Updates June 29th 2022

Interested?

To register, please follow the link below:https://www.ballyhouradevelopment.com/Event/learn-about-invasive-species

For any further information , please contactRhiannon Laubach atrlaubach@ballyhoura.orgor087-1940608.

4. Recipe’s from our Wild Work session:

Many of the participants requested the recipe’s from the Wellness in Nature sessions.
Here are some pointers for the Wild Pesto, Seed Crackers, and the yummy Cured Carrots.
I hope that the little bites sprinkled with wild and foraged ingredients are embedded in your senses.
I also hope these recipes will help you explore the seasonal treasures growing in your gardens, woodlands and meadows.

It was lovely to hear from many of you in how you approach foraging in the wild – safely and sustainably.
One of the ethno-ecologists I’ve referenced, was Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Here is a link to how she describesThe Honorable Harvest
For further reading,Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin M Kimmerer, elaborates beautifully on more ecological and cultural themes through storytelling.

But let’s get to the delicious bites:

WILD PESTO Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Nutty/seeds of choice:(chop/ blend in food processer first)
Walnuts (more bitter and less fatty option)
Cashews (creamy, chewy, fatty option)
Sunflower seeds (for a milder, lighter taste)

2 cups of Seasonal greens:
Dandelion leaves: Spring – Summer (great for a Digestive Spring-clean)
Stinging nettle tops (Spring -Early Summer. DO NOT pick from nettle plants already in flower. pick with gloves, rinse with hot water, work with care)
Wild Garlic leaves: Spring – Summer. Yummy! The fragrance is much more potent than the taste.
Cleavers/ Stickyback tops: Spring – Late Summer (combine with other edibles to add a bit of digestive Spring-clean)

1-2 tablespoons of Oil:
Wild Irish Flaxseed oil (for Omega 3)
Extra Virgin Olive oil (for a green fuller flavour)
Rapeseed oil (lighter flavour)

Additional spices and sprinkles:
nutritional yeast flakes (for a cheezy substitute)
smoked paprika to taste (for a smoky addition)
salt and pepper to taste (add before final blend)
squeeze half a lemon into pesto.

TIPS:
Pick seasonal, Pick top growth bits from many plant, Pick only what you will use,
Pick in a place with no pollutants: dog walkies, exhaust fumes, stagnant water, livestock fields.
Keep your pesto in small sterilised jars, and top of the pesto with a layer of oil to preserve.

SEED CRACKERS
Mix and chop your Seeds of choice:
Flax/Linseed (3/4 cup) as binder
Sunflower seeds (1/4 cup)
Pumpkin seeds (1/4 cup)
Sesame Seeds (1/8 cup)
Chia seeds (1/8 cup)
Keep the seeds in a large bowl.

Soaking liquid:
Blend a punnet of cherry tomatoes/ 3 large tomatoes
with a 1/8 cup of water

Add some herbs and spices to the liquid:
Smoked paprika to taste (for a smoky addition) (2 teaspoons)
Coursely ground Coriander seed (teaspoon)
Ground/ Whole cumin seed (teaspoon)

Soak Flax seed mix in the spiced liquid for 5-15 minutes.

Oil to line the baking tray:
Wild Irish Flaxseed oil (for Omega 3)
Extra Virgin Olive oil (for a green fuller flavour)
Rapeseed oil (lighter flavour)
Coconut oil (stronger taste)

Warm the oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
Spread the combined seed mix as thin as possible in an oiled baking tray (use a silicone tray liner for easy flipping)
Before popping the tray in the oven: score the spread out seed mix with a knife to form 3cm squares.
Bake the crackers for 20min at a low heat.
Flip the crackers over (hopefully they don’t stick or break in the wrong places)
Bake for another 10-15min, check the colour to be deep golden to brown.
Let it cool and harden to a cracker, or bake for a shorter time for a more chewy bite.

CURED and PICKLED CARROTS
Warm the oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
Slice 6-8 medium carrots with a potato peeler.
Add and mix in 1 tablespoon of salt into carrot slithers.
Spread the slithers on a non-stick baking tray.
Bake for 30-40 minutes. Turn and mix carrots halfway, and return to oven.

Meanwhile:
Sterilise your jars and lids by boiling it in a pot or running a steam cycle on a dishwasher.
Make a salty pickle brine in a saucepan with:
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of tamari/ soya sauce
1/4 cup of vinegar (rice vinegar and applecider vinegar works well)
2 tblspoons of oil (flaxseed oil for Omega 3/ Olive oil)
1 tblspoon of dried dill
1 tblspoon of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of crushed coriander.
1 teaspoon of cumin (or dandelion seeds for some patient wildness)
1 teaspoon of dried carrageen seaweed (for some ocean wildness)

Pickle your carrots by filling the sterilised bottles halfway with brine and the rest with carrots.
Top off with a layer of oil. Let it stand to cool.
The best time to taste the carrots, is four hours to a day later.
The cured carrots keep well in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Yum! Enjoy! Feel free to share your versions of these wild snacks with us!

Warm Regards,
Lizet Mulder
Wellness Facilitator
lizet@vericonnect.ie