Miner's Lettuce

Free wild salad greens!  The miner's lettuce usually peaks a little earlier than it did this year, but we had wonderful salads twice last week. It looks like this:

And grows all over our yard and garden in spring.

The gold miners picked it and ate it for the  Vitamin C.  I pick it by pulling up the entire plant, (it is not rooted very deeply) and fill a large paper grocery bag full to make two salads.  I then lay newspaper on the table and sit and pick off the round leaf are below the little flowers.  I discard the stems and flowers although if a few get in it is OK.  As I pluck them, I put them into a bowl of cold water.  When I'm done I usually push all the leaves under water to help rinse any floating debris (or little critters) and then run them thru the spinner.   A simple dressing of balsamic vinegar and good olive oil is all that is needed.

I have notice large beds of miners lettuce growing along the road, but I would not want to pick it from there because of the exhaust film from the cars.

I wonder if we will find it in other parts of the country.


I hope all of you who are traveling in the current stormy weather are safe.