Pasta with Garlic Mustard

The weather has finally turned warmer (although I hear we might get some sleet on Friday!) and the spring greens are starting to grow again.  Today I went for a little bike ride and found some garlic mustard greens.  I had been thinking about making a pesto with them but there just wasn't enough so I decided to come up with some sort of pasta dish and toss them in at the last minute.

I sautéed sliced chicken breasts in oil and then added a can of diced tomatoes, a small can of butter beans (drained), salt, pepper and a sprig of rosemary and let that simmer.  Near the end of the cooking time I added some frozen peas and let them cook.  I tossed this with fettuccine and the garlic mustard greens and served with a little parmesan cheese.

It worked pretty well, but everyone agreed it need more... something.  We just can't agree on what the something should be.  Regardless, maybe next time I'll add some onion, or more pepper.  Or balsamic vinegar?  Hmmm.

Update on the Capers

A couple of blog members have asked after the capers.  Just this morning I made the vinegar solution with white wine vinegar, thyme, sugar, water, and bay, and the capers are now resting in the fridge for a minimum of 3 days.  After that, I'll do a little taste test and compare them to store bought capers!

I also went and got a little more than a cup of mulberries to make a mulberry lime compote for the panna cotta I made for dessert today.  I think this is not going to be a stellar year for the mulberry tree; there are lots of berries but they seem to not be as large or ripening as evenly as previous years.  That's OK, it's not like we don't have a lot of jam in the house...

The other thing I did today was gather garlic mustard seeds.  I got a paper bag and some of the driest stalks of garlic mustard I could find, and let the seed pods shake around in the bag for a while.  I shucked the rest when I got home, and set aside about 2 T. of seeds.  While I'm not sure what I'll do with them, I think they might be an interesting addition to a pickle.  Any thoughts?

Garlic Mustard Salad

We went for a foraging outing cleverly disguised as a walk today.  I kept nibbling on things and then handing them to others in our little group, saying things like, "I think this might be shepherd's purse.  Eat it.  It tastes like lettuce."

Garlic mustard, however, is easy to spot, and it's taking over.  Knowing that no one would mind if I grabbed a lot of it, I pulled several plants out by their roots.  Once we got home, I made this salad.  The recipe is from Edible Wild Plants, by John Kallas, Ph.D.  There are actually several books with the same name, I have two; this one and a field guide.

This salad is a quick thing:  a can of red kidney beans, rinsed, some garlic mustard and raisins, tossed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  I liked it, and I have some greens left over to toss in a salad if I can do that in the next day or so.