Wild Spring Salad

As spring rolls on, more and more little leaves are unfurling all over the place and many of them are edible. After the rather barren past few months where it feels as though the only thing on the menu has been roots, a lovely light salad is a welcome break.

On my walk this morning I came across some lovely Jack-by-the-Hedge which has a delicate garlic-y taste, it’s also known as Garlic Mustard which is a more self-explanatory name, although not such fun to say. I also picked some Sheep’s Sorrel which has a delicious zesty taste, a few Hawthorn leaves, although at this point they’ve already become a little too tough, and a few very young dandelion leaves which have a strong, hot peppery flavour. Many people actually blanche their dandelion leaves first to soften the flavours, but just a tiny bit of a young leaf shouldn’t knock your head off!

With a little lettuce, maybe some chives from the garden or windowsill, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper you’ll have a delicious wild accompaniment to a spring-time spaghetti or even, as I’m having tonight, a smoked haunch of venison (try not to be too jealous!)

Also – If you haven’t yet purchased a little field guide for identifying plants, please please go to your local bookshop and avail yourself of one, in my “Suggested Purchases” section I outline my own recommendations but ask around and people will generally have strong opinions on the best guide, ranging from prattling excitedly about the one that they’ve kept glued to their side for 30 years to the one they threw away after one frustrating forage.