The Snarky Gardener ate garlic mustard to celebrate Earth Day.
It wasn’t until last year that the Snarky Gardener knew that garlic mustard is so invasive in the United States or even what it was. I learned that garlic mustard is a type of mustard that is native to Europe but escaped into the wild here in America. It spreads very easily and is hard to eradicate, especially since garlic mustard’s garlicky smell and taste keeps animals (deer, etc) from eating it. Fortunately for humans, it’s delicious for us if prepared well.
The first indication that garlic mustard grew at Snarky Acres was the above picture. Notice the white flowered plants just above the yellow flowered plants (to the right of the logs)? The yellow flowers are Seven Top turnips going to seed. The others are garlic mustard. Over this last weekend, River and I walked the property line next to the woods to see how much garlic mustard we have to make pesto with. The answer ended up being “as much as we want”. So to help the local ecology and my stomach, I made pesto on Earth Day with the possibility of it becoming a tradition (unless of course I eat all the available garlic mustard).
After a little Internet searching, I found the recipe I wanted to use.
3 cups Garlic Mustard leaves, washed, patted dry, and packed in a measuring cup
2 large garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
1 cup Walnuts
1 cup Olive Oil
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano Cheese (or more Parmesan)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Combine Garlic Mustard leaves, garlic and walnuts in food processor and chop. Or divide recipe in half and use a blender. With motor running, add olive oil slowly. Shut off motor. Add cheeses, salt & pepper. Process briefly to combine.
Garlic mustard can be worked into hummus, too. It doesn’t make a dent in the population but I like to tell myself I’m helping.
I saw recipes for potato salad among others that I want to try. Maybe I’ll make my own garlic mustard colcannon recipe . . .
I thought I was taking out quite a bit this week until I looked a little farther into the woods. It’s an infinite supply.
Garlic mustard, eh? We had that stuff all over the hills in LA County, where I grew up. We just called it Mustard. I didn’t know it’s edible.