The most beautiful April day, spring is coming, and so are the mothers.
With small shovels in their left hands and plastic bags in their right hands, they rushed to the bases where wild vegetables might grow.
Mothers love to dig wild vegetables, perhaps you may not know anything, experience a winter dormancy, these wild vegetables with the freshest spring flavor, every year in the Chinese recipes to make a fuss.
What are the wild vegetables in spring?
First, dandelions
Dandelions are very common in spring, summer and autumn, but in the summer and autumn seasons, the leaves of dandelions are older and taste particularly astringent to eat.
In the spring, dandelions have just sprouted and the leaves are very tender. It can be eaten as a cold dandelion, or it can be used to make soups, stuffing or other delicacies, and the taste is very tender and there is almost no bitterness.
Dandelions can also be dug up and washed to make dandelion tea, which has a unique fragrant smell.
In addition to being a wild vegetable, dandelion is also a Chinese herbal medicine.
Dandelion not only contains a large number of vitamins, but also contains dandelion, dandelion alcohol, pectin, choline, and various mineral elements are particularly numerous, these substances can play an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, heat and fire and other effects.
Second, lettuce
After entering the spring, be sure to eat more cabbage, the taste of cabbage is particularly tender, not only can be used to make cold mix to eat, but also can be used to scramble eggs, fried meat, or made into some soups, but also with meat stuffing to make dumplings, buns, the taste is fragrant and not greasy.
It is also particularly rich in nutrients, with 5.3 grams of protein, 420 mg of calcium and a large amount of vitamins, carotene and various mineral elements per 100 grams of cabbage.
These nutrients have certain nutritional and medicinal value, which can play a variety of effects such as improving metabolism, protecting blood vessels, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.
Third, purslane
Although purslane is very common, whether in the field or on both sides of the road, you can see the figure of purslane, but this wild vegetable contains very rich nutrients, such as vitamins, carotene and so on.
These substances can play a diuretic, antihypertensive, detoxifying, swelling, heat removal, dampness and other effects. For high blood pressure, high blood lipids and diabetes and other phenomena, it has a relatively good improvement effect.
And the purslane is made into a cold purslane, but made into other delicacies, the taste is particularly tender.
Fourth, toon head
The nature of toon is actually similar to coriander, people who love it can love to the bone, and people who hate it do not accept this taste, mainly because it also contains volatile aromatic substances---- toonin.
There are many categories of toon heads, with purple toon and green toon being the most.
The former is dark in color and thick in aroma, the latter is light in color and light in aroma, because fresh toon heads contain a certain amount of nitrite, which needs to be boiled in boiling water before cooking, and the color of the leaves will change from different shades of red to bright green.
Wild vegetables are good, but they can't be stepped on casually
Many mothers believe that wild vegetables are natural and pollution-free, green and healthy.
As early as 2020, a survey on the heavy metal content of wild vegetables in Beijing showed:
The heavy metal content of wild vegetables in parks, mountains and forests, residential areas and roads in Beijing generally exceeds the standard, not only exceeding the safety requirements of pollution-free vegetables, but also exceeding the limit of pollutants in food.
You know, although the park has lush vegetation, the staff need to use herbicides to remove weeds, and then use pesticides to eliminate insect pests, especially in the spring every year, which is the peak period for weeding and pest control.
Unlike agricultural land itself, the grassland in the park is mainly ornamental, so the use of herbicides and pesticides is not so strict, resulting in higher residues.
As for those suburbs, although it is far from the city, the chemical plants and highways are over there, and the exhaust gas emitted by the car and the wastewater discharged by the chemical plant will inevitably settle in the nearby soil, thus causing heavy metal pollution in the soil.
Therefore, these seemingly natural wild vegetables lack relevant quality inspection standards and do not have any health and safety guarantees.
So moms, you still need to listen to our -----
The wild vegetables picked outside are really not as healthy as you think, and don't pick wild vegetables on the side of the road!
bibliography:
[1] Lou Yiyang, & Lou Ye. (2020). Determination of heavy metal content of common wild vegetables in Beijing by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Metrology and Test Technology, 47(7), 76-79. doi:10.15988/j.cnki.1004-6941.2020.7.026