Have you ever tasted dandelion fritters? What about frozen violet candy? Or maybe persimmon bread?

These are just some of foods that can be prepared from wild plants in Missouri. And there are recipes that can make these and other wild plants into interesting foods.

But, you have to follow the "Eleven Commandments of Wild Edible Foods." Make sure you pick the right plants and prepare them correctly. Otherwise, you can make yourself sick. (For a complete commandment listing, see below.)

Keri Lanning is a naturalist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). She teaches classes to show which wild plants are edible and how to prepare them.

"We have the classes at different times of the year and we feature plants that are in season," Lanning said.

So far this year, there have been classes for spring and summer plants.

The next classes will deal with plants that ripen in the fall season. Two classes will be held Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Soulard office in south-central St. Louis. The classes are from 10-11:30 a.m. and from 12:30-2 p.m.

If you want to attend, you can call the Soulard office at (314) 231-3803.

However, you also can study on your own. The MDC sells a 248-page book titled "Wild Edibles of Missouri." It includes recipes for food dishes made with wild plants. It has a section with pictures to show you which plants not to use, because they are poisonous.

You can order the book from department's website at www.conservation.state.mo.us. Just click on the Nature Shop and the books listing. Then, you can find the "Wild Edibles" book under Plants or by clicking on All Products.

Young Saint Louis.com also has interviewed Keri. This article tells about some of her lessons and recipes.

Lanning reminds kids about the rules for harvesting wild edible plants in Missouri. All harvesting must be done on private lands. You can't use plants from city, county or state parks. If you don't own the land, be sure to get the landowner's permission.

One of the main subjects of Keri's fall cooking classes will be plants with potato-like roots. These include wild potato-vine, arrowheads, yellow pond-lilies, Jerusalem artichokes, American lotus and great bulrushes.

One of the best times to harvest them are in the fall. These plants store sugars in rootstocks or tubers underground. Lanning said a good way to cook these is just like you would a potato. You clean and peel them, then slice and fry them, she said.

Some of the leafy plants that make good cooked greens are chickweeds, thistles, amaranth and wintercress. Lanning said it's important not to cook these wild plants too long. Rather, you should either steam them or, if boiling them, use only a little water.

Cooking them too long not only kills the vitamins but also drives off the aromatic oils that give the plants their distinctive tastes, she said.

Chickweeds and thistles also can be used raw in salads. Other salad plants include watercress, yellow wood-sorrels and wild onions. Use the onion bulbs, not the tops.

All of the cooked or raw greens taste better if you pick the youngest shoots. The older leaves have a more bitter taste, Lanning said.

"And, kids like sweet things better than tart things," she said.

Of course, wash all wild plants carefully before eating, just like with store-bought vegetables.

Lanning said in some classes she has let kids eat the persimmon fruit raw. But, she said, "Many of them thought the fruit was too pulpy." She said they liked persimmon best when it was used in her persimmon bread recipe. (For that recipe, see below.)

One easy recipe that kids like is a tea made from seeds of white pine trees. The seeds are steeped in hot water and then the tea is flavored with honey, Lanning said.

The dandelion fritters are easy to make. First, you pick the yellow flowers and make sure they are clean. Trim off the green part of the flower. Then, dip the flower in pancake batter and deep fry them.

The violet candies are even easier to make. Pick the flowers and clean them. Then, you brush the flowers with egg whites and put them in the freezer. No cooking is necessary.

"The flowers look like they have been glazed and are sweet to eat," Lanning said.

 

The 11 Commandments of Wild Edible Foods

1. When in doubt, throw it out. If you aren't sure the plant is edible, don't use it.
   
   
2. Eat new foods in a graduated manner. At first, eat only small helpings.
   
   
3. Pick and eat only healthy plants.
   
   
4. Never eat new edibles when you feel poorly.
   
   
5. Gather foods at their seasonal best.
   
   
6. Leave experimentation to fools or experts. Never guess at whether a plant is edible.
   
   
7. Look out for look-a-likes. Cattails are edible but the look-a-like wild iris is poisonous.
   
   
8. Don't assume all plants in the same family are edible.
   
   
9. Gather uncontaminated foods.
   
   
10. Prepare foods properly.
    
    
11. Never pick all of one kind of plant in one area. Leave some plants so you can have another crop next season.

 

Persimmon Bread

Fun to collect and great to eat. Try out this recipe this fall:

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flower
• 1 cup persimmon pulp
  
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup raisins

Baking instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In small bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon, nuts and raisins
3. In a large bowl, blend eggs, sugar and oil. Mix baking soda into pulp and add to sugar mixture. Fold in flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 75 minutes or until center is done.