Mushrooms & Wild Herbs Salsa: A Refreshing Spring Recipe

Spring into the season with a fresh, wildcrafted appetizer! This recipe for mushrooms and wild herbs salsa is very adaptable, giving you freedom to use ingredients you find in your own environment.

The following is an excerpt from Wildcrafted Vinegars by Pascal Baudar. It has been adapted for the web.

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RECIPE: Mushrooms & Wild Herbs Salsa

You can create this salsa with commercial or wildcrafted mushrooms.

The recipe is adaptable to your own environment. Think of it as a concept.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a local forest near Sylmar in Southern California. In early spring, oyster mushrooms are still quite abun- dant, and wild greens such as miner’s lettuce, chickweed, chervil, and so on appear in good quantities.

That makes this salsa a perfect representation of a specific place and moment in time.

For this dish, I also use some bell peppers (red and orange) for aesthetic purposes.

Ingredients for around 10 ounces (280 g)

• 4.6 ounces (130 g) oyster or baby bella mushrooms or king boletes or chanterelles (or store-bought oyster or button mushrooms)
• 0.7 ounce (20 g) mixed savory wild greens (wild chervil, chickweed, and the like) or store-bought parsley or cilantro
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) unpasteurized apple cider vinegar (I use Mugwort Beer Vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon (4 g) minced red chili pepper (spicy or not)
• 1 tablespoon (4 g) minced orange chili pepper (spicy or not)
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) homemade or commercial stone-ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) maple syrup, honey, or sugar
• 0.5 ounce (14 g) minced green jalapeño
• 0.5 ounce (14 g) red onions, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon (1.5 g) dried thyme
• 1 Thai chili pepper, minced (optional)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon (2 g) grated ginger
• 1⁄2 teaspoon (2.5 g) salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon (0.8 g) ground peppercorns
• 0.7 ounce (20 g) minced red and orange bell peppers

Procedure

Steam the mushrooms for around 15 minutes, or until they are well cooked. While the mushrooms are steaming, clean your wild greens and mince them.

After the mushrooms are steamed, let them cool off for a while, then mince them. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir gently for a few seconds.

Place the bowl in the refrigerator and wait at least 30 minutes before serving. This will allow the flavors to blend.

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Recommended Reads

Veggie Mandala with Chervil Aioli Sauce: A Natural Spring Recipe

8 Steps to Fermented Hot Sauce With Wild Greens