FORAGING: THE NUTRITION IN YOUR GARDEN

I think we’re all aware that being on a student budget (read: ‘broke’) and maintaining optimal nutrition is, for want of a better word, tricky. We’ve probably also all heard of the wonders and benefits of the famed ‘Mediterranean Diet’ on physical and mental health; a diet based on consumption of minimally processed fresh, seasonal, local foods. Unlike many of the ‘diets’ offered to the paying public’s desire for the holy-grail of ideal food consumption however, the Mediterranean diet has been extensively studied and is accepted by the [holy] DAA and Nutrition Australia as an undeniably good thing. (Itsiopolous 2016, Serra-Majem 2006, Garicio-Toro et al. 2014, Martinéz-González et al. 2015).

So, we all know that Extra virgin olive oil, small quantities of meat and fish, leafy greens, legumes, yoghurt and wholegrains and cereals should make up the majority of what we stuff into our pie-holes now. But what you may not know is that many of the health benefits attributed to the Mediterranean diet come down to the type of veggies. These centenarian descendants of the gods  wandering around the shores of the Aegean and the Iberian peninsula in vibrant good health ( it turns out), eat a lot, a whole lot of wild greens (Trichopolou et al. 2000, Martins et al. 2011, Dogan, 2012). It turns out that wild plant foods generally contain much higher concentrations of essential vitamins and minerals than our commercially grown supermarket fare, as well as being general powerhouses of antioxidants (Salvatore et al. 2005, Powell et al. 2014).

The good news, is that you don’t have to eschew buying textbooks for the next 2 years in order to fly to Mount Olympus for your wild greens. Many of them will be springing up merrily in the lawn you should have mowed 2 weeks ago, or hiding in plain sight about campus.

Here’s 3 little nutritional wonder-bombs that you’ll find pretty easily: Dandelion greens (Taraxacum officinale), Mallow leaves (Malva parviflora) and white clover (trifolium repens). Before you wrinkle your nose up and tell me you’d rather chomp on some nice bagged kale from Woolies, let’s have a look at them and then see if we can’t whip up a nice super-cheap recipe to tempt you…

DANDELION GREENS (Taraxacum officinale)

Now available for purchase at hipster farmer’s markets, they are rich in Vitamins A, C, E and K, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium and Omega 3 & 6.

You don’t want the dark green tough and hairy ones, look for bright green, vibrant plants with similar colour and texture to lettuce. You can steam them, stir-fry them, or choose young leaves and pop them in a salad. Honestly, the taste is very much like a romaine lettuce. They get more peppery with age, so choose the young ones if peppery greens aren’t your thing.

MALLOW (Malva parviflora)

Total weed. It’s everywhere. But it’s really packed full of pectin, fibre, Vitamins A & C, calcium, magnesium, iron, selenium, and potassium.

Bigger leaves can be added to soups (the pectin will thicken the soup) and small leaves can be roughly chopped and added to salad.

CLOVER (trifolium repens)

Yes, clover. Not ‘special’ clover, just the stuff that ruminants and chooks love to munch on. It’s rich in protein, calcium, chromium, magnesium, phosphorous, thiamine and vitamin C

Grab really young leaves and just chuck them in your salad. They’re quite sweet in flavour but with a definite ‘green’ quality (definition: iceberg lettuce would have a ‘white’ quality on the same scale).

So, just to show that I walk the talk, -here’s my garden forage from this morning:

Top left and moving clock-wise: Flat-leafed parsley, second-growth silverbeet (don’t take the roots out when the plant seems ‘finished’…it isn’t!), dandelion greens, white clover, mallow leaves and a bit of remnant basil. Wash and throw in the salad-spinner, roughly chop and add chick-peas, fetta, red onion, cucumber, finely sliced granny-smith, chopped walnuts and your favourite dressing! Wealthy students and CSU staff with y’know, a salary: some strips of semi-dried tomato wouldn’t go astray, and a few pitted kalamatas would make this the true Gods-of-the-Mediterranean experience J

I estimate that this utterly delicious ‘forage salad’ cost me about $2.50 in ingredients and serves 2. Plus we have a whole world of protein, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and antioxidants. I have to admit, the dressing does rather ‘top it off’, but you can have it as is or add your favourite dressing. Let’s not get too hung up on the details. It’s food, not a religious experience J

MOUTHGASM SALAD DRESSING

½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar (but any form of food-grade acetic acid will do!)

Juice of 1 Lemon

3 garlic cloves (or 2 tsp dried garlic granules)

1 tsp salt

2 tsp mixed Italian herbs

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 ½ tsp sugar (it’s OK. You’re allowed. It’s not a mortal sin)

Go on, be brave and try something new!

REFERENCES

Photos by Catherine Lockley (final year B.Hsc [Food & Nutrition]) CSU

Dogan, Y. (2012). Traditionally used wild edible greens in the Aegean Region of Turkey. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 81(4) doi: http://abo.doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2102.037

Garicio-Toro, M., Gilli, M., Ibarra, O., et al. (2014). Metabolic syndrome improvement in depression six months after prescribing simple hygenic dietary recommendations. BMCRes. Notes, 7. P 334

Itsiopolous, C. (2016). Mediterranean Diet Presentation. Retrieved from daa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Catherine-Itsiopolous-Mediterranean-Diet-Presentation.pdf

Martínez-González, M.A. et al. (2015). Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet: Insights from the PREDIMED study. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 58. Pp 50-60

Martins, D. et al. (2011). Nutritional and in vitro antioxidant properties of edible wild greens in Iberian Peninsula traditional diet. Food Chemistry, 125(2). Pp 488-494

Powell, B., Ouarghidi, A., Johns, T., Tattou, M.I. (2014). Wild leafy vegetable use and knowledge across multiple sites in Morocco: a caste study for transmission of local knowledge? Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10(34).

Salvatore, S. et al (2005). Antioxidant characteristics of some Sicilian edible wild greens. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53(24). 9465-9471

Serra-Majem, L. (2006). X Anniversary of the Foundation of the Mediterranean Diet (1996-2006). Public Health Nutrition, 9(8a). 1071-1072

Trichopolou, A. et al. (2000). Nutritional composition and flavonoid content of edible wild greens and green pies: a potential rich source of antioxidant nutrients in the Mediterranean diet. Food Chemistry, 70(3). 319-323