This time of year is great for foraging fresh spring greens. We’ve been eating a lot of foraged food while we wait for the garden to get into full swing. Beech leaves in salads, nettles in pies, soups and curries and wild garlic in pretty much anything!!
Wild garlic can be easily recognised at the moment by its head of spikey white flowers and its garlicky scent. Usually found in abundance in woodlands and along paths and shady roads – though we wouldn’t recommend picking from the roadside. Rather than pulling up the whole plant just take a few leaves from each plant. The fresh leaves and flowers are the best part to eat and this means the plant can grow back over and over.
Here’s our recipe for wild garlic hummus:
Ingredients
2 cups of Wild Garlic and flowers
2-3 Tbsp of oil from a jar of sun dried toms or artichokes (or just olive oil)
125g of dried chickpeas, kidney and black eyed beans, soaked overnight then boiled for approx 1 hour. (or 1 tin of pre cooked)
Juice of 2 lemons or limes and zest
2 tbsp of tahini
Sea salt and black pepper
Get your food processor or your potato masher and large bowl out and ready.
Blend the cooked chickpeas and beans to a rough puree adding the oil, juice from the lemon, tahini and the chopped wild garlic leaves (saving the flowers).
Season to taste then place into a bowl and garnish with the flowers and lemon zest.
Easy as that bish bash bosh.
The great thing about wild garlic is that you can get that great garlic taste without the hassle of peeling garlic cloves. Just chop some leaves and there you go.
