Finders, Diners

Men’s Health Living

Winter/Spring 2009

Best wild foods

Rising food costs taking too big of a chunk out of your football-pool funds? Try foraging for your salad. “There’s a mind-blowing amount of nutritious and flavorful food out there free for the taking,” says Samuel Thayer, author of The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants. “Two-thirds of wild American plants have edible components.”  Your prey…

Northwest and Rockies: Mountain Huckleberry

Looks like: A brawny wild blueberry, but with thicker skin and slightly black hue. 

Tastes like: A blueberry, but more teasingly tart.

A stellar source of: Flavonoids which boost brain function.

East: American Lotus

Looks like: A large water lily with a white flower and an edible, starchy, banana-shaped root in the sand.

Tastes like: Sweet potato. Seeds in the part of the stalk above the waterline award the palate with the flavor of sweet corn and chestnuts.

A stellar source of: Fiber, which can keep your midriff in check.

Southwest: Prickly Pear

Looks like: A neon red pear with a bad case of acne.

Tastes like: An amalgam of cherry and lemon. The edible pads are tangy, like green beans.

A stellar source of: Magnesium which may help regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Northeast: Autumn Olive Berry

Looks like: A small, olive-shaped bright-red cranberry with silvery pokea dots.

Taste like: Pomegranate with a hint of tomato; slightly astringent.

A stellar source of: The heart-disease-fighting carotenoid lycopene.

Central Plains: Common/Showy Milkweed

Looks like: A lanky plant with oval green leaves and broccoli-like, pinkish flowers.

Tastes like: Green beans. The young buds, flowers and seedpods are all safe to devour, once cooked.

A stellar source of: The antioxidant vitamin C, which protects cells from free-radical mischief.