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Black Mustard
It wouldn't do for my kids to not like greens while living with me since we eat so many wild plants. As we where leaving church yesterday I spotted several black mustard (Brassica nigra) plants just sending up greens along the south side of the building. I paused for just a moment, pointed out the deep green leaves to my daughter and simply said, Rice with Greens and I had to almost physically retrain her to keep her from harvesting the plants in front of 300+ total strangers! :-) (I do believe I have corrupted my kids! lol)
Black mustard is common across North America and Europe and is found in fields, yards ditches and disturbed areas. Having been introduced from Europe this is another of our weed friends that came for a visit and decided to make sure it never left. These annual plants can get up to 4 feet in height when in flower, forming a multiple branched erect stem and with the flowers being small yellow, 4 pedaled. The leaves are rounded and deeply lobed at the base of the plant and the upper leaves are narrow, wavy and toothed along the margin with a pointed tip.
Black mustard greens are an excellent source of vitamins A, B, and C. Collect leaves in the early spring and use blanched or mixed in with other greens in quiche. Flowers can be used to adorn salads and the seeds make a peppery mustard when collected, dried and ground. Older leaves tend to become very bitter but can be boiled in two chances of water to help reduce bitterness.
I often mix greens in with rice for added zest to the white grain. Simply chop 1/4 cup of greens and add to rice before boiling. Nothing to it and the kids like the variation to standard white rice. Alternate uses are to mix the chopped greens in fried rice, stir-fry dishes, omelets or add to greens in your favorite quiche recipe. Do sample the greens before adding to anything to be sure they are not to bitter. Early spring greens are crisp and mild flavored but very quickly take on a bitter flavor that must be boiled out before use in recipes.
Images
http://waddell.ci.manchester.ct.us/id_mustard-black.html
Melana Hiatt