Foraging, Part One

A few weeks ago, my friend Jenelle and I went on a night foraging adventure in Silverlake.  Although several injuries were sustained from prickly pear spikes and an ill-advised grapefruit-grabbing quest, we ended up with a bunch of cool things.  This pesto is made out of the leaves of nasturtiums, which have a mildly bitter taste, like mustard greens, watercress, or dandelion greens.  It tastes more like a zingier version of a parsley or cilantro pesto than like a basil pesto.

Nasturtium Pesto

(from hitchhiking to heaven)

Ingredients

2 c packed nasturtium leaves, plus a handful of nasturtium flowers

1-2 cloves garlic

1/2 c walnuts

juice of 1/2 large lemon

3/4 c olive oil

1/8 tsp salt, adjusted to taste

black pepper to taste

Instructions

Put everything but the salt and pepper into a food processor and mix until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.