Full of the energy newly pulsing through our green and silent neighbours, I’ve been racing about my foraging haunts gathering fresh wild greens for Salsa Verde sauce.

Salsa Verde sounds posh, but it basically means a Green Sauce (or paste) of wild greens and classic Mediterranean ingredients.

The original Salsa Verde comes from the Aztecs, who added tomatillos and chilis. Medieval French and English cooks used parsley and spices. Romans (now Italians) have their own recipe, using anchovies, olive oil and capers. This is the version I’m adapting for my wild green sauce!

First I had a look in my garden, which has lots of wild and feral places. As you might expect!

Clockwise from bottom left: Dandelion leaves, Cleavers, White Dead-Nettle, Red Dead-Nettle, Chickweed (underneath). Top: Cow Parsley.

Searching for that all important fiery note, I found Wavy Bitter-Cress (Cardamine flexuosa). this small but potent member of the Cabbage family (Brassicaceae) delivers a peppery-mustard kick. The only issue is finding some that hasn’t been stepped on as it grows low down on disturbed soil. Luckily, there was some hiding in a planter.

I also discovered Black Mustard (Brassica nigra) at Astral Park. I used this for the fiery note in Mk 1. This one kicks like a mule, hombres! Even better, it grows high off the ground, so I don’t have to worry about accidentally scoffing dog poo.

For my first trial recipe, I shredded all these, then ground them to a paste with a pestle and mortar, (much as the Aztecs did, as they had no electricity either!) I added lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper. Simple but super tasty.

We had it with my son’s home-made pizza that evening. He ate it. Result!

Mk 2 was Raw Nettle and Blanched Nettle in plain soya yoghurt. I added some chopped Common Hogweed stems and half a raw brown onion chopped finely for texture and sweetness respectively.

Ok, so it’s not officially Salsa Verde, but it is a Green Sauce, so it can join us here.

In the middle pic, the top is raw Nettle that i pestled & mortared (almost no mouth stings, just a slight scratchiness!) and the bottom is Nettle I blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds then threw into cold water. I them P&m’d it in the same way. Notice the colour difference.

It needed more punch if it was going to be sauce – Nettles on their own are quite mild. The onion helped a lot.

Mk 3 was finely chopped wild greens instead of pulverised. I used the same wild greens as my first attempt, with lemon juice, e.v. olive oil and chopped up olives for the salty umami texture. I added some crispy garlic croutons and some red Dead-nettle flowers on top. Very purrrty!!

While nice, the pulverised version was more tasty. I mixed both of these in a chicken sandwich for lunch. You can use Salsa Verde instead of butter, mayo or (dare I say the word) awful margarine.

Mk 4 included a trip up to the local woods, where I know I can find Sorrel leaves. Yes, I know they don’t grow in woodland. There is a field in the woods where I find them growing in short grass and sunlight!

Here is a photo showing the visual differences between Sorrel and Lords and Ladies plant. DO NOT mix these up. Lords and Ladies is poisonous (see my previous post). It will burn your mouth if you eat some!!

Left: Sorrel (Rumex sps). Right: small Lords & Ladies leaf (Arum sps).

For my final (and best) recipe, I chose to use my Ash Key Pickle I made last Spring in 2025. Check how I made it in this post. So without further ado, ladies and lords, I give you:

HEDGEWITCH KAT’S WILD GREENS SALSA VERDE

You will need:

1 cup of foraged wild greens, I used

• 1 handful Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) leaves and flowers – FIERY
• 1 handful Sorrel leaves – TANGY
• 6 large Dandelion leaves – BITTER
• 1 handful Chickweed leaves (Stellaria media) – SWEET
• 3 tops White Deadnettle – UMAMI/EARTHY
• Dandelion flower (decor!)
• a pinch of chive leaves from my garden

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp Ash key vinegar (you can use cider vinegar)

2 tbsp pickled Ash keys (you can use capers)

2 cooked tinned anchovies

1. Rinse all the wild greens well, as we are going to use them raw. I found snails on the sorrel!
2. Shred them by hand or cut them up with knife/scissors.
3. Crush them with a pestle and mortar, or use a blender you lucky thing.
4. Add in the olive oil and vinegar.
5. Mash up the anchovies and stir them in. If you are vegan, use mashed-up olives.
6. Scoop the pickled ash keys out of the pickling vinegar and stir in.
7. Decorate with anchovies, tomatoes, flowers or extra leaves.
8. Add to sandwiches, pasta, pizza, or use as a dip with crackers or roasted veg. Yum.

Now to make some dinner and use up all these tasty green sauces, as we don’t have a fridge.

Obligatory flogging bit:

My Spring & Summer Wild Tapas E-books are on sale in Hedgewitch Adventures online shop here.

My next course is Spring Foraging with Wild Tapas @ Tiddenfoot Lake, Linslade. Click on the link below to book. For more field courses, including making Wild Kimchi using lacto-fermentation, see my Field Courses page here.

Til next time,

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx