Weird Recipes From Your Yard

While the following may seem like bizarre foods, these weird recipes from your yard are nothing new. People have foraged for wild greens and wild plants way before there were fast food restaurants. There are still many common edible plants available.

Whether you want to learn to about survival food or just enjoy unusual recipes, there's something here for you. Eat flowers with the rose petal soup recipe. If you're interested, there are many edible flowers.

You can make lots of weird recipes with wild dandelion. It is a perfect substitute for spring greens bought at the store. There is a dandelion salad recipe right here. Use the bitter dandelion leaves and the dandelion flowers. You can even use ground up dandelion root to make coffee.

Or try the unique recipe I got in the southwest- cactus candy! Yes, you can even find survival food and wild plants to eat in the desert.

So, start taking advantage of your edible lawn and get food for free! Talk about low maintenance yard care! Don't eat anything from your yard if you use commercial fertilizers or pesticides. And always wash all wild plants very well before eating.

This soup is served cold. You need a rose, preferably red or pink. It should still have lots of fragrance. Don't use commercially grown roses. You can't use roses that are hybrids.

Gently peel away the rose petals one at a time. Cut away the bottoms of the petals that have no color. Keep a few of the rose petals to use to sprinkle on top of the soup just before serving.

Other ingredients needed are:

16 ounces cold water

4 ounces sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

16 ounces can of pitted sweet cherries

8 ounces dry white wine

8 ounces sour cream

2 ounces Cherry Schnapps or preferred cherry liqueur

Add water, sugar, and cinnamon in a pan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Drain the canned cherries and add to the pan. Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Next, add the wine and rose petals. Let cool. Put in blender and mix on liquefy setting. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the sour cream and Cherry Schnapps. Refrigerate until cold. When ready to serve, sprinkle the remainder of the rose petals on the soup. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

I learned this recipe when I was living in New Mexico. It is surprisingly good. This makes enough for 5 or 6 people to have a sweet snack. You will need to select about 3 large prickly pear cactus 'fingers'. Remove the spines and outside layer. Cut into one inch thick slices lengthwise. Soak overnight in water. After removing from the water, cut into one inch cactus cubes. Then heat to boiling and cook until tender. Drain and add the syrup until the cactus candy has soaked up the homemade syrup. Watch carefully so that you don't scorch the syrup.

After the cactus has absorbed the sugar, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. For a more colorful effect, roll the cactus cube candy in colored sugar.

Sugar Syrup recipe:

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons orange juice or pineapple juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or omit and add another tablespoon orange juice)

Heat all of the ingredients until the sugar dissolves.

This salad is just like the popular wilted lettuce salad with bacon flavored dressing

Makes 4-6 servings

Gather about 7 or 8 cups of dandelions from your yard. Use both the leaves and the flowers. Do not make this dandelion recipe if you use any type of fertilizers or other chemicals in your yard. This salad must be served when the dressing is still warm.

Other ingredients needed for your dandelion salad:

• 1/2 pound of bacon (use turkey bacon if you want a healthier choice)
• 1/4 cup balsamic or apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Fry the bacon and crumble it. Keep about 1/3 cup of bacon grease in the skillet.

Add the vinegar, mustard, and honey. Stir well with a fork, then add the olive oil.

Add the warm dressing to the dandelion greens, crumbled bacon, and feta cheese in a salad bowl. Toss together well.