Cafe Liz

Greens of the season: What’s in your yard, what’s in the market — and what’s off-limits

The winter rains bring with them an explosion of green growth, much of which filters its way into our markets -- well, some of them, at least. For whatever reason -- wealth? -- many of the wild greens do not play a role in most people's diets. And it's a pity, because native plants are an excellent way to embrace the land, eating local at its best.

However, you can still find them. A few of them may be in your yard, or growing alongside parking lots, or next to roads. Well, any of them could be there -- these are wild plants, after all. But you can save yourself the trouble (and potential danger) of identifying them yourself by buying them after someone else did the foraging -- Arab and interracial locales, as well as less well-off places, are a good bet for this.

There's a potential catch, though. Some plants that have been part of the culinary tradition for hundreds of years are now protected by law due to overpicking, but they're still being sold in the markets. Most likely it's a matter of ignorance. However, there's a reason they're protected -- they've become endangered by the harvesting habits, which in many cases prevent them from reproducing.

Here's a list of what's what -- the plants I've identified around my house (mallow, sorrel, nettle), the delights in various markets (wild beet, chicory, mustard, and Jerusalem sage) a few that were there but shouldn't be (cyclamen, tumbleweed). Last but not least -- some simple recipes that highlight the vibrant freshness of the season.

But before we begin, a warning: If you're not 100 percent sure you know what you're picking, don't eat it. People have died over misidentifications. At the very least, this guide will give you the satisfaction of knowing what's in your yard. Knowing how to identify the urban flora makes your environment a little bit more familiar -- especially when you see your friend the mallow bush peeking out at every opportunity.

Now, let's go. Continue reading Greens of the season: What’s in your yard, what’s in the market — and what’s off-limits...

Pasta sauce with mallow and sheep cheese

It doesn't sound like the most unusual dish -- tomato sauce with greens and cheese, pretty standard, right? Well, it is and it isn't. My greens happened to be mallow and wild beet, and my cheese was a traditional Arab sheep cheese known as "jibneh," which, quite creatively, means "cheese" in Arabic. Ingredients you wouldn't usually find in pasta sauce, yet it's the basic mix of greens and cheese. It works.

Wild beet and mallow are among the many wild greens that happen to be in season right now. They can be found in abundance in parks, Arab markets and possibly even your yard. Mallow is called halamit in Hebrew, but is known more popularly by its Arabic name, hubezah. The mallow plant gave its name to the marshmallow, and also the color mauve -- mauve is the French name for the plant, whose flowers happen to be, well, mauve. Continue reading Pasta sauce with mallow and sheep cheese...

Noodles with doodles

These swirly, patterned ribbons would look quite nice hung on my wall. Were they not made of pasta dough, that is.

Back story: We are now the proud new owners of a pasta maker. I know everyone says you can make perfectly good pasta by hand, too, but frankly, there's no comparison. We've never been able to roll our pasta thin enough. Plus, the machine is extremely useful when it comes to kneading.

Once you have a machine to do your rolling, kneading and cutting, the options are pretty endless. I whipped up a few different kinds of dough, including a fuchsia-colored beet dough and some whole wheat. These made for some excellent combinations.

Getting the scribbled pattern effect that I achieved is quite easy -- easier than making tidy stripes. Basically, I made thin spaghetti out of the beet dough, let it dry a bit, and then pressed it randomly into the neutral-colored whole wheat dough. Voila, instant art, with a major wow! factor. Continue reading Noodles with doodles...

Beet salad with bay leaves and wine vinegar

This beet salad was inspired by a very enjoyable dish we had at Mitbahon, a cute little restaurant behind the Carmel Market. I do believe our friends call it “the best-tasting beets ever.” Needless to say, I liked it enough to try to make something similar at home. The Mitbahon version was seasoned with bay leaves and allspice, but for some reason, allspice is one of the few spices I don’t actually have, so I went with cloves and peppercorns instead.

The result was mild, lightly seasoned, and quite good. As a bonus, I used the seasoned water from cooking the beets to make rice. Continue reading Beet salad with bay leaves and wine vinegar…

Crayon-box vegetables with crispy herbs

Some people think unusually colored vegetables are, well, weird. My purple potatoes got mixed reactions at work tonight — ranging from excitement to politely (yet poorly) veiled disgust. I, for one, like colorful food, especially if all that color is natural. And this vegetable medley mixes all your basic Crayola colors. What’s more cool than that? Continue reading Crayon-box vegetables with crispy herbs…

Winter salad with beet, citrus and snow peas

The beet is a nature-made, all-in-one salad: Its big, red-veined leaves provide the leafy base, the roots make for nice, solid chunks and the stems are like a thin, red celery. Once you have your beet, everything else is just decoration. Continue reading Winter salad with beet, citrus and snow peas…