Edible herbs. Eating in extreme conditions
Spring has come - the season for the awakening of nature. Since ancient times, people have tried to supplement their spring menu with fresh plant foods. Today, most Russians can consume it all year round, but greenhouse plants, as a rule, do not stand up to comparison with greens of soil origin.
While waiting for the first vegetables from our garden, we can take advantage of the experience of our ancestors and include edible wild herbs in our daily diet.
Nettle
The first spring nettle has thin, tender and practically not burning leaves. They are widely used in cooking. From young greens you can cook:
- fresh salad;
- omelette;
- soups (lean and meat);
- filling for pies or dumplings;
- cereal meatballs and pancakes (the most delicious are with oatmeal or millet groats);
- green butter;
- curd mass.
Experienced housewives harvest young nettle leaves for future use: they dry, salt, ferment and freeze. Juice is squeezed out of fresh raw materials, which can also be preserved.
Nettle is rich in biologically active components that have a beneficial effect on metabolism. Eating it in food helps to remove toxins from the body, increase immunity and general tone.
Fans of young nettle dishes should be aware that some of the substances that make up its composition increase the viscosity of the blood. The plant should not be included in the diet for people suffering from thrombosis, varicose veins, as well as pathologies of the heart and blood vessels. In addition, expectant mothers should not eat nettle, as it can increase the tone of the uterus and provoke premature birth.
Source: depositphotos.com
Bracken
It is one of the most common edible fern species. In the middle lane, it grows everywhere, preferring woodlands. They eat young shoots that appear on the surface of the earth in early May. For the indigenous peoples of the Far East, Eastern Siberia, Japan and Korea, bracken dishes are traditional.
A young sprout of a fern looks like a small roll. It contains a lot of useful substances; it almost does not taste bitter, in contrast to fully unfolded leaves. The collected raw materials must be subjected to immediate culinary processing: during storage, the "rolls" quickly harden and lose their nutritional properties.
Bracken leaves can be stored salted, pickled or frozen (in the latter case, they are pre-boiled in salted water). Such semi-finished products are included in the composition of various salads, stewed in sour cream, fried in batter. Bracken baked goods are extremely popular in Japan and Korea.
Fern is rich in complete protein and carbohydrates with minimal fat content. It is considered one of the most useful dietary products, has a beneficial effect on the metabolism. Studies by Japanese scientists have shown that regular use of salted shoots in food helps to cleanse the body of radionuclides.
Dishes with bracken should not be consumed by pregnant women, lactating women and preschool children, since all parts of the plant contain a small amount of toxic substances. Adults can include this delicacy in their menu in reasonable moderation.
Source: depositphotos.com
Dandelion
Young dandelion leaves are a valuable food product, rich in vitamins, iron, manganese, phosphorus and potassium compounds. Dandelion is used to make delicious salads and soups. It is best to use fresh herbs, soaking them in salted water to remove the bitterness. The leaves are especially beneficial for people suffering from iron deficiency anemia and other metabolic disorders. In many European countries, they are widely used for the preparation of dietary meals to help you lose weight. In addition, dandelion leaves are salted and fermented for future use.
At the beginning of flowering, dandelion buds are harvested. A delicious marinade is prepared from them, which is then added to salads and vinaigrette. Blooming flowers are used to make jam, dandelion "honey" and pleasant golden wine.
In early spring, at the very beginning of leaf growth, you can dig up last year's dandelion roots. They contain a large amount of inulin and other beneficial substances. The dried, roasted and ground root is used to make a delicious coffee-like beverage.
Dishes made from dandelion leaves are not recommended for use with pathologies of the liver, biliary tract, as well as with gastritis and gastric ulcer. But the "coffee" drink from the roots of the plant is considered an excellent remedy for these ailments. In addition, it is useful for nursing mothers, as it enhances lactation.
Source: depositphotos.com
Primula ram
This delicate plant has many names: evening primrose, medicinal primrose, ram. In the middle lane, it blooms one of the first. Primrose has long been used in folk medicine as a powerful antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agent. From the roots of the primrose, a pharmaceutical preparation Primulin is made, which has an expectorant effect.
Fresh ram leaves are a storehouse of vitamins. In England, the plant is cultivated as a garden green crop. The leaves are used to make salads, omelets, soups, and flowers (fresh or dried) are brewed (like tea).
The use of primrose in food has practically no contraindications. An exception is individual intolerance.
Source: depositphotos.com
To dream
Snytka (snitka, marsh kupyr, yaglitsa) is known to every gardener as a malicious weed. It reproduces by seeds and rhizomatous layers, quickly filling the garden plots. However, today few people know that this plant can be not only an enemy, but also a friend.
In Russia, sleepy has been used for food for a long time. The wide distribution and high yield of the plant made it a worthy addition to the diet of Russians during the Great Patriotic War: employees of the capital canteens even went to collect useful herbs, added it fresh to dishes and dried it for the winter.
Young leaves of dream with juicy petioles are used for food. On their basis, you can prepare vitamin salads, soups, pie fillings. Salted or pickled snow is good to use as a side dish for meat dishes. It is especially convenient that nutritious greens can be eaten by everyone: their intolerance is extremely rare.
Source: fitoapteka.org
Horsetail
Spring shoots of horsetail are succulent stems with spore-bearing pistils at the tops. They are used for food, and in some regions of Russia they are considered one of the main spring delicacies.
Horsetail is used to prepare salads, various fillings, soups. It is stewed and fried, boiled, marinated, baked in dough and egg mixture. Pistils contain many nutrients. Horsetail shoots are very satisfying; they taste like flour or cereal products.
Fresh shoots of horsetail can harm people with kidney disease. They are also not recommended for pregnant women and nursing mothers.
! ”, Will be dedicated to wild plants. I decided not to stick to the middle zone of Russia, but to describe the types that can be found and useful to you in all regions of the Russian Federation. In the forest, tundra, in the desert, you can find many wild edible plants.
Some of them are ubiquitous, others have a precise geographic address. Different parts of plants are eaten: fruits, roots, bulbs, young shoots, stems, leaves, buds, flowers. Plants that are eaten by birds and animals can usually be safely eaten. However, it is rare to find such plants, all parts of which are edible. Most of them have only one or a few parts suitable for eating or quenching their thirst.
And so, here is a list of some edible, wild-growing plants:
Nettle
Young shoots are used for green cabbage soup, mashed potatoes, salads. It grows mainly in the temperate zone in the Northern and (less often) Southern hemispheres. The most widespread in Russia are stinging nettle and stinging nettle.
The strongest sails were sewn from nettles in Russia and in other countries, and also the strongest sacks, chuvals and coolies made of coarse nettle fabric, "wrens".
In Japan, nettle rope in combination with silk was the main material in the manufacture of expensive samurai armor, shields were made from woody stems, and bowstrings for bows were made of the strongest nettle fiber, twisted and rubbed with wax.
By the way, you can shift the caught fish with nettles, it will stay fresh longer.
Sorrel (common and horse)
Sorrel contains vitamins C, B1, K, carotene, essential oils; it contains large quantities of organic acids (tannic, oxalic, pyrogallic and others), as well as minerals (calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus).
For the treatment or prevention of certain diseases, all parts of the plant are used.
Sorrel is also used in the treatment of vitamin deficiencies, scurvy, anemia.
Sorrel leaves and fruits have an astringent and analgesic effect, wound healing, anti-inflammatory.
In Russia, it grows mainly in the European part (about 70 species).
It goes for sweet and sour jelly and jam, belongs to the buckwheat family.
It grows on rocks and stony slopes in the lower parts of mountain ranges, and also enters the lower parts of the alpine belt.
It is found in abundance in the Altai Territory and East Kazakhstan region, in North-West Mongolia, Sayan. Rhubarb is widespread in Asia from Siberia to the Himalayas and Palestine, and is also grown in Europe.
In medicine, the roots and rhizomes of rhubarb are used, containing glucosides, which determine the laxative properties of rhubarb, and tannins, which have an astringent effect and improve digestion.
Only the stem of rhubarb is edible, the leaves and root of rhubarb are considered poisonous.
It grows widely in many areas of the European part of the country, in the Urals, in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Far East, in the Crimea and the Caucasus. It grows in water, along the banks of rivers, ponds and lakes, in wetlands.
The edible underwater tubers of the plant contain up to 35 / v starch, 10.5 / v proteins, 0.5 / v fat, more than 3 / v sugars, tannins. Dry in tubers up to 55 / o starch and about 9 / o sugar substances.
Tuberous formations that develop in the fall at the ends of the shoots are eaten. rarely - rhizomes. Cooked or baked tubers taste like chestnuts, raw - nuts, baked - potatoes.
For long-term storage, the tubers are cut into circles and dried in the air, and for grinding into flour they are dried in the oven.
It grows along the banks of water bodies, often at a considerable depth - up to one and a half meters; it is found in swamps and flooded meadows, in the vicinity of groundwater in forests and on salt marshes.
The most valuable for food use is the long fleshy rhizome of the reed containing starch (over 50%), carbohydrates (up to 15%) and fiber (up to 32%). The rhizome contains the largest amount of these substances in late autumn and early spring.
Rhizomes are eaten raw, baked, fried; they taste tender and sweetish.
In years of famine and periods of long crop failures, the rhizomes were dug up, dried, ground into flour, which was added in large quantities to wheat and rye (up to 90% by weight). However, long-term use of such bread (apparently due to the high fiber content in cane flour) caused undesirable consequences: swelling of the stomachs, a feeling of heaviness and pain. A method for separating starch from coarse fiber has not yet been developed.
Roasted rhizomes are used as a substitute for coffee.
It is ubiquitous on the shores of water bodies and flood meadows. Many are familiar with its peculiar black-brown velvety inflorescences on a long (up to 2 m) straight stem. Many people mistakenly call it a reed, but they are not even of the same family. Cattail is widespread throughout the European part of the country, in the Urals. The Caucasus. Ukraine, Siberia and Central Asia.
The rhizomes contain up to 46 / v starch, up to 24 / v protein, 11% sugars, tannins, ascorbic acid in the leaves, and fatty oil in the seeds. In folk medicine, rhizomes are used for dysentery, the leaves are used as a wound healing and hemostatic agent.
In years of famine, cattail was one of the most important food sources. Rhizomes and young stems have been and are still used for food. Collect young shoots that have not yet emerged from the ground. Before use, they are boiled in salted water. Pickled for the winter. Soups, mashed potatoes are prepared from rhizomes and young stems, they are stewed with potatoes, used as a seasoning for meat, fish, mushroom and vegetable dishes.
Most often now they use baked rhizomes for food. They can be used to make flour, bread, pancakes, biscuits, biscuits, jelly and other products. To prepare flour, the roots are pre-broken into pieces up to 0.5 cm thick, dried and crushed.
Roasted rhizomes can replace natural coffee. Bulb-like cattail sprouts are tasty raw. Rhizomes are harvested in autumn or spring, when there is a lot of starch in them. Dried, they can be stored for a long time.
There are about 20 species in Russia. It is known that its stems and rhizomes contain up to 48% sugars, up to 6% protein, 3% fat.
The rhizomes of the reeds are edible. If you grind the rhizome and cook for 40-50 minutes, you get a sweet broth. By boiling the broth over low heat, you can prepare a thick and even sweeter syrup.
The root white part of young reeds is eaten raw. They are edible as a substitute for bread. From the dried rhizome, flour is obtained, which is added to grain for baking bread.
In field conditions, the rhizome of the reeds can be baked on coals or in ash. People in extreme conditions are not in danger of hunger if there is a reed nearby.
The people call the reed "cut grass". The rhizome peeled from the skin is applied to a fresh wound, and the blood stops.
They are often used for making salads and borscht. Roasted roots can serve as a substitute for coffee. For tourists, dandelion is undoubtedly capable of diversifying food. Whoever has tasted it knows that it is quite bitter. In order to remove this bitterness, it is enough to scald it with boiling water and soak for several hours in cold salted water.
It is very easy to make a salad from a dandelion, it is done like this: pre-scald the leaves, add finely chopped leaves of willow tea, nettle. We mix all this.
A "coffee" drink is made from the roots according to the following recipe: digging the roots, rinsing thoroughly, chopping finely, frying until dark brown. Then grind in a coffee grinder and prepare in the same way as coffee. This drink is very healthy.
It is found everywhere in the temperate climate of the Northern Hemisphere. Grows in clearings, forest edges, among bushes.
Ivan tea is widely known as a powerful antioxidant and is used to cleanse the body of toxins and toxins. For medicinal purposes, both the leaves of Ivan tea and its flowers are used.
Residents of the Far East use ivan tea for sore throats, bleeding, constipation, and also as an anti-inflammatory and astringent. In Tibetan medicine, herbs, roots and flowers were used as an anti-inflammatory agent for diseases of the skin and mucous membranes.
Salads and soups are prepared from young shoots and leaves of willow tea, and fresh roots can be eaten raw or boiled instead of asparagus or cabbage.
Dried roots are used to make flour, bread, pancakes and flat cakes are baked, and toasted roots are used to make "coffee".
The dried leaves are brewed for a strong and delicious tea.
It is widespread in Siberia, the Urals, the Far East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and in many regions of the European part of the country. Grows in stagnant bodies of water and slowly flowing rivers.
Rhizomes are rich in starch - up to 60% and protein - 13.4%, they contain sugars, fats, and ascorbic acid in the leaves. The dried rhizomes contain 4% fat, 13.5% protein and 60% carbohydrates. In addition, cellulose - 7.1% and ash - 6.7% were found in the plant. In folk medicine, rhizomes were used as a laxative, diuretic, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory agent.
Since ancient times, the susak is known as a very valuable food plant, it was called Yakut bread. People went to shallow creeks, lakes, bays, ditches, uprooted the susak, separated the starchy rhizome, washed it in water and initially dried it in the wind.
At home, the rhizome was dried in ovens, pounded, ground, made cereals and flour, from which they baked bread, cooked porridge, prepared coffee and coffee drinks. From 1 kg of dry rhizomes, 250 g of flour of a yellowish-white color and a pleasant sweetish taste are obtained, reminiscent of flour from unhulled wheat. This flour is usually added with 30% rye or wheat. In the years of famine, bread was baked from the umbrella sushik.
It is better to prepare the rhizomes of the susak in autumn or spring before flowering, when they contain a large amount of starch. Delicious and nutritious roots are baked over a fire.
Distributed almost throughout the territory of Russia. It grows in wastelands, in garbage places, near dwellings, in kitchen gardens and orchards.
Due to the presence of inulin and protein, burdock roots are used for food. Ground into flour, they can be added to the dough when baking bread. They can be eaten boiled, baked, fried, fresh; you can replace potatoes in soups, make cutlets, flat cakes.
The roots are boiled with sour milk, vinegar, sorrel, and inulin undergoes hydrolysis with the formation of sugar - fructose. This produces a sweet and sour jam. Roasted roots can serve as a substitute for coffee or replace chicory.
In Japan, burdock is cultivated as a garden crop called gobo.
Blockade delicacy... This stunningly simple recipe is taken from a unique book published in besieged Leningrad in 1942 for the few who are still alive. It is no coincidence that the recipe omits an indispensable condition - pre-wash the root. There was not enough water even for drinking. The gas station was not indicated either - it simply was not there. Surely, today you will not use this recipe in its original form, but let it once again remind us all of those loyal green friends who helped the people to withstand and survive in mortal conditions. Here is the recipe: “Boil the roots of burdock, cut into small pieces. Serve dressed with some sauce. "
In the wild, it can grow up to the tundra zone. It grows mostly in shady forests in valleys near rivers. The wild garlic contains 89% water. 1.4% ash, 2.4% protein, 6.5% carbohydrates, 1% fiber, 0.1% organic acids, 4 mg% carotene and B vitamins.
Since ancient times, wild garlic has been known as a reliable doctor. The plant has strong phytoncidal, antibiotic, tonic, antiatherosclerotic. wound healing properties. This is an excellent anti-scurvy early spring plant.
It is best to eat fresh wild garlic in salads and vinaigrette. Appetizing wild garlic with black bread and salt. Very tasty early spring cabbage soup and soups are made from it, minced meat is prepared. It is used both as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes, and as a filling for pies.
In many places wild garlic is prepared for future use: fermented, salted and pickled, and finely chopped dried in the sun. Bulbs of these plants are also used in nutrition. The leaves of wild garlic are similar to the leaves of the poisonous plant lily of the valley, so some care is required when collecting.
“I’ll add on my own. I lived in Kamchatka, and so, in the forests there, wild garlic, apparently invisibly, is very similar to a lily of the valley and grows just like it - in small but frequent plots. "
Kislitsa ("hare cabbage", "cuckoo clover")
This small grass up to 10 cm high can be found in damp coniferous and deciduous forests in the European part and in Siberia.
She is familiar to many from childhood by the graceful outline of the leaves, as if consisting of three light green hearts. 100 g of the raw mass of acid leaves contains up to 100 mg of vitamin C, a lot of potassium oxalate, malic and folic acid. They have a pungent, sour-astringent taste and can be used in salads, vinaigrette and cabbage soup instead of sorrel.
Sour soft drinks are prepared from sour. You can find a sour cherry in the winter under the snow. It is just as green and delicious.
Well, this is not a complete list of wild plants that can be used for food. More than 1000 species of edible plants grow in our country, so it is somewhat problematic for me to master this kind of work. Attention is paid to the most common types.
The word "weed" sounds like a sentence, but in fact, sometimes it is called so plants that do not deserve it. Few people know that in the yard, in the garden, vegetable garden, forest it is easy to find herbaceous plants that can be eaten, while receiving benefits for the body. Let's find out from what, if desired, you can make a delicious dish.
1. Watercress
A weed that is sold in stores, but in fact, it can be picked absolutely free of charge near the nearest body of water. Watercress is added to various salads raw, which adds spice to the dish. It contains vitamins, healthy oils, minerals and alkaloid compounds.
2. Nettle
Another well-known weed that many people use for culinary purposes. An example is green cabbage soup, in which nettle leaves are placed instead of sorrel. They must be young and must be scalded with boiling water in order to exclude a stinging effect. In addition, nettle leaves are included in salads and sauces. It should be noted that since ancient times, nettle has been used in folk medicine, since it has a wide range of useful properties.
3. Quinoa
Few people know that quinoa is used for the preparation of certain medicines and for the manufacture of dietary supplements. You can benefit from the weed by eating it, for which you must first remove oxalic acid, which is dangerous for the body. Lemon juice or heat treatment will do this well. Scientists have determined that the weed is even healthier than the sorrel, which is more familiar to us, the recipes of which can be used for cooking quinoa.
4. Thistle
This plant is popularly called burdock, and many are familiar with its sharp thorns. In fact, thistle is edible and delicious, and in which case it can help cope with hunger and get a boost of vitamins. The leaves need to be cut and thorned, then cut into pieces and boiled in salted water for an edible soup.
5. Dandelion
From a beautiful and fragrant flower, you can not only weave wreaths, but also use it for food. One of the most popular dandelion treats is jam. The leaves of this plant can be used in salad recipes. It is important to take into account that when the plant ripens, it acquires a bitter taste, therefore, it must be collected in early spring, when the leaves are young and tender. As for the benefits, dandelions have a lot of beta-carotene, and more than carrots.
6. Wheatgrass
A weed that gardeners and field workers hate as it affects the growth of crops such as wheat. At the same time, many do not suspect that the weed is very useful for the human body. Young plants that have not yet developed seeds are suitable for consumption. The leaves are suitable for salads, soups, sauces, and the roots can be used to make healthy flour.
7. Sitnik
A plant that is used for landscaping ponds, and many simply call it reeds. In this weeds are edible stems, roots and seeds. You can eat them raw and boiled. The rump is nutritious because it is high in carbohydrates. The flour made from dry roots will be sweet and will not need granulated sugar.
8. Shepherd's bag
Children of the 90s know this weed like no one else, because they ate it without fear, noting a rather pleasant taste, which is similar to garden greens. Shepherd's bag is able to diversify the taste of any dish, adding spice to it. Please note that a young plant has a pungent taste with sourness. You can use weed seeds in your food by adding them to sauces instead of mustard. It should be noted the useful properties of shepherd's purse, which are used in medicine.
9. Purslane
This plant can be distinguished by its thick red stem and succulent rounded leaves. It is very difficult to get rid of this weed on the site, but in which case you can get a lot of edible greens. The stems and leaves can be eaten fresh, added to salads or other dishes. Purslane can be a great substitute for spinach. In terms of benefits, this plant contains antioxidants and omega-3s.
10. Sakhalin Highlander
A weed that looks like bamboo because of its tall stems. It is widespread in northeastern Europe and the midwest. It is recommended to use green and red shoots, up to 8 cm long. Leaves and peel should be removed from them, and then you can cook.
11. Clover
It is not difficult to recognize the plant, since it has leaves with three, less often four petals, which are considered a symbol of happiness, and original pink flowers. At the same time, few people know about the nutritious and healthy clover seeds, which contain up to 25% protein and 12% healthy fats. They can be eaten to quickly satisfy hunger. You can also use dried flowers for making delicious and healthy tea. Raw leaves can also be used for food, which should be washed and salted, but young buds are suitable for sourdough like cabbage.
12. Kudzu
A plant that can feed a huge number of people, because it grows in many territories. Kudzu is very popular in the south, where a huge number of dishes are prepared from it, even sweet jams and jellies. One of the cooking options is to boil the roots, mix with soy sauce and add to the salad. Kudzu is an excellent helper for stomach problems.
13. Cattail
One of the options for reinforcement in nature is an ornamental bog plant, which many confuse with reeds. Rhizomes are used for food, which are dried and crushed to make a powder from which you can bake bread. You can also eat young cobs that taste like asparagus.
14. Bamboo
Many do not know that bamboo is actually not a tree, but a type of grass that spreads very quickly like a weed. The stems taste very similar to corn, and they also contain a lot of fiber, which is important for the body. The simplest way to prepare bamboo looks like this: remove the leaves and a hard surface, and then cut the shoots into pieces and cook for 20 minutes to remove the bitterness. Finally, the bamboo is seasoned with soy sauce and added, for example, to a salad.
A large proportion of our daily diet is based on the consumption of plant foods. Moreover, such products are considered one of the most beneficial for our body, because they are a source of a variety of vitamin and mineral elements. However, in addition to the well-known fruits, vegetables, berries and herbs, there are other little-known plants that are also suitable for eating. In our time, few people know these plants, but once they played a leading role in the nutrition of ancient people. In our age, such food can be beneficial in extreme situations when the question of survival is raised, as well as if treatment of certain ailments is necessary. So what plants are used for food, we will talk today.
Blackberry
Many wild berries are a danger to our body, you may well be poisoned by them. But blackberries are quite easy to identify and are one hundred percent safe. Such a plant has red branches covered with sharp thorns, like roses. Blackberry leaves appear wide and jagged. The berries ripen around the end of August and the beginning of September and can be eaten raw without fear.
Dandelion
This plant is known to every person, in the spring time, it attracts attention with bright yellow flowers. In principle, dandelion can be eaten raw in spring, it will not harm the body. In order to remove the bitterness from the leaves, you must first soak or boil them. Such a plant is a source of ascorbic acid, provitamin A and many other useful elements.
Asparagus
This plant can be found in the wild in many European countries, in this case it has a thinner stem than the usual product from the store. Wild asparagus can be eaten raw or boiled, it will saturate the body with fiber, vitamin C, potassium, thiamine and other useful elements.
Elder
This culture grows not only near houses, but also in the forest-steppe zone. The bushes can reach a height of three meters and produce a significant amount of berries. It should be borne in mind that excessive consumption of the fruits of such a plant can cause poisoning.
Nuts
The most recognizable and well-known representative of this group of plants suitable for nutrition is considered to be a walnut. It can reach a height of forty meters, and the fruits are fully ripe by September. But their pulp can be eaten much earlier - from about the beginning of August, in this case the nuts are not yet covered with a brown film and look white.
Acorns
As you know, oaks grow practically throughout the territory of Russia. And their fruits, acorns, can be eaten after boiling. However, eating them excessively is strongly discouraged.
Clover
Such a plant is also known, perhaps, to each of us. It can be eaten raw and will not cause any harm to the body. Clover foliage and flowers can be used to make tea or added to a variety of salads.
Chicory
This plant is known to many as a natural coffee substitute. It is also quite easy to find it in the forest-steppe zone in almost all corners of our country. Experts say that chicory can be eaten whole without giving up flowers.
Coltsfoot
This plant culture is widely used in traditional medicine recipes. However, it is also quite suitable for human consumption. This applies to flowers and young leaves. Flowers of the mother-and-stepmother can be eaten raw, sometimes they are added to various vitamin salads. And young leaves have a noticeable bitterness; to eliminate it, you can soak them in water or boil them.
Rogoz
This plant is familiar to many of us as lake reeds. It refers to plant crops that are often found near freshwater wetlands. Most of the cattail species are edible, you can boil their rhizomes or eat them raw. At the very beginning of summer, you can also eat young flowering shoots of this culture, they taste like corn cobs.
Mullein
It is also a well-known plant that can be found in various places in Russia. You can eat its leaves, as well as flowers. The mullein color has an attractive aroma and it tastes sweet. As for the leaves, they are slightly bitter and do not have a pronounced odor. Traditional medicine specialists use such raw materials for brewing tea. It contains a number of B vitamins, vitamin D, as well as magnesium, sulfur, choline, hesperidin, etc.
Melissa
This plant is often cultivated in home gardens, but it can also be found in the wild. The leaves of this culture are usually used for brewing tea or as a seasoning, in addition, they can simply be consumed as food. Lemon balm flowers are also edible. The plant tastes like oregano or peppermint.
Shepherd's bag
This culture is also very common in our country, many consider it weed. However, the young leaves of a shepherd's purse are great for making salads, soups and other dishes with herbs. They can, in principle, be eaten raw throughout the growing season, but in adulthood, the plant develops a noticeable pungent taste.
Conclusion
It takes a long time to list all the plants used for human consumption. But each and every one should know the main plants of their area, suitable for food. They can help you not to starve to death. But they can be used not only in extreme conditions, but also to saturate a normal daily diet with a significant amount of useful elements.
From time immemorial, people have been feeding on nature. The leading activity of the ancient people was hunting
and gathering. Men went hunting, women gathered roots and edible plants, wild apples, berries.
A modern man, too, may well feed on nature, because there are so many edible plants that it will not be difficult to find.
Today we will focus on wild plants that can be easily found on the banks of any body of water, swampy place.
Cattail narrow-leaved and broad-leaved
Cattail is a perennial plant that can be found in the shallow waters of rivers and lakes. Cattail is characterized by a brown ear. A brown (or black) ear is an inflorescence of female pistillate flowers.
Down from the cobs of cattail used to be mixed in rabbit and from this they made felt hats. Cattail was used as a covering material for the roof.
The stalks were used to make ropes, baskets and mats (rugs). Paper was made from cattail wood (stems).
The edible part of the cattail is the rhizome. Cattail rhizomes reach about 60 centimeters and a thickness of about 3 cm.
A dry rhizome contains 47 percent starch, 11 percent sugar and up to 30 percent protein.
You can make flour from the rhizome of cattail, and the roots can be baked (tastes like asparagus). You can make a coffee substitute from cattail.
How to cook: We pull the cattail out of the soil, separate the root, dry it and grind it in a mortar (it is possible on a stone). Knead like a dough and bake, it turns out a kind of flat cakes. You can make jelly from this flour (there is a lot of starch in the horse. We mix it with forest berries and drink jelly). You can also eat young shoots of cattail for food.
Umbrella susak (Yakut bread), wild bread, marsh susak
Susak is a plant 1-1.5 meters tall, with a bunch of linear erect leaves. The plant has a straight stem with white and pink flowers sticking out in all directions, like the spokes of an umbrella. It grows everywhere, both in Siberia and in the Middle Lane.
Umbelliferae is a very common plant that can be found near almost any body of water. The edible parts are its roots, which are harvested in autumn or spring.
Irkutsk scientists who were engaged in the study noted that the marsh susak has everything for human nutrition.
Susak composition: it contains almost 60 percent starch, 14 percent protein and 4 percent fat (straight proteins, fats and carbohydrates)
Susak was harvested in Yakutia and even in Italy. Susak roots are dried, fried with lard (quite tasty, similar to potatoes). If you roast the rhizome of the susak strongly, then this is an excellent substitute for coffee. The only difficulty in harvesting a plant is that it is harvested in late autumn, or early spring. In order not to confuse the susak with another plant, during flowering, the plant is marked in some way (you can tie a rag)
Common reed
The reed is as tall as a cattail, but its stems are thin, like straws, green in color, and the leaves are hay green. At the top of the stem is a panicle 30 cm long. Reed from the family of cereals.
Reed has been used for roofing for a long time, and even fences are made of it. The edible part in the reed is the root, which reaches a length of about two and a half meters. The rhizomes taste very delicate and slightly sweet (raw rhizomes contain about 5 percent sugar).
Reed rhizomes can be eaten raw or boiled or baked. Reed also has medicinal properties, it is an excellent diaphoretic.
Reed rhizomes are very convenient to reach with a rake from a depth of up to 1 meter, you can make an impromptu cat out of nails. The reed blooms in July. The roots are harvested in early summer or late autumn.
Defeat the Grass, White Water Lily
A perennial herbaceous aquatic plant that grows in water bodies at a depth of 1 to 3 meters. The flower is white. It is submerged in the water at about 6 pm and emerges at about 7 am.
Water lily roots can only be eaten boiled and fried. Poisonous when raw!
dry the roots, grind into powder and you can bake bread. But one should not tear a water lily without great need, there is not so much of it.
By the way, the roots of the water lily stain the fabrics brown. There are a lot of tannins to the roots of the water lily, and therefore, before drying, it should be soaked in water, often draining it.
Arrowhead ordinary (swamp)
Arrowhead ordinary (Bolotnik)- a perennial aquatic plant that grows near water bodies in wetlands. The arrowhead is easily recognizable by the original sheet, which in appearance is very similar to an arrow.
Arrowhead is a medicinal plant, it contains a lot of minerals and nutrients. (more on this in the following articles). The roots are used for food, nodules, which are formed in the fall at the end of the shoots. You can collect these nodules in autumn and spring.
The tubers are baked on a fire, boiled, fried. The chemical composition of arrowhead is very similar to regular potatoes, only not so watery. After eating arrowhead tubers, there is a slight (bitter) aftertaste in the mouth. You can dry and crush the tubers, bake like bread. Tubers contain about 60 percent starch and 6 percent sugar.
Arrowhead possesses wound-healing and astringent agents.It is useful for stomach ailments
Mineral composition:
Minerals
Common duckweed
Duckweed is a perennial aquatic plant, it can be found in small reservoirs, swamps, backwaters. The duckweed forms a single green carpet. Duckweed is a very valuable nutritive and medicinal plant. There is a lot of protein in the duckweed, the nutritional properties of this plant are close to those of cereals (wheat, oats ...)
Duckweed excellently helps against allergies (desensitizing properties), calms the nervous system, helps with malaria, has antitumor activity. Duckweed contains a lot of iodine and bromine salts.
You can eat duckweed raw in the form of a salad, rinse it thoroughly in water (though the smell will still remain) and eat).
Below are the recipes for duckweed
Duckweed salad
Put onion rings on sliced boiled potatoes, sprinkle with chopped boiled egg and chopped parsley. Mix the washed duckweed with cabbage, place in the center of the plate, pour sour cream on top.
Product consumption: duckweed - 30 g, onions - to taste, boiled potatoes - 1 pc., Sauerkraut - 50 g, sour cream, 1 egg, salt and spices to taste.
Duckweed pasta
Mix all the ingredients specified in the recipe and use the paste for sandwiches.
Product consumption: duckweed-20 g, butter-20 g, grated horseradish-2 teaspoons.
Meat cabbage soup with duckweed
At the end of cooking, add duckweed, spices, parsley, dill, onion or green onions to ordinary meat cabbage soup, seasoned with cabbage and potatoes, and boil for 3-5 minutes.
Product consumption: duckweed-10 g per serving.
Green cabbage soup with duckweed
Sorrel and duckweed, chopped in a meat grinder, sautéed carrots and onions, green onions, spices, parsley, dill, add to the cabbage soup 10 minutes before being cooked.
Season with sour cream before serving.
Product consumption: duckweed-30 g, sorrel-50 g, potatoes-100 g, onions or green onions-40 g, sour cream - 20 g, dill - 10 g, salt to taste.
Green oil
Grind the washed duckweed in a meat grinder and cook for 5 minutes in a small amount of salted water, then mix with oil and dill.
Wild edible aquatic plants
