Wild Mustard Green Pesto Illustrated

Spring has made a late arrival here in New Jersey as we have had rather chilly weather and very little sunshine. The weeds have arrived though,and seeing the mustard greens sprouting up around the edge or our yard and along our road is a thoroughly good thing. With social distancing and sheltering at home being in full swing, I've had the time and inclination to be more creative with my cooking. I'm not much of a gardener, the zucchini seeds that I started inside have not even germinated after waiting patiently for three weeks. That said, I am a much better forager and I also enjoy the fact that foraging is free.

 

Mustard greens can be identified by using the photo below. They are very healthy, smell a bit like mustard and have a sharp, spicey taste. We quickly gathered a bunch and plucked the leaves from the stems out on our patio, and stored them in a plastic bag. We decided to use them to make a pesto. My son took over, since he was making dinner, and served it with baked flounder. It was delicious. The fish was a bit dried out, so the pesto saved the day. Today for lunch I added the pesto to oil and vinegar for a salad dressing and we plan on trying it with pasta.

 

Recipe:

 

3 cups washed and dried mustard green leaves

 

6 cloves garlic

 

1 cup walnuts

 

1/2 cup olive oil

 

Blend everthing in a food processor. You may need to adjust the amount of oil. Asiago cheese is also a nice addition to the pesto.