Recipe: Wild Green Beetroot Salad

Now that spring is here green leaves are highly appropriate foods to both build & cleanse the blood & offer high nutrient value to our plate. Sourcing good quality greens however is the key. Supermarket greens are already many days old and exposed to heat & light by the time they arrive on the shelf. Some are also irradiated (cold pasteurisation) before being sealed in plastic to extend their shelf life. Supermarket greens therefore are nutrient poor to say the least in comparison to organic greens from the farmers market. Better than any of these though are greens from the wild as they have not been hybridised and still contain bitter qualities. The ancient wild relative of the modern lettuce contains a milky substance that acts like a narcotic similar to opium. This milky substance with a bitter taste also acts as a natural digestive and the Romans took advantage of it by eating it at the end of day to aid sleep. Lactuca Virosa (Wild Lettuce) is a popular herb used as a sleep aid in herbal medicine. Cleavers & Plantain are also important herbs for a herbalist & are excellent spring tonics.