And A Recipe for Salad Dressing

I’ve already rhapsodized about dandelion and ramps, and so I am attempting to limit my springtime-reveling posts to a few other forage-able spring greens available to many of us living in North America. The following spring greens are everyday heros, common, widespread, and abundant, offering proof to our winter-scarred hearts that the cold dark months have retreated, and they feed your cells in spades. In Pharmako/poeia, a poem/manifesto on the powers of plants, Dale Pendell notes that “almost ay edible wild green is richer in vitamins than domestic lettuce.” Vitamin D, which I hope you’ve been supplementing with from October to May, is abundant in wild game and fish and also in wild greens. So my hope for the humans emerging from snow banks is to make like the deer and start nibbling now.

Violets (Viola odorata)

Violets in ancient Rome were associated with Venus and thought of as an aphrodesiac, helped along by the heart-shaped leaf and the romantic purple of the flower of the most well-known species. In Greco-Roman legend, Persephone was enacting her role as springtime deity, picking violets, when Pluto kidnapped her to the underworld. In North America, there nearly 600 species of violet growing wild, with colors ranging from blue and purple to yellow and white, and it is one of the earliest leaves and blossom above ground in the spring.

Violet in a sweet, bitter, and cooling herb best known for its alterative actions, which act upon the lymphatic, renal, and hepatic systems, encouraging movement of fluids and excretion of waste and toxins. Getting things to move is a lofty goal for springtime, when we emerge from our sweet sluggish states. Susan Weed recommends hemlock needle and violet oil for massage in treatment of fibroids and other stagnant mammary conditions and as regular practice for prevention of breast cancer (check out herbalist Lise Wolff’s story about using violet tincture to shrink a breast lump). A syrup or honey with the flowers is a lovely base for a bronchial formula for conditions, including asthma and unrelenting coughs. The common name “Heartsease” also refers to its use treating heart-related ailments.

The deep hues of the little violet makes it an aesthetically-satisfying addition to salads. In recipes, I’ll mince this green into savory fritters or meatballs and allow the nutrients to join the melee of the recipe. Candied violets make appearances as confection decor on cakes, and Appalachian herbals offer many a recipe for violet jelly and syrups.

Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Nearly a succulent, the diminutive chickweed grows like abundant hair in garden aisles and corners of parking lots. The bright green heart-shaped leaves along the long stems appears unmistakable to me these days, although there was a time when I confused it with Scarlet Pimpernel. Please don’t! Not nearly as tasty or nutritious. The genus Stellaria refers to the white star-like flowers, which are easy to distinguish form the orangey blooms on the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Unlike nettles or ramps, chickweed is ill-suited for preservation or cooking but for me is the most immediate experience of spring, offering juicy, sweet, cool and green eats right from the ground. I’ve often harvested a bunch and kept it in the fridge for a few days for use in salads or sandwiches, but its shelf-life is shorter than that of lettuce. I make sure to take scissors to the long stems of this plant when adding it to salads, although it is definitely a silly spring treat to stuff a just-picked handful in your mouth and go about chewing it like a pony.

This cool and bitter herb is best known for its demulcent and emollient properties, offering safe nourishment for taxed bodies and drawing heat and irritation from wounds and infections inside and out. Like many of the spring greens, this herb is an alterative, encouraging the moving of fluids but without being drying or diuretic, and has been known to be useful in breast cysts, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids or lymphadema. A soothing green salve recipe used for wounds, rashes, dryness often includes chickweed, plantain, and violet leaf.

Nettles (Urtica dioica)

Can enough ever be sung about nettles? Hairy, vicious, darkly green, fibrous and mineral-laden, nettles reign over my springtime heart. I’m not the only one with these feelings, as evidenced by the many stinging nettles tattoos I see people paint onto their bodies.

I love the prickly body of this plant, the tiny shots of formic acid offering the stimulating medicine of pain, the upright spine and the unfancy flowers so effective at producing the tiny powerful seed. There was a time when my friends and I were just crossing the threshold into the realm of plant magics, and stinging nettles seemed to embody the dark and nourishing practices of all the witches before us; you can try to walk through a patch with your sandals on, or harvest the tops bare-handed, but she will teach you again and again, until you like the teaching.

Clearly I feel drawn to the energetic and metaphorical aspects of this plant, but perhaps it’s also wise to address the bodily here-and-now of the stinging nettles.

The nettle most commonly used medicinally is of European origins, and the American wood nettle (Laportea canadensis) is of a different genus and also edible, but found in less abundant woodland patches, and also not as deeply green and mineral-rich. Minerals really are the most heralded aspect of nettles, which contain great amounts of silicon and potassium, as well as abundant chlorophyll and vitamins A and C. You’ll notice that many of these spring greens have bitter and cooling aspects, which indicate the alterative and liver-stimulating actions so helpful as we transition from cold to bloom. Nettles is incredibly diuretic, which is something to remember when drinking several cups daily, but its effectiveness in moving fluids helps to dispel dampness, inflammation, and stagnation, such in cases of bronchitis and asthma, nephritis and cystitis, mucous accumulation in the colon, and in eczema appearing particularly in the upper body.

These days I harvest this fierce plant with the respect I feel she’s due: gloved and with scissors or some other kind of clipping device, striping the fresh or dried leaves from the stem since they are often woody or fibrous in a way that I don’t find enjoyable for eating. I love keeping a gallon jar of dried leaves around for cooking, to grind into soups or stir-fries or meat pies. When I was an intern in among the hills of southern Ohio at the United Plant Savers Sanctuary, I was generously tutored in the ways of herbs by Paul Strauss of Equinox Botanicals, who used to mow his nettle patch regularly to keep them from spreading too far. He sent the dried ground leaf to a local bread baker, who in turn sent him fresh-baked wheat-and-nettle loaves. While nettle tea isn’t for everyone on account of the diuretic nature of nettles, many folks love the flavor and vibrancy of this infusion.

Vinegars + Green Juice

Vinegar is the menstruum most efficient at extracting water-soluble nutrients like minerals. Taking a tablespoon of raw herbal vinegar, straight or in water, is a nourishing practice much older than an encapsulated multi-vitamin. My friends Justin and Amy at Circle Mountain Farm make lovely herbal vinegars, which I’ve used to great effect on salads and sauteed greens. In addition to the aforementioned chickweed, violet, and nettles, other abundant mineral-rich plants to add include red clover, horsetail, oat straw and seed, cleavers, and dandelion.

To stimulate the liver, replenish mineral stores, and move out the sluggishness of winter, Deb Soule of Avena Botanical recommends blending a green juice of chickweed, violets, nettle, dandelion leaf, watercress, and lamb’s quarters, asserting that “This drink will add strength and vitality to any northerner after a long, cold winter.”

While I haven’t the time to explore the myriad nourishing wild edibles one can graze upon these balmy days, I want to give a shout out to a few of the other tender spring shoots that offer themselves: hemlock tips, fiddleheads, grape tendrils, poke shoots, daisy leaves, basswood leaves, smilax tips. . . What are your favorites?

RESOURCES

Michael Tierra, CA, ND. Planetary Herbology.

Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig, Phd. Nourishing Traditions.

Guerrero, Martinez, Isasa. “Mineral Nutrient Composition of Edible Wild Plants.” Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 11, Issue 4, December 1998, 322–328

Rachele Ellena. “Wild Edible Plants — An Overview.” Nordic Food Lab. http://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2012/9/wild-edible-plants-an-overview. September 11, 2012

Deb Soule. “Chickweed: A Delicious and Nutritious. . . Weed.” Maine Organic Farmers and Gardener Association.www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Summer2004/Chickweed/tabid/1326/Default.aspx

Lise Wolff. “Viva Violets!” http://www.herbalistlisewolff.com/violets.html

“A Year with Stinging Nettle.” Herbaloo Blog. http://herbaloo.org/2012/01/03/a-year-with-stinging-nettles-urtica-dioica-materia-medica/

Photo by Naomi Ullian.

Or, Brian Jacques, eat your heart out.

 Last summer I threw a potluck on the stone patio of my house-sit, which was tucked down in the fog-filled green mountains of North Carolina, and I let it be known to my dear guests that the food theme was Redwall.

That’s right. Food theme. Redwall. I’m not ashamed. Please, consider this passage:

“Brother Alf remarked that Friar Hugo had excelled himself, as course after course was brought to the table. Tender freshwater shrimp garnished with cream and rose leaves, devilled barley pearls in acorn puree, apple and carrot chews, marinated cabbage stalks steeped in creamed white turnip with nutmeg.”

If I have any ambitions at all as a gardener, forager, cook, or dinner host, how could the fare described in these woodland epics not be esteem-able inspiration? Is your mouth not watering?

And please be honest: how many potlucks have you showed up to with a bag of tortilla chips and a tub of hummus, not homemade? I name myself guilty. Throwing a themed potluck shores up the quality of the eats.

One of my favorite springtime recipes, the Dandelion Fritter, is a bitter-and-salty pancake treat whose main ingredient I glean largely from my backyard (and, okay, maybe also the neighbor’s) and which I consider entirely Redwall-worthy. It’s hearty, elegant, nutritious, and it satisfies so many of my personal food requirements: suitable for eating at any time of day, easily made by children, and lovely to slather with something delicious.

Many an herbalist has written about the root of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), so I’ll touch only briefly on this. The root is cool and bitter as well as sweet, contains inulin and a latex-like substance, and acts as an alterative, cholagogue, and diuretic. The tonic use of this medicine is suited to chronic inflammatory liver conditions such as hepatitis, and its alterative properties have shown it to be effective in boils, edema, and breast health. The bitterness of the whole plant indicates its assistance at the intersection of the GI and hepatic systems, as bitter flavors stimulate bile flow and help with fat emulsification for digestion.

The flower, however, apart from its fame in wine recipes, deserves more thorough attention, which you may imagine me offering with a yellow pollen-dusted nose which comes from sticking your schnoz in a big ducky dandelion head.

The “aerial parts,” or the leaves together with the flowers, have long been prepared and consumed for their dense nutrition. Closely related to chicory, domesticated lettuce varieties, and of course the fancier bitter leaf vegetables like the escaroles,

the leaf of dandelion in Chinese medicine is thought of as a bitter and cold herb par

ticularly effecting the urinary tract, the liver, and digestion. What old world herbalists called the nutritious “salts” of the leaves and flowers refers to the heaps of mineral and vitamins, including beta-carotene and the resulting Vitamin A, famous for improving vision and found in research to support epithelial tissues battling cancerous growth, such as in the respiratory tracts. The rest of the micronutrient profile basically reads like a vitamin bottle label: fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins, copper, cobalt, zinc, boron, molybdenum, and Vitamin D.

In my strolls through the interweb, I came across some exciting research about this plant, whose virtues cancel all considerations for me to consider it a noxious week.

+ In 1956, French researcher Dr. Remy Chauvin investigated the long-lived Korean folk practice of dandelion flower use in conditions involving boils, skin infection, edema, and poor circulation, demonstrating the antibacterial properties of pollen.

 + In 1982, scientists in dentistry at Indiana University created antiplaque preparations using latex extracts from dandelion.

+ The latex, the sticky milky goo that oozes when you pick a leaf or flower, has been used for wart removal and to soothe burns — kind of like medicinal band-aids.

 + On a good and windy day, the seeds of the dandelion can be blown miles away from the parent plant.

+ Dandelion root produce a natural dye that offers fibers a rich shade of brownish-red.

+ Botanists call dandelions “perfect” flowers because they contain both male and female organs within the same bloom.

+ The pollen produced by the dandelion flowers is sterile, and botanists do not yet agree on why the plant continues to use energy to produce pollen that it does not use.

I suppose the most appealing gustatory experience of the Dandelion Fritter is its texture. I adore the way the fried blooms offer a crispy pop as I chew, the fritter as a whole a satisfying experience in light savory hors d’oeuvres.

It occurs to me that I should acknowledge a certain lack of specificity when it comes to amounts (tsps versus tbsp, etc) in my recipes. This is how my grandmother cooked (and we adored her Hungarian Goulash), and this, as it turns out, is how I cook. You’ll probably guess I am a less successful baker than I am a cook (though my grandmother’s pies are experiences my family can wax poetic about). However, I do believe that cultivating an eye for texture and a tongue for tasting as you go along is the best experiential education in the acquiring of kitchen skills.

And so I offer you my Dandelion Fritter recipe.

DANDELION FRITTERS

+ Beat 2-3 eggs with salt, pepper, and a dash of cream or milk. (I like to add ground nettles and minced onions or garlic, although not strictly necessary.)

+ Add one cup of fresh dandelion blooms or enough blooms until a thoroughly coated mixture forms without excess liquid.

+ Sprinkle flour of your choice (I like teff or dark buckwheat) until the mixture becomes sticky.

+ Form cakes with clean hands and fry in butter until golden brown on both sides and egg does not run out when fritter is pressed with spatula.

+ Serve with goat cheese, sour cream, ramp pesto, or nothing at all.

DANDELION FLOWER BITTERS

Cooling bitter tonics clear heat and move dampness, so its a pretty good addition to the daily food rituals for those of wringing the melting snow from our bones and wishing the liver would move along with the accumulations from winters’ necessarily heavy foods. If you live in a warm and humid area, where springtime brings thick wet weather and temperatures that cause your clothes to cling, this is also a useful tonic. I like to take 5-15 drops of the following formula 20 minutes before or after eating.

3 parts fresh Dandelion blooms

2 parts fresh Mugwort leaf

1 part fresh Mint leaf

1 part fresh or dried Lavender buds

To make this bitters formula, you may either combine simples (single-herb tinctures) in the suggested ratio of parts, or you can pack the fresh macerated herbs into a jar with a clear grain alcohol according to the ratios suggested. Allow to infuse at least two weeks, and then press and strain the herbs out.

RESOURCES

“Health Benefits of Dandelions,” The Leaf Lady. www.leaflady.org/health_benefits_of_dandelions.htm

“Dandelion,” A Modern Herbal, M. Grieve. http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/d/dandel08.html

“Dandelion,” Winter Botany 2012, http://winter2012bioportfolios.providence.wikispaces.net/Dandelion

Matthew Wood, The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicines

How Do I Make That?

Unless you’re growing your own vegetables, organic produce can be expensive. I’m not complaining — farmers should be well-supported for their creativity and labors, and the true cost of food production has been externalized through food subsidies for so long that its hard for many of us to get used to re-budgeting to afford higher quality and more ethical eats. CSAs and gleaning can provide more affordable ways to access local and organic produce, but the daily realities of a family budget often mean that we have to choose the more affordable organic vegetables over the luxuries of conventional strawberries and asparagus in December.

The following recipes include vegetables I have grown to love for their colors, flavor, versatility, and affordability. Dress them up as fancy or as simple as you like, these vegetables can form a happy foundation to your weekly mealtimes.

SIMPLE FRIED CABBAGE with Sesame Seeds 

+ The secret to nutty, browned cabbage is to not cook it too long. Wash and chop a third of a head of red cabbage and a third of a head of green or Napa cabbage in large square pieces.

+ Melt butter or coconut oil in a pan and toast sesame seeds for 3 minutes.

+ Toss cabbage in pan at medium-high heat for 3-4 four minutes, so that the leaves become browned but are still crunchy.

+ Pour 3/4 cup of water into the pan and steam the cabbage for another three minutes. The goal is to cook the cabbage for digestibility but not let it get totally limp and sulfurous.

+ Transfer cabbage from pan into bowl, drizzle with sesame oil, and sprinkle with black pepper. Salt to taste.

CARROT + BEET SLAW with Lemon + Ginger

+ Grate three large carrots and three small beets into a large bowl.

+ Combine 1 teaspoon of grated or finely minced fresh ginger, half a squeezed lemon, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and several sprigs of fresh minced parsley.

+ Drizzle dressing over carrots and beets and toss thoroughly.

KALE SALAD with Red Onion, Feta + Seeds

+ Wash kale and chip into long strips about 1/2 inch wide, leaving the stems in. Place in a bowl with sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

+ Massage the kale with your hands for 1-2 minutes or until the oil seems to permeate the leaves.

+ In a pan, toast sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds until they are golden. Remove seeds and allow to cool.

+ Slice small red onion in thin rounds and sautee in butter or coconut oil until soft. Transfer to bowl with kale.

+ Sprinkle sunflower seeds, black pepper, and crumbled hard feta over greens and toss well. Keep refrigerated until consumption for the crispest version of this dish.

My cooking, over the years, has been influenced by so many things: Sally Fallon and her crusade against the fat-phobic food industry; my oma’s decadent goulash and schnitzel; my grandma’s borscht with sour cream; my inexplicable personal cravings for eggplant, lamb, and dumplings; my farmer sweetheart who brings me endless winter squash and carrots; the kimchi-and-taco truck parked near the old studio I used to work at.

I didn’t really learn to cook until college, when I lived in a housing cooperative where I cooked one night a week in a team of five people for 50 mouths, all with active and vociferous dietary restrictions and preferences. There were endless variations on peanut tofu, decadent dinners where we dressed an entire tuna, and a pit dug in the backyard for a pig roasted with rabbit stuffed inside. My go-to late-night study snack that year, living in California, was mashed avocado sprinkled with sea salt on a slice of sprouted grain bread, a far-cry from the Kelloggs boxed cereals my family raised me on. Not so long ago, I lived with a lively crew who regularly brought home roadkill racoon and goose –we roasted these with the apples we’d gleaned, ramps we’d dried, and wild rice hand-harvested and brought down from the Great Lakes.

When I consider the rich food experiences I’ve had, I realize that the greatest influences on my cooking have been, first, whatever is at hand (not what’s seasonal, but what’s is in the cupboards) and second, what can I afford?

My sweetheart and I agree that I pretty much romanced him entirely through my cooking. Sensing that he was a food-oriented person, I quieted my crush-jitters by inviting him to dinner where I limited myself to two newly-purchased ingredients. I managed to woo him once over chipotle chicken soup with cilantro and dumplings (gluten free and somewhat the consistency of matzah balls, which he seemed to appreciate), and again with stuffed cabbage with thyme and tomatoes (I think I got a kiss for that one).

I have come to terms with the fact that my culinary tendencies are entirely unsuited for following persnickety recipes (a genetic disorder, I’m afraid), and that my most innovative and surprising dishes (sometimes not reproducible) have come out of figuring out how to make do with what’s on hand and in my budget.

I’ve come to apply harm reduction principles when I strategize about what to cook and what to eat. Like everyone else making choices in a confusing and sometimes limiting world, I just keep trying to keep reasonable quantities of wild, local, organic, and fair-trade items in my diet. It’s nearly impossible to eat “perfectly” in this imperfect world, and it would make me crazy to try. Perfect is not an aspiration I have. I aim to make less harmful choices, both for myself and for the planet, and this sometimes means compromise, like eating sardines that come from a can. Good thing sardines are so delicious, especially when packed with lemon.

Maybe you maybe serve up recipes like this? I’d love to hear your variations, sources for ingredients, or wild innovations.

 THE LITTLE FISHES

The foundation of my fish cake is small, cold water fish — full of the good EFA-packed oils, low toxin accumulation, more sustainably harvested, low on the food chain. The great herbalist and teacher Juliet Blankenspoor taught me to think of the most desirable fish in the SMASHT acronym — Salmon, Mackarel, Anchovies, Sardines, Herring, (Yellowfin) Tuna. Small fish tend also to be a more affordable form of seafood, and I always look for fish packed in water or olive oil, as those packed in soybean or cottonseed oils are common but not stable, often rancid, and not wonderful for your insides.

I like to offer these recipes because so many clients and friends seem at a loss for how to prepare or consume small fish. I think the best way a recipe can be shared is to communicate the basic foundation of the dish and encourage improvisation of the details. That’s how I like my “seafood croquettes,” as my housemate calls them.

CHUB CAKES with Ferment Vegetables

+ Place fish in a mixing bowl, with all the juices. Don’t drain! That’s where the best oils are.

+ Mash the fish with egg and spices and a little bit of flour. I like dark buckwheat or corn. More egg/less flour for thin fritters, less egg/more flour for hearty burger-like cakes. Some folks like to add home-made mayonnaise or cream.

+ Season with ground nettles, black pepper, and diced onions.

+ Spoon mixtures into hot greased pan or on a greased baking sheet. Flip until golden on both sides and no egg runs out when pressed with a spatula.

+ I like making silver-dollar sized croquettes as an appetizer and serving with mustard or chipotle mayo and kimchi.

TEA-TIME SARDINES

This recipe is lovely for a quick lunch or snack, or even a light salad-oriented dinner, as you only need to assemble the various elements. I’ve even presented these nicely enough that guests accepted these as hors d’oeuvres.

+ Open several tins of sardines and slice sardines into quarter size portions.

+ Find a cracker variety you like (I’m a fan of Mary’s Gone Crackers) and arrange them on a plate.

+ Spread a dab of sour cream or creme fraiche on the cracker and place sardine snugly on top. Alternately, skip the sour cream/creme fraiche and instead lay the sardine on the cracker and sprinkle crumbly feta or queso blanco atop the fish.

+ Season with black pepper and sea salt to taste, top with thin slices of pickled lemon, and sprinkle chopped parsley and cilantro over the whole plate. Garnish with pickled vegetables and greens.

SALMON MELTS on Corn Tortillas

My feeling is that fresh salmon, if you aren’t going to eat it grilled or pan fried or baked, is delicious in a salmon salad with dill, but its perhaps a waste of fresh fish to eat it in a salmon melt. Canned salmon, however, is cheaper and already has a texture perfect for a burger or melt. I try to choose wild-caught salmon that’s darker in color, but of course that is more expensive, so I often settle for the pink instead of the red. This recipe makes two tortilla melts. (Do you live in New England? I love Mi Tierra tortillas).

+ Open a small can of salmon and do not drain. Empty the entire contents into a mixing bowl and mash with a fork.

+ Add minced parsley and green onions, black pepper, salt, paprika, and a pinch of cayenne. Mix well.

+ Add one tablespoon of homemade-mayo or an organic brand and mix thoroughly. I also like to mix a chipotle or Sriracha spicy mayo for this recipe.

+ Divide the mixture between two corn tortillas and top with a cheese of your choice (I love goat cheese here).

+ Pop in oven or toaster oven for 5-8 minutes depending on heat of your appliance.

+ Remove from oven, add fresh lettuce or other greens (chickweed?), fold like a taco, and enjoy.

Stay tuned for the next installment of How do I make that? Whole Foods Recipes on a Budget, Part II!

Morning Thunder (whose origins and recipe I previously wrote about) is a root tea mix with a great deal of healing properties: gut-healing, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, alterative, adaptogenic, stimulating but calming, liver supporting. I am not going to go into licorice, ginger, cacao, burdock, or cinnamon, as its highly likely I will cover those herbs at other times, and I’m just so darn excited to share some of the superpowers of these other herbal action heroes.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

Cultivated in ancient Egypt for food and medicine, chicory has long been a staple of coffee-like beverages for good reason (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/chicory-coffee-mix-new-orleans-made-own-comes-180949950/?no-ist). This wild abundant perennial has a long taproot which, when roasted, offers a rich flavor and texture, as well as inulin (a prebiotic polysaccharide), esculin, coumarins, flavanoids, and vitamins. Ethyl root extracts of chicory have been found to be antimicrobial against a variety of gram positive and gram negative bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi.

The herb and nutrition markets have paid much attention to inulin. a starch-like polysaccharide used as energy reserve by many plants, including artichokes, salsify, and garlic. In the food industry, inulin has become multi-purpose, substituting as a low-glycemic diabetic-friendly sweetener in the place of sucrose, as a substitute for fat and flour, and as a soluble fiber. In my opinion, the place inulin is most visible on the market is as a pre-biotic additive to cultured dairy products. Research has show the ingesting moderate quantities of inulin can significantly and beneficially impact bifidobacteria in the intestine, which in turn can increase the body’s ability to absorb minerals like calcium. Professor Robert Wilson, a PhD in soil science and agronomy who has spent the past decade studying chicory at the University of Nebraska, notes that “the chemical bonds between these fructose units [in Chicory] are not digestible by digestive enzymes in the small intestine, but they are fermented by colonic bacteria.”

In the second century, Galen named chicory a “friend of the liver,” and subsequent herbalists and researchers have shown this bitter-flavored herb useful in treating jaundice, the flow of bile, and gallstones. Basal leaves, when young and tender in the spring, can be added to salads for minerals and that fresh bitter flavor — many cultures eat chicory leaves as a spring blood-cleansing tonic. Many edible cultivars have been developed over the centuries from wild chicory, including radicchio and Belgian endive.

My favorite thing about chicory is the particular blue of its flowers, which can often be found in abundance standing tall by the side of the road. Y’all probably know this, but just a reminder: when wild harvesting root or leaf, make sure, if possible, to find an area far from the road or industry, to ensure clean food and medicine.

He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum)

Sometimes you can tell an herb’s fame and celebrity from the sheer number of names it has earned: Fo-Ti, Mr. Wu’s Black Hair, Chinese Knotweed, Flowery Knotweed.

In the Chinese materia medica, He Shou Wu is a much-touted tonic. For more than 3,000 years, people have found this adaptogenic “elixir of life” to have a stimulating, warming, and fortifying effect on a variety of body and energetic systems. A cursory glance through any article on the subject with refer you to a host of stories featuring vigorous long-lived men who, although once susceptible to weakness and aging, experienced improved sexual vitality and hair turning from gray to black upon regular use of this herb.

Much research has examined the why and wherefore of this herb’s touted history. The root of this viney and knobby plant is rich in zinc and iron, increasing energy without being a stimulant, offering a calm focus and increased circulation, which may also be one reason is can support sexual function.

The unprocessed root of He Shou Wu is referred to as white Fo-Ti, is used to relax the bowels and detoxify the blood, can cause diarrhea, and should not be used as a tonic. The processed root, or red Fo-Ti, is made from being boiled in black bean liquid, and is considered superior tonic vitality medicine, energizing the kidneys and liver and strengthening the blood. Processed He Shou Wu contains protein-sugar complexes, lectins, which help to reduce lipids in the blood. Lectins are able to attach to specific arrangements of carbohydrates and act like antibodies, prevents the formation of vascular plaque, which in turns may prevent or delay heart disease.

Other research shows that Polygonum multiflorum has a significant impact on the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. SOD is a powerful endogenous antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to have beneficial effects in human conditions associated with aging. Studies show He Shou Wu to improve cardiovascular function, enhance immunity, slow glandular degeneration, increase antioxidant activity, reduce the accumulation of lipid peroxidation. strengthen the membranes of red blood cells, and induce human production of g-interferon.

Marshmallow (Althea officinalis)

Goopy, starchy, sweet, marshmallow has long been used to soothe irritation in the mucous membranes, especially in the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urinary tracts for hot and dry conditions. This demulcent quality lays a cooling film over hot and irritated tissues internally, allowing the other constituents time and access to the area to enact anti-inflammatory and immuno-modulating effects. Externally, the same soothing mucilage is considered emollient, soothing tissues irritated from wounds, burns, and a variety of dermatitis — some research has even found the herb to assist in the turnover of epithethial cells.

The immune-stimulating capacities of this herb in the aforementioned body systems have earned it a good reputation for respiratory infections (bronchitis, asthma, emphysema), gut conditions (ulcers and inflammatory bowel conditions), and urinary tract infections. Also helpful in renal issues is marshmallow’s ability to assist in balancing fluid/salt balance in the body, including dehydration and fluid retetion often indicated by frequent urination and thirst. The many compounds extracted from this root include pectins, starches, mono and di-saccharide sacchorose, mucilage, flavanoids, isoquercitrin, coumarins, phytosterols, tannins, asparagine, and many amino acids.

Research has confirmed the traditional uses for this herb, describing antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, demulcent, antitussive, and immunomodulating. With nearly 70% of the nervous system tissue occuring in the gut, this is herb is of particular us in gut inflammation or nervousness associated upset stomach, poor digestion, autoimmune digestive disorders, and mental health situations that seems to effect the gut. Immunologically, Marshmallow root appears to increase the rate at which Macrophage cells both kill and eat bacterial bodies, and neutrophils, which are recruited to the site of infection via the blood, also show increased phagocytic (cell eating!) activity.

Marshmallow is often paired with other herbs in formulas. My teacher, Paul Bergner, recommend for optimal get demulcent activity that Marshmallow root be combined with slippery elm, plantain, and licorice for acute inflammatory gut conditions.

The demulcent and emollient effects of this herb are best gained through water extraction. Hot water tends to pull out starches better, whereas cool water infusions draw the mucilage. Cold marshmallow infusions taste lightly sweetened and refreshing. Sometimes, I will infuse the marshmallow cold overnight, and then add that to the decocting process with the rest of my herb mix the next day.

White Peony Root (Paeonia lactiflora)

While peony is not as commonly used in the western herbal materia medicae, Japanese and Chinese medicine traditions both make frequent use of this herb in formulas. A particular formula made of peony and licorice, Shakuyaku-kanzo-to, has been studied for its efficacy in relieving muscle cramps relating to diabetes, dialysis, and cirrhosis of the liver, and has been approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare for muscle spasm in these situations. Another Japanese formulation known as Toki-shakuyaku-san, a Japanese formula combining peony root with dong quai and several other herbs has been used effectively as an antispasmodic and analgesic in cases of dysmenorrhea.

When I studied at NAIMH, I learned to think of white peony root as a relaxant with particular affinity for the pelvis. The gentle nervine with anti-spasmodic qualities also can exert mild estrogenic effects make this herb idea for tying together formulas involving heat, inflammation, cramping, stagnancy, androgen dominance, and other gynecological, nervous, musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal conditions. Animal studies suggest that peony extracts (which contain the unique glycoside paeoniflorin as well as proanthocyanidins, flavonoids, tannins, and polysaccharides) also elevate cognitive function, which has led researchers and herbalists to wonder about peony’s potential use in dementia.

Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera)

The study of fats has been a fascinating rollercoaster of science and food chemistry in the past half century. Recently, one of my family members called me on the phone to ask, “Do you know why my doctor told me to eat a tablespoon of coconut oil every day?” This isn’t a practice I’ve ever done myself or advised any of my clients to do, but I was intrigued.

Coconut oil, as you may have observed, has been making a comeback. In the dietary fat-phobic past several decades, all saturated fats were villainized as vessel-clogging harbingers of heart disease and early death, and we now know what we may have been intuiting all along: that the quality and origin of the fat is what matters most, not the saturation.

Coconut oil is higher in saturated fats than any other non-hydrogenated oil. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature, which makes them makes it stable, offering a long shelf-life that resists rancidity, which can contribute to cardiovascular oxidative stress. Partially or fully hydrogenated oils are not solid at room temperature, have undesirable ration of omegas 3, 6, and 9, and are much more likely to go rancid and produce oxidation — a process which produces free radicals, inflammation, and tissue damage — in the body.

Another particular characteristic of coconut oil is that it contains a high percentage of medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs. MCTs are between 6 and 12 carbons long, while LCTs, or long-chain triglycerides, are more than 12 carbons long. Our bodies metabolize MCTs differently from LCTs. MCTs travel directly from the intestine to the liver to be burned as fuel. This quick conversion of fats to energy elevates the metabolism slightly, avoids elevating blood serum lipid levels, and avoids depositing fats in storage tissues. MCTs are also thought to be more easily digested, help in the absorption of calcium, and are beneficial in digestive disorders, diabetes, viral infections such as mononucleosis and herpes. Many oils are made up of mostly or entirely long-chain triglycerides, such as soybean oil (100% LCTs), while coconut oil is heavier on the mediucm-chain triglycerides, approximately 40% LCTs and 60% MCTs.

The antimicrobial activity of coconut oil is particularly magical to me. The free fatty acids break down the lipid membranes of pathogens without harming the digestive membranes or beneficial gut bacteria. This prevents free radical damage, rather than causing it. Dr. Mary Enig, phD. and co-author of Nourishing Traditions along with Sally Fallon, has lectured widely on the benefits of coconut oil. (http://coconutoil.com/coconut_oil_21st_century/) She writes,

“Until now, no one in the mainstream nutrition community seems to have recognized the added potential of antimicrobial lipids in the treatment of HIV-infected or AIDS patients.  These antimicrobial fatty acids and their derivatives are essentially nontoxic to man; they are produced in vivo by humans when they ingest those commonly available foods that contain adequate levels of medium-chain fatty acids such as lauric acid. According to the published research, lauric acid is one of the best “inactivating” fatty acids, and its monoglyceride is even more effective than the fatty acid alone [. . .] The lipid-coated (envelope) viruses are dependent on host lipids for their lipid constituents.  The variability of fatty acids in the foods of individuals as well as the variability from de novo synthesis accounts for the variability of fatty acids in the virus envelope and also explains the variability of glycoprotein expression, a variability that makes vaccine development more difficult. Monolaurin does not appear to have an adverse effect on desirable gut bacteria, but rather on only potentially pathogenic microorganisms.”

So how could you take a tablespoon of coconut oil daily? If it sounds unappealing to you to spoon it right out of the jar into your mouth, stir your coconut oil into your Morning Thunder, drizzle it over your omelet, or spread it on your toast. Or write back with your favorite ways to take your coconut oil!

RESOURCES

http://weedscience.unl.edu/pdfarticles/2013ChicoryRW.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3108611/

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/peony.htm

http://coconutoil.com/coconut_oil_21st_century/#sthash.7PkGmG7R.dpuf

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/coconut-oil/

http://www.nutrition.org/asn-blog/2009/07/coconut-oil/

http://coconutoil.com/mary_enig/

http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/a-new-look-at-coconut-oil/

http://www.foodinsight.org/CoconutOilAndHealth

http://www.sphinxsai.com/2013/JulySept13/phPDF/PT=57%281378-1385%29JS13.pdf

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/marshmallow

http://academicjournals.org/article/article1381316156_Shah.pdf

http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/JMPR/article-abstract/BD00EAD40178

http://herbal-diary.com/marsh-mallow-khatmi-gul-kheri-althea-rosea-athea-officinalis/

http://www.stemcellnutrition.net/he-shou-wu

https://www.hyperionherbs.com/benefits-of-he-shou-wu/

http://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hn-2092003

For a while, during my studies at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism, I lived with my friend at 7500 feet above sea level, in a tiny cabin perched on a shelf overlooking Left Hand Canyon, in the front range outside Boulder, Colorado.

It was a good way to learn about snow for a kid raised in the South. The fat flakes often fell gently and thickly for the better part of an afternoon, and in the morning the sun returned and melted the powdery stuff into unintimidating merengue poofs. Nothing like the terrifying ice sheet that lays in wait outside my current abode in southern Vermont, making plans in the night to deck me ingloriously.

But despite the sweet affability of Colorado snowfall, nothing prepared me for the cold. Not even our cleverly insulated passive solar post-and-beam cabin could keep the chill out. So what do two herbalists do when living under such conditions?

Of course. They experiment with morning beverages.

My pal (now purveyor of Take Care Herbals) was looking for something warming and stimulating to help wean off of coffee, and I was willing to drink just about anything that promised to make my red blood cells get a move on. Our original brew involved a base of roasted chicory, dried burdock, and cinnamon. Similar to Dandy Blend, if you’ve ever tried that good stuff.

My cabin-dwelling buddy dubbed our experimental breakfast brew “Morning Thunder,” which stuck. We have since added and taken away half a dozen herbs and spices, but it wasn’t until this winter — the mother of all freaking cold long winters, in my little life’s experience — that I really figured out a blend that not only satisfied my bitter-tolerant taste buds, but which my non-herbalist friends really seemed to dig.

BREW ME

Morning Thunder Tea Mix

Chicory Root (chopped, roasted) – 3 parts

Burdock Root (dried, chopped) – 3 parts

He Shou Wu (pounded) – 3 parts

Marshmallow Root (dried, chopped) – 2 parts

White Peony Root (pounded) – 2 parts

Cacao Nibs (roasted or raw) – 1 part

Cinnamon (pounded) – 1/2 part

Ginger Root (dried, chopped) – 1/2 part

Licorice Root (dried, chopped) – 1/2 part

Add 1 heaping tablespoon of tea mix to one quart of water in a small post, bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. While the tea roots brew, in a quart jar combine the following.

1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil

a dash of coconut or almond milk to taste

maple syrup, honey, or stevia extract to taste

1 tablespoon of hydrolyzed gelatin

When the tea is done simmering, ladle it through a strainer into the jar with the coconut oil and other ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved, pour into a mug and enjoy your morning.

I know the gelatin part might sound gross, but it has no taste or texture, and this is a freakin great way to get your daily dose of the stuff. Also, for all you perfectionists out there, none of this is a must, if you are out of one ingredient or another, or if you aren’t a fan of licorice, or cacao or he shou wu is too stimulating, or maybe you want to take the super warming ingredients like ginger and cinnamom out for a warm weather beverage. Maybe it’s obvious, but this is one of the beautiful thing about herbal medicine: it can be tweaked and arranged to suit the individual.

Stay tuned for next week’s writing on the material medica of Morning Thunder herbs!