Verdolaga: A Natural Resource

About a week after moving into this neighborhood, I saw one of the neighbors returning to her home from her consult at the clinic and searching diligently along the sides of the path while she walked. As I watched, she reached down and started pulling greens from the ground. I hurried over as she was wrapping them up in the front of her shirt to carry them to her house, to ask what she had found. It’s called Verdolaga she told me … its a weed that grows abundantly in the ditches and roadsides.
I made a point of memorizing the look of the leaves and the way the plant was growing, and have made it a regular vegetable on our table during its season ever since. Now, I have been working diligently to grow a garden … and in the section for herbs, the only plant that grew was … you guessed it … verdolaga!!!

Verdolaga has a gentle green flavor … it reminds me of fiddleheads, a wild speciality from my Miramichi roots.

I just rinse it off, chop it up, steam it in a bit of water and serve with cider vinegar. I particularly like this vegetable served with a baked chicken dinner.