Wild edibles in self-created recipes if you come picnic with us.
At least that is what was for dessert on our lawn tonight. (And, yes, the wild clover one tasted much better than it looked!)
Earlier in the day, a friend had posted a link to some wonderfully healthy and delicious-looking white clover pudding. We did not have the ingredients for that pudding at home, but we did have a desire to explore what we might create with the white and red clover growing in our yard. So, we decided to make our own recipe.
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The children gathered clover blooms, which I sorted and "de-petaled", pulling petals that had not dried and browned yet and placing them in a measuring cup.
By the time we had but one-quarter of a cupful of petals, the children tired of picking them, so my daughter and I went inside see what we could make.
We have been on a chia-seed kick lately, so we decided to experiment chia seeds, honey, clover petals, and coconut milk to make our own pudding.
My daughter thought the texture of the pudding might be best if we ground the petals first in our Magic Bullet instead of using them whole, so we did just that.
Oops! The pretty white and purple with a hint of green petals turned into green pulp.
Not to be chagrined, we added coconut milk and honey to the pulp and blended again.
Then, we added the chia seeds and, noticing our concoction was no longer green, but was still hardly pretty, we added a few petals to the top. Then - oops, again - we forgot to shake the jar vigorously in order to mix the chia seeds in properly. So, we ended up having our pudding set with some quite thick parts and some more fluid ones.
That did not deter us, though. We simply stirred it all together before serving. Then, five out of the six people in our home enjoyed our clover bloom chia seed pudding despite its strange hue and less-than-perfect texture.
Five out of six people also enjoyed our other creation: strawberry-chia seed pudding.
Because we had a cup of coconut milk left in a can after making our wild clover pudding, and because we have a fridge bursting with fresh strawberries, we decided to make a strawberry pudding, too.
To make it, we washed and sliced a cup of strawberries.
Then, we added coconut milk and honey,before we blended it all together.
We poured the mixture into a jar and topped it off chia seeds.
We, then, capped the lid, shook it vigorously, and popped it in the fridge for a a few hours.
By dinner time, it was a delightful pudding that all of us (but our one odd-child-out who does not like strawberries) enjoyed it!
I would definitely recommend trying either our wild clover chia seed pudding and out strawberry-chia seed one before clover and strawberry season has passed. Not every concoction we experiment with turns out to be a recipe worth sharing, but we think today's wild edible exploration is worth passing on.
Both clover and strawberries have many health benefits, as do wild honey and chia seeds. So, the puddings are ones you can enjoy without guilt.
For your ease, the ingredients and directions we used to make each pudding are listed below.
Wild Clover Chia Seed Pudding
- 1/4 cup white and/or purple clover bloom petals (simply pull/snip petals from the flower head, discarding brown or dry ones)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons raw, local honey
- 1/4 cup chia seeds (We prefer white ones for aesthetic purposes, but black taste just as good.)
Mix clover petals, coconut milk, and honey together. Place in a jar, and add chia seeds. Cover jar and shake vigorously. Refrigerate several hours to thicken.
Enjoy as is or with whipped coconut cream and fruit toppings.
Strawberry-Chia Seed Pudding
- 1cup strawberries
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons raw, local honey
- 1/2 cup chia seeds (We prefer white ones for aesthetic purposes, but black taste just as good.)
Wash, slice, and blend strawberries. Add one cup of coconut milk and three tablespoons of honey. Blend again. Then pour into a jar. Add 1/2 cup chia seeds, cover, and shake vigorously. Refrigerate several hours to thicken.
Enjoy as is or with whipped coconut cream and fruit toppings.
We've love to hear how you like (and adapt!) our pudding recipes. We'd also welcome your wild (and spring!) edible recipes. We are novices with wild edibles, but enjoying learning and experimenting with them.
