Below you will find a brief list of plants, nuts, roots and seeds that can be used for survivial foods. Some, like acorns require special preperation. A recipe index will soon be included.
Disclaimer and a word to the wise:
DO NOT INGEST WILD FOODS, ESPECIALLY MUSHROOMS, WITHOUT POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION!!!
An error in identification can cause illness, allergic reactions or worse. Read your guides, cross reference, hike with a well known herbalist and remember, many plants have poisonous look alikes.
Identify by Latin name, leaf, stem, flowers , shape etc.
Take your guides with you, and not just your spiritual ones.
Self explanatory.
Wild Foods For Survival
Acorns Milkweed
Alfalfa Mint
Amaranth Muscadines
American Beech Passion Flower
American Elder Paw Paw
Arrowhead Peppergrass
Asparagus Persimmon
Blackberries Plantain
Black Birch Puffballs
Black Walnuts Quickweed
Bull Thistle Redbud
Burdock Red Mulberry
Butternut Rose Hips
Cattails Sassafras
Chestnuts Sheep Sorrel
Chickweed Shepherd's Purse
Chicory Spicebush
Cleavers Stinging Nettle
Coltsfoot Sugar Maple
Dandelion Trout Lily
Daylily Violets
Elecampane Wild Blueberries
Evening Primrose Wild Carrots
Ground Cherries Wild Ginger
Groundnuts Wild Onions
Hickory Nuts Wild Strawberries
Honewort Winter Cress
Jerusalem Artichoke Yellow Dock
Kudzu Yellow Nut Grass
Lamb's Quarters
Soups and Stews
Turtle Soup
Ingredients:
2 - 3 pounds turtle meat
oilive oil
2 pounds fresh vegetables
Roots are best, cut into thick pieces so they do not turn into mush while cooking.
Several large cloves of wild garlic, and onions.
Several slices of wild ginger may also be used if desired.
6 medium potatoes, diced
3/4 head of cabbage, sliced thin (optional)
3 quarts of any broth
sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Brown turtle meat in olive oil, along with garlic, wild ginger and onions.
sea salt and pepper, then slowly cook (stirring often) for about a half hour, covered. Pour chicken broth in large saucepan, with cover, and stir and add vegetables.
If using leafy greens or softer vegetables, add in when almost done cooking.
The heat of the broth will cook them nicely without overdoing them.
When cooking, slowly stir in turtle meat and allow it to simmer, covered, for an hour.
Stir in cabbage and allow pot to simmer, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender. Salt and pepper is added, to taste, throughout cooking. More chicken broth or water may be added as needed.
Add wild herbs as desired.
Wild Persimmon Pudding
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup light cream or evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
Grease a 9 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan and set it aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan and set it aside also. Sift the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into the baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. The pudding will puff up while baking, then fall back as it cools. Cool the pudding in the pan on a rack. Serve cold, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Makes 9 to 12 servings. May be doubled.
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Wild Persimmon Bars
1 cup persimmon pulp
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried currants (or 1/2 cup raisins)
1/2 cup coarsely broken nutmeats (hickory if possible)
Grease a 10 x 15 x 1 inch jelly-roll pan with margarine and set it aside. In a medium sized bowl, stir the soda into the persimmon pulp. Set this aside for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour and spices together onto a sheet of waxed paper. Put the egg, sugar, salt and oil into a large bowl and beat them with an electric mixer until blended. Add the persimmon pulp and beat well, then add the sifted dry ingredients and beat only until well mixed. Stir in the vanilla, currants, and nutmeats. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out to the edges. Using a spatula dipped in water, lightly smooth the surface of the batter ot make it as even as possible. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes, then frost the bars with glaze.
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Stir the sugar and juice together and spread this over the sheet of uncut persimmon bars. When cool, but into 1 1/2 x 2 inch bars. Makes 50 bars. These are better the next day, after they have had time to mellow.
Persimmon Jam
Use very ripe persimmons, making sure the fruit is absolutely ripe, by which we mean extremely soft and barely held together by the skin, which should have become nearly transparent. For each 3 pounds of fruit you will need:
1 lb sugar
3/4 cup water
grated rind and juice of 1/2 lemon
Remove stems and crowns; remove seeds; leave skins on. Bring water and sugar to a boil; after a couple of minutes, add the persimmons and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Then add the lemon, stir well, and boil until it has reached the right consistency. Pour into hot jars and seal when cool. (
Persimmon Jelly
3 1/2 to 4 pounds ripe persimmons
2 cups water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 package powdered fruit pectin
1/2 cup honey
Wash persimmons and remove blossom end. Place in a 6 to 8 quart stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Add water. Bring mixture to a boil. Mash persimmons. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Press pulp through strainer to remove pits. Measure 3 cups pulp. Stir in lemon juice and pectin. Brink mixture to a boil. Stir in honey all at once. Let mixture return to a full rolling boil that can't be stirred down. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do a jelly test, and when firm enough, ladle into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and seal. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.
WAHANPI STEW
This is an old Sioux dish, and is a delicious combination of meat, vegetables and macaroni. It can be prepared with just about anything you have available.
Wild fowl
Rattlesnake roots
Vegetables: wild potatoes, onions carrots, cabbage, and prairie turnips.
Cut meat into chunks if using whole pieces. Place all ingredients into a large pot, and bring to a boil. Lower heat. Cover and cook according to whatever the meat used needs. If you use prairie turnips, make sure to soak them overnight and cut them up before you add them to the wahanpi. Cut all other vegetables and cook them until they are done.
GREEN CHILI STEW
2 lbs. game meat well trimmed and cut into small pieces
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
5 roasted green chilies, peeled, seeded and diced
3 ears of corn with kernels scraped from cob
2 stalks celery, without leaves, diced
In a large pot, put in enough vegetable oil to prevent the meat from sticking. You can also use vegetable spray. Add meat and cook until it is lightly browned. Add the rest of the ingredients, and water to cover all. Cover pot and simmer for about 1 hour or until done.
CLOVER SOUP
2 cups clover flowers and leaves
1 onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. fat
2 pints water
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
Salt and pepper to taste
Clean and dip clover flowers and leaves in cold salted water. Remove and cut into pieces. In a large saucepan, sauté flowers, leaves and onions in butter. When all is softened add water, then potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Cook gently for 20 minutes. Drain the cooking liquid and save it. Puree potato mixture and dilute with the cooking liquid, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, the reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
CLOVER and DILLWEED SOUP
2 cups clover blossoms and leaves, fresh or dried
2 small wild onions, chopped
4 Tbsp. sunflower seed butter
1 quart water
12 groundnuts, or 3 medium potatoes, quartered
Chopped fresh dillweed to taste
Spicebush berries, dried, grated over soup to taste
Sauté the clover blossoms and leaves along with chopped onions in the sunflower seed butter. Add the water, ground nuts, and seasonings. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Serve hot.
GOLDEN POND LILY STEW
2 lbs. venison
12 lily roots, cleaned and sliced
3 Tbsp. butter
6 green onions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups water
1/3 cup dry red wine (optional)
2 Tbsp. flour, mixed with 1/4 cup water
In a saucepan, brown onions and stewing beef or venison in melted butter; add lily roots, water, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 or 4 hours. In the last 15 minutes of cooking time, add wine; stir in flour and water mixture to thicken stew.
SUNFLOWER SEED SOUP
2 cups hulled sunflower seeds
6 cups broth
3 small green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Place sunflower seeds in a large saucepan. Add chicken broth and green onions. Cook uncovered, over low heat for about 1 hour. Stir in dill and season with salt and pepper to taste.
SMOKED SALMON SOUP
1 lb. smoked salmon
2 tsp. salt
4 potatoes, diced
6 cups water
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup young spinach
Break salmon into bite-sized pieces, add diced potatoes, water, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until potatoes are done (about 20 minutes). Add spinach and simmer about three minutes longer.
Sofkia is a corn meal soup. There are several varieties of sofkia, depending on the person making it.
A pound or two of very coarse, stone-ground corn, put it in a pot and fill it up with water. Add about 1/2 pound of finely chopped bacon (most of fat removed) or a good slice of smoked ham (finely chopped) and 1/2 -1 teaspoon of pot-ash (I like to use 1/2 teaspoon per 1 pound of ground corn). Bring all to boil for 20-30 minutes. Some folks like to drain off the water completely, but I like to leave it to where it sits a couple of inches off the top of the cooked corn.
DRIED CORN SOUP
1 ear dried blue and white or other corn, removed from the cob
7 cups water
1 (2" x 1") strip fat back, sliced
5 oz. dried venison or other game or fowl
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Soak the corn in 2 cups water for 48 hours. Place the corn and its soaking water in a large saucepan. Add the remaining water and the fat back; simmer, covered, for about 3 hours and 50 minutes or until the corn is tender but not soft. Mix in the dried beef and pepper and simmer, stirring, for 10 minutes more. Serve hot.
This is great with some frybread and then maple candy or an apricot drink.
MILKWEED SOUP
6-8 milkweed pods
6 cups of water
1 pound game or fowl
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups peas
Milkweed pods, green to light green in color, are only available in July. Pick 6-8 pods from stems, depending on size. Bring a large pot of water to boil; add milkweed pods. Boil until milky in color. Add ham or beef, carrots and peas. Boil until vegetables are done and pod falls apart. HINT: Milkweed pods can be picked in large amounts and frozen to use in soups during other seasons.