Garlic Mustard Pesto
11⁄2 cups fresh garlic mustard leaves
1 clove garlic
1⁄4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3⁄4 cup olive oil
In a food processor, finely chop the
garlic mustard leaves, garlic and nuts.
Slowly mix in the cheese and olive oil.
Pesto may be eaten on bread or
crackers, on spaghetti or frozen in ice
cube trays and stored for future use
in sauces.

Garlic Mustard Pizza
1 package of ready-made pizza crust
1⁄2 jar white sauce (lite Alfredo or Parmesan-
mozzarella)
2-3 cups chopped, cooked and drained
garlic mustard leaves
6-8 ounces mozzarella cheese
1⁄4 cup chopped onion
1⁄2 cup chopped bell pepper
1⁄2 cup chopped mushrooms
Prepare pizza crust. Top with sauce
and layer with cheese and vegetables.
Bake according to package directions.

chickweed quiche
2 tablespoons chopped wild green onion tops
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped small
3 cups chickweed, chopped small
2 tablespoons olive oil
dash of each-salt, pepper, ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon each, fresh basil and parsley, cut fine
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
3 medium eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup yogurt

saute garlic in oil in skillet. stir in washed chopped chickweed, wild onions, red peppers and seasonings, and stir until soft. in a bowl, blend the eggs, yogurt and cheese. stir the cooled veggie mixture into the eggs and blend well. pour filling into prepared pie crust and bake at 375 until knife near center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. to make small tarts, use cookie cutter to make 3-4 inch rounds and fit into muffin tins. place one tablespoon filling into each tart. bake tarts at 350 for about 12 minutes, until set and lightly browned. make 3 dozen tarts or one pie.

Have you read the book "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" by Euell Gibbons, he had some awesome ideas about eating weeds. I tried some daylilly buds and open flowers, I sauteed them in some butter, they were good! They tasted faintly of broccoli. You can also eat their 'corms' in the spring too. they are white bulb-like things. Yummy! You can also eat cattails, just make sure the water they are in isn't polluted. I loved that book! You can find it on Amazon.com if your library doesn't have it.

Oh, if you have stinging nettle, that is good in soup too. Just wear gloves when handling, once it's cooked it loses its sting. Rich in vitamin K too. Thanks for the recipe!

This year, when I pulled it, I noticed the big white roots, so I washed a number of them, took them into the house, rewashed, peeled them, then processed them in the food processor with vinegar, salt, and a pinch of sugar -- made an excellent, mild horseradish type sauce.

However, it took a LOT of roots, because it looks as if they were attacked last year in a big way by some type of root maggot, no doubt the same ones that attack onions and radishes in the garden.

Last wednesday, on "Morning Edition," NPR did a story about people promoting the culinary use of garlic mustard as a way to fight this invasive weed. I learned something about it I didn't know -- it is destroying the forests, because it has a compound in its roots which inhibits the germination of tree seedlings, so the old trees aren't being replaced with new ones in areas with heavy infestations of Garlic Mustard.

Dennis
Michigan

I made some garlic mustard pesto from the leaves last April and it was better than expected. I think the leaves later in the summer might not be so good. Happy weed picking - especially for Earth Day!

My chickens and ducks get a lot of my edible weeds, turns them into valuable manure compost in the long run. "Death by Poultry" is the sentence handed down to weeds in my yard. :=)