Wild Chickweed Pesto

Greetings Plant Lovers!Welcome to my new herbal blog.  As the Green World comes alive this season, i'm going to be posting about plants that are in flower or otherwise call my attention.The 1st one that comes up is a very special plant!!  Chickweed (Stellaria media) is one of my favourite wild edibles.  It's very, very (very!) nutritious! and delightfully delicious.  It's incredibly high in iron and fantastic for recovering from sickness!My 5 year old son and i made some Chickweed Pesto the other day.  He loves it!  He'll eat it until the cows come home.Chickweed can be found pretty much all through Vancouver's mild winters.  Susan Weed talks about finding it fresh under snow, but i haven't had this experience.  Here's a great article she wrote.Gathering is easy... just find a patch and tear off a few handfuls trying not too pull up too much dirt.  It is a matted, vine-type ground cover.The recipe is also quite simple...take your favourite Pesto recipe, reduce the basil by half and add a huge handful or 2 of chickweed.Here's what we did... we used 1 bunch thai basil just for a twist!+ quite a bit of Chickweed, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 lemon juiced, salt (we used a bit too much) & pepper

Blended...

and poured over a bowl of steaming whole wheat pasta.Try it out and post your favourite pesto recipe.