It was a much-appreciated beautiful day yesterday. It has been raining endlessly for weeks, and we're expecting more endless rain over the next couple of weeks. So, it was nice to have a sunny, if chilly, day. Too bad I had to waste a minute of it getting the Big Squash. (All clear...good for another year.) Even with that, I was in and out quickly, and home before 11:00 a.m.
The ladybugs were enjoying the last gasp of the Black-eyed Susans.
So, yes. They seed themselves with ferocity, and it's important to pull them before they have a chance to bloom, or face the dire consequences of their "ballistic dispersal strategy."While urban grazers will be most focused on the leaves, I think the seed capsules are the best part of hairy bittercress. Called siliques, they look like purplish-green toothpicks standing upright around the flower. As the seeds mature, the pods begin to coil tightly until—pop! A gentle touch or passing breeze triggers the pods to explode and send the seeds flying as far as three feet from the mother plant. This ballistic dispersal strategy, known as ballochory, is also employed by jewelweed and cranesbill.
Okay, so my recipe said I needed 60g of these. And being an American, that gram measurement doesn't mean much to me. But I knew the salad I was making had just four beets, and so I figured about half a cup would do. As long as I was picking, I picked plenty. Here's how they look straight from the ground. Their roots are covered in mud.
I first hosed them off outdoors. Inside, I snipped off the root ends and then spun them four times in my salad spinner to get them clean. They were full of pine needles, twigs, and dead leaves. In short, they were hard to get clean, but I persevered. When I had them ready for later use, they looked like this:
Okay, so it was around 2:00 p.m. when I headed up to work on the quilting. This is going great now. I'm glad I spent the many hours unpicking my first try. I worried this design would detract from the kitties on the front, but it seems to fade into the background...to my eyes, at least.
When I had the lower right quadrant complete, I stopped for the day.
I'm hoping to get the lower left quadrant quilted today. It shouldn't take all day, and so I'll probably get a start on my next challenge quilt for The Endeavourers. The reveal isn't until February 1st, but we'll be traveling after Christmas, and so I want to get it finished early.
But let's just get back to that salad, shall we? I'd roasted the beets earlier in the day, skinned them, and then quartered them. Then, I refrigerated them. The recipe didn't say to chill them, but I figure a "salad" is cold, right? So, here's how it looked when I added the dressing and sunflower seeds, and served it up.
I was feeling pretty smug about having pulled weeds up out of the yard and serving them for dinner. It was a lot like the feeling I get when I find a great bargain at Goodwill. Here's what The Google told me about their nutritional value:
"Being in the brassica family, bittercress has many health benefits. It contains glucosinolates which are known to help remove carcinogens from the body. It also contains vitamin C, beta-carotine, and possibly lutein which is known to help reduce vision problems including cataracts."
So there you go. And they are prolific enough that nobody should go hungry this winter here at the Three Cats Ranch...except cats. Cats do not like greens. Please add in some mouse if you're making this for cats. Oh yes, and if you're interested, here's a link to the original recipe. I've rewritten it for my American friends who, like me, don't understand measurements from the Metric system. Also, we don't call them "beetroot." To us, they are just "beets." And the salad was good! The bittercress tastes peppery like arugula.
8 comments:
A good garden may have some weeds. ~ Thomas Fuller
You had me a fresh roasted beets! Looks yummy!
They are known as "beetroot" here in New Zealand. We usually have them for salads too, but sometimes they are served hot as a veggie, usually in a restaurant. You have every right to feel virtuous for preparing a salad using "weeds", especially if it all tastes good.
Ah, yes, during black walnut pick up, I've noticed the hairy bittercress making it's presence known, but mine are still pretty small, so I think I'll pass on using them as a salad ingredient. I like the motif you're using on the cats quilt.
Pat
Barbara, I like the quilting on the cats you are currently doing tey look great. The salad looks good and I am glad it was tasty. It is good to be able to use those plant which we may call weeds in other times. Love seeing what the kitties get up to.
Well!!! I never knew they were edible to humans!!
I used to have a good selection until we had the chickens, once I found out they were chicken fodder..... May just try them out if any have managed to survive.
It's a bit wet outside ATM so not foraging weather.....
Just the thought of beets made my mouth water. I have no idea if we have that bittercress in our yard, so now I'm curious. Perhaps November 10th should be Show Off the Roof Day at Three Cats - an annual photo day. Haha.
Don't think I've ever seen bittercress in our garden, when we had one that is. I remember my mother planting watercress when I was a kid and I thought it was the grossest stuff imaginable.
I'm due for the big Squash in a couple of weeks too. Not looking forward to going into the den of germs at the hospital to have it done but needs must.
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