Poke Salad, Yummy, Yummy

With springtime, all kinds of plants are coming up! Some that were planted deliberately, and of course, those weeds that spring up all on their own. One of the weeds indigenous to my area is poke salad. (Sometimes known as polk salad or poke salit)

A larger plant. Much smaller ones are used for eating.

I've always heard that it was edible, but dangerous if not cooked correctly. I've also always wanted to try it myself, but been a bit nervous about the whole poison thing. My grandparents thought nothing of it-- and their parents, with 13 kids, very little food, and eating whatever they could grow or kill, were no doubt thrilled to have it!  Today, I researched on the internet, became brave, went out and harvested poke weed, and cooked it up!

After the first boil. I boiled them twice.

Butter, salt, pepper, garlic, onions, jalapeno peppers

Topped with cheese & ready to eat!

It turned out yummy! Tasted very much like asparagus casserole. Even the kids loved it! I bet it would be good with rice in it as well.

If you should choose to try this, research first because doing it wrong can be toxic. You should only use new plants that snap easily when you bend the stem, no red stems or older mature leaves. I only used very young plants.

I'm so glad I finally did this. Not only was it tasty, it felt good to pick something right from the yard and eat it. And it was free!