Saltbush pesto. Photo by Petr Skrypnikov.

Saltbush leaves have a neutral flavor, which makes them a versatile ingredient for salads, soups, sauces, main dishes, pies, and more. Saltbush can be preserved as a pesto, just as nettles, dead-nettles, and other edible wild greens can. Sorrel, Russian dock, cinquefoil, Lady’s Mantle, goutweed, and chickweed also work well in pastes. All these greens have a neutral flavor and can be used in soups and as pie fillings.

Saltbush. Petriashvili street, Tbilisi.

Saltbush. Chavchavadze street, Tbilisi.

Saltbush. Mtatsminda, Tbilisi.

Saltbush dip with escargot. Presentation of Feral Forage project in the Street Art Museum, Saint-Petersburg. Photo by the Street Art Museum.

Sorrel. Mtatsminda, Tbilisi.

Lady’s Mantle. Dmitrovskoye, Moscow oblast.

Cinquefoil. Mtatsminda, Tbilisi.

Chickweed. Schepkinsky forest, Rostov-on-Don.

Cinquefoil. Dmitrovskoye, Moscow oblast.

This work was commissioned for the exhibition “I don’t know whether the Earth is spinning or not...”, curated by Francesca Altamura and Lizaveta Matveeva for the VII Moscow International Biennale for Young Art.