'Wiking' the Hills of Lake Chabot

Before I launch in to the following post, I want to offer this disclaimer:  If you do not know without a shadow of a doubt that what you are picking is not poisonous, or has not been sprayed with chemicals such as weed killer, do not pick it!  There are many poisonous plants and mushrooms that mimic those which are considered safe to eat.

In case of a zombie apocalypse, I thought it wise to teach my children how to survive by identfying wild, edible plants around the vicinity of Lake Chabot.  It makes sense because in case of such an event, while others loot grocery stores, my kids will hide in the hills surrounded by a bounty of amazingly nutritious and delicious edible plants.  Additionally, when prepared correctly, such foraged plants can be downright scrumptious. 

Most of the plants we've been collecting are very common, abundant, and regarded as weeds or blight.  However, to the trained eye, they represent a rich culinary haul that cannot be purchased at any store.  In fact, many of the top restaurants around the San Francisco Bay Area hire seasoned foragers who make their living picking that which only grows wild in the forests and open spaces around the restaurant.    

Early one morning, a few weeks ago, my children and I went on such an exploratory excursion during our weekly wike.  That's not a typo.  I refer to our lengthy traipsing around the hills surrounding Lake Chabot as a "wike".  My children do not necessarily share my enthusiasm for brisk hikes spanning miles, and have taken offense to me lightly calling such treks, a walk.  However, they positively bristle at the word "hike" and all that it entails.  So in a silly compromise, I have come up with the hybridized word "wike", as in neither a walk or a hike... but I digress.

While wiking in the hills around the lake, on Ten Hills Trail to be exact, I began to spot one edible plant after another.  I lost count of how many edible specimens we passed, including bay laurel, sorrel, nettle, wild garlic, and purslane to name a few.  The thought suddenly occurred to me to teach my kids that there was more to the beautiful scenery than met the eye.  As I pointed out the various edibles, they were rivoted and became especially intrigued when I mentioned that it might be fun to create a meal utilizing each edible we explored.     

Soon enough we had discovered arm loads of wild garlic, sorrel, purslane and bay laurel.  The nettles which grow freely around the lake need gloves for picking.  However, they are absolutely delicious once boiled, which removes their stinging hairs.  We had a lot of fun spotting this plant and that.   The kids were delightfully curious as to how one might weave these ingredients into a tasty meal.  I came up with a recipe for traditional gnocchi with a wild garlic-sorrel pesto.  Please find our "survival" recipe below.  

Wild Garlic & Sorrel Pesto Serve Over Hand Rolled Gnocchi

2 cups chopped sorrel

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh, fruity extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup chopped, packed wild garlic 

1/4 c pistachio nut meat

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Put all ingredients into blender, puree and refrigerate.  Cook the pasta to al dente.  Toss the warm pasta with the pesto and serve immediately.

Make about 1 cup of pesto sauce