This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 6/17

Wild berries are here! We will have trailing blackberries and red huckleberries this weekend. Because of the hot weather this is going to be a great wild berry year.

Trailing blackberries(Rubus ursinus) are the only native wild blackberry in the northwest. They are also known as pacific dewberry and California or pacific blackberry. These special berries are small but have an intense flavor. Wonderful right off the bush but cooking does bring out their extra ordinary blackberry-ness. Blackberry lovers evangelize that these are the best ones for pies or jam.

When the sun hits red huckleberry bushes they look as if they have little round ruby gems sprouting from the branches. These bright red translucent tart berries are a nice contrast to other fruit in a compote or in a berry parfait. Or try in something savory like a green salad with shaved fennel and parmesan.

We will also have the ol' reliable sea bean this weekend too.

red huckleberry pic by

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurelfan/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Grilled Zucchini with Red Huckleberries and Feta

This is easy and tastes even better than it sounds. Substitute red currants for huckleberries if you like.

Zucchini and other summer squashs- any shape, color and size
Olive oil
Garlic
s + p
lemon
feta
red huckleberries
mint

Slice summer squashes 1/2 inch thick. Toss with olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper. If preparing in advance don't salt more than 15 or so minutes ahead of time or the squashes will leach out their water and be soggy. Grill until tender and browned. Place on a beautiful platter. Zest a lemon over the top, and sprinkle a little of the juice on too. Crumble feta and scatter about. Sprinkle on chopped mint and red huckleberries and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.