grow in well-drained, moist soils and can be found throughout western, central, and northern Alberta. This evergreen tree is a common winter food source for many birds and mammals - especially squirrels, who rely on their cones as a primary food source!

White Spruce trees also have a variety of uses for people. The branches have been used to make lean-to shelters and wind barriers, and larger wood pieces, once dried, act as good canoe frames, paddles, and snowshoes! The needles or tips are stiff and have a bright green colour, and add a citrusy flavor to salt and sugar.

Before foraging for the required ingredients, we recommend taking a look at our Sustainable Foraging Guide!

Culture Connection

Nehiyawewin (Cree):ᓯᐦᑕ Sihta

When Jacques Cartier and his men first landed in Canada they were plagued with scurvy, a vitamin c deficiency. They landed in Quebec in the territory of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), during the winter. The Haudenosaunee treated the men by giving them tea made from the bark and needles of a conifer, likely a white spruce tree.

But the high vitamin C content isn’t the only benefit that spruce needles are known for. The Nlaka'pamux (formerly called Thompson) of southern B.C. used a mixture of spruce needles and resin as a cancer treatment. The Anishnaabe (Ojibway) used dried spruce needles to disinfect the air. Other parts of the spruce tree were used including the roots, inner bark and resin. Many different nations used the pitch of spruce trees as a dermatological aid for cuts, burns, rashes, sores, dry skin including the Nîhithaw and Nehiyawak (Woodlands and Plains Cree people), many Inuuk (Inuit cultures) and the Xa’islak’ala (Haisla). Spruce resin was used by many different nations across Canada and the U.S. as chewing gum.

Ingredients

1/2 cup spruce tip sugar or 1/4 cup foraged spruce tips + 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
2 cups flour

Methods

If you do not have already-made dried spruce tip sugar, make the sugar mixture by processing the spruce tips in a food processor and then adding finely granulated sugar. You can also process the sugar with the spruce tips if you choose. Ensure the spruce tip needles are finely processed to avoid getting any big chunks in your cookies.
In a large bowl or stand mixer combine the spruce tip sugar and butter. Beat until thoroughly combined and creamy.
Slowly start to add small amounts of the flour into the mixture, beating or stirring as you go
Once all the flour has been incorporated, roll the dough into small balls (about 1/2 rounded tbsp). Flatten the tops with a floured flat-bottom glass or jar
Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes

Recipe adapted from Spirea Herbs