Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn%E2%80%99t Know You Could Eat

Foraging is all the culinary rage these days, but the idea of harvesting backyard %E2%80%98shrooms for use in store-bought pasta and salads may be off putting to those scared of severe hallucinations. But Zachos, who leads foraging walks and teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, ushers the reader safely through the foliage where ants and beetles roam and into the enlightened land, where sheep sorrel, chickweed, dandelion, sumac, and prickly pear become edible parts on the most discerning palate. Unfamiliar edibles are described at length, with instructions for their harvest and preparation time when cooking. With such wholesome food comes also vindication: our parents really were wrong when they said we couldn%E2%80%99t eat acorns. (Mar.)