Foraging for wild, edible plants can also contribute to your health. Harvesting wild plants supplements your diet with a range of vitamins and minerals, although do your due diligence by either studying up on safe-to-eat plant varieties or taking an expert forager with you to help identify non-poisonous plants. In addition, wash your wild edibles well to get rid of environmental contaminants that can outweigh the benefits of the nutritional value in these plants.
Chickory
While the root of the chickory plant is well-known as a substitute for coffee, you can also eat the leaves. This edible plant grows wild throughout North America; you may sometimes find commercially grown varieties labeled as endive in your grocery store. One cup of raw chickory contains 41 calories and 1 g of fat as well as 8 g of carbohydrates, 7 g of fiber and 3 g of protein. Chickory is an excellent source of vitamin A with 206 percent of the daily recommended intake, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. It also provides 72 percent of the vitamin C, 18 percent of the calcium and 9 percent of the iron your body requires each day.
Nettles
While collecting nettle may result in a rash -- this wild, edible plant is often called stinging nettle -- proper handling and cooking results in a tasty green suitable for use as a side dish or incorporated into other recipes; popular uses include making nettle soup and nettle cheese. A 1-cup serving of raw nettles provides 54 calories, zero g of fat and no protein. One serving also has 14 g of carbohydrates and 2 g of fiber. Nettles serve up huge amounts of vitamin A -- 1,790 IU, which accounts for almost three times the daily recommended intake. You'll consume a great deal of vitamin K per serving of nettles as well: 369 to 493 percent of the amount you need daily.
Purslane
A wild edible plant with teardrop-shaped leaves, purslane imparts a sweet-tart flavor with a chewy texture. You can add this green to salads or cook it to serve as a side dish. A cup of raw purslane contains no fat and very few calories: approximately 8.4 calories. You also take in 1.5 carbohydrates and less than 1 g of protein. A serving of purslane gives you a boost of vitamin C -- 15 percent of the amount you should consume daily. Purslane is a good source of vitamin A, as well, with 11 percent of the daily recommended intake per serving. Each serving provides you with smaller amounts of vitamins and minerals as well, including calcium, vitamin B-6, magnesium, copper, iron, riboflavin, niacin and phosphorus.
Dandelion Greens
The bane of many gardeners and landscapers, dandelion is often thought of as a hard-to-control weed. It is also a wild, edible plant suitable for consumption raw or cooked. Dandelion greens provide 24 calories per 1 cup of raw leaves, and you also take in 0.4 g of fat, 5.1 g of carbohydrates, 1.9 g of fiber and 1.5 g of protein. Each serving contains 54 percent of the vitamin A you require daily, as well as 32 percent of the vitamin C your need in your diet. A portion of wild dandelion greens also has 10 percent of the calcium, 9 percent of the iron and 8 percent of the riboflavin you need every day.
Sumac
Thinking about sumac doesn't bring to mind a tasty treat; rather, you most likely think of poison sumac and the rash you get from exposure. The wild, edible form of sumac comes from a shrub rather than a tree, however, and there's nothing dangerous about it. The reddish fruit from the shrub is a staple in Middle Eastern and Greek cooking, and you most often find it in ground, powdered form; it imparts a flavor similar to that of lemons. Sumac contains very little in the way of calories, with most deriving from carbohydrates -- 14.6 percent of its weight comes from fiber, a carbohydrate that does not dissolve in the blood stream; 2.6 percent of its weight is from protein. Sumac also has a high antioxidant level, which may provide some disease resistance.
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