Spring is the perfect time to go out foraging, as the days get longer and wild greens start appearing. If you want to cook a light lunch or dinner, you can’t go wrong with this delicious soup. In case you are extremely lucky and you can find some wild asparagus, you can add it too. The star of this dish is the wild cabbage, which has a pleasant spiciness similar to wild rocket and horseradish.
Wild cabbage is rich in Vitamin C and, like most cruciferous vegetables, has cancer protection properties.
INGREDIENTS
1 medium potato
½ litre hot water or vegetable stock
½ teaspoon salt
½ white onion
small bunch of three-cornered leek
small bunch of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
a few leaves of wild garlic mustard
a few leaves of wild lettuce (Sonchus)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the crispy fritter topping:
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon water
1 wild cabbage top
vegetable oil for frying
METHOD
In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the onion, sliced. Cook for a couple of minutes on a medium heat, without colouring the onion. Cut the potato into cubes and add to the onion. Cover with hot water or vegetable stock and simmer on a low heat for at least 20 minutes to cook the potato. Cut all the wild vegetables into small chunks and add to the pan, together with the salt. Cook for another two minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the fritter topping: mix the flour and water to form a batter and dip the wild cabbage top (it looks like tenderstem broccoli). Heat the oil in a shallow frying pan and when it has reached temperature dip the battered cabbage top. Fry on one side for two minutes, then turn over and fry for two minutes. Keep turning until it’s golden, then drain from the oil and set aside.
To serve, pour the soup in a bowl and top with the crispy fritter.