Eating wild plants: wild leek / ramps

When I am walking outside in nature I tend to look at what kind of herbs there are at the side of the road. When I was smaller, my mother would bring home wild plants which she would use for dinner. There were some plants I liked, because of the bite and taste. There were some I totally didn’t like: dandelion leafs (paardenbloem blaadjes). They are so bitter! But now I am older I am okay with the bitterness…

Recently I learned another one: ramps. These are like garlic chives (NL: Chinese bieslook) but the leaves are bigger. When I walk in a nature I sometimes see them at the side of the road with little flowers. So you can actually eat those!

My mom warned me that it is illegal to pluck them, because they are protected plant, at least in Germany. But during a walk in nature, I was a bit disappointed when I saw the ramps mowed down in order to keep the walking paths free from wild plants. What a waste of delicious wild plants.

I have gotten ramps from a friend and it goes very well in dumplings, stir frying with eggs or in a pancake.

 

Recipe: Bacon, egg ramps, rucola, fried onion

1. Sautee the onions and bacon.
2. Cut the ramps and put it in beaten eggs (4). Add some green onions and salt when stir frying the egg.
3. Put everything on bread, add some rucola or lettuce.
4. Enjoy!

Try if you can find some these wild plants when walking in nature. Don’t pluck them illegal! Have you ever eaten other wild plants?