From the Spring Foraging Cookbook: Jewel Weed or Touch Me Not

This plant grows abundantly where I live…. All over my yard, basically.  It is a very tender, water-filled “weed” that grows around 3 feet tall.  It requires a lot of water to thrive, and we get tons of rain.  The flowers are very pretty.  There are two varieties, yellow and orange, and they can be used interchangeably.  I prefer the name, Touch Me Not, because it seems more appropriate – the seed pods burst at the slightest touch, scattering their seeds all around.  Medicinally, the plant is an excellent preventative and treatment for poison ivy and poison oak rashes.  I would let it grow for that reason, alone.  But, it is also a very tasty wild edible.  I usually refer to young, tender shoots of spring plants.  But this one is tender year ‘round.  However, the shoots are still best harvested in the spring before they get much more than 6 inches tall.  The shoots may be cooked just like asparagus and are quite good.  Later in the year, the seeds of the plant are sweet, nutty and well worth collecting… if you can.  The seed pods explode when even lightly touched, which is why this plant is called Touch Me Not in my region.

Jewel Weed shoots pair extremely well with milk/cream, eggs, mayonnaise.  Really, anything creamy.  I’ve already given several recipes for cream soups and casseroles, frittatas and omelets.  Why not something more exotic?  Well, I love a good Thai curry, and several veggies including this one, work very well in curries….remember the Indian Cucumber?  I love all curries – Indian, Chinese, Thai, etc.  To make a curry, simply fry up the vegetables of your choice, brown some fish or meat if you like, and add the curry seasonings of your choice.  Curry powders are usually purchased premixed, and are specific to which ever curry tradition you choose.  I always add extra turmeric.  Usually some stock or water is added and this simmers into a curry sauce.  Thai curry utilizes coconut milk to counter the very hot peppers and includes some lime leaf or citrus zest.  The coconut milk works perfectly with Jewel Weed shoots.  

Another good idea is to combine your Jewel Weed shoots with chipped beef in a cream sauce.  Creamed Chipped Beef is a delicious dish that has gotten a bad reputation due to inferior, canned versions.  Chipped beef is simply salt cured beef.  This was a popular dish in World War 2 and the Korean War, but I am afraid the military’s version was focused more on storage and portability than flavor – Creamed Chipped Beef on toast was also known as S.O.S. or “Shit on a Shingle”, as were several other dishes, including ground beef and onion gravy served on toast.  Well, that is a shame.  Fresh Asparagus, Jewel Weed shoots, Milkweed Shoots, Solomon’s Seal, etc. are all excellent in this combo.  Make a roux just as I have described several times, add milk, mix in chipped beef and onions if you like.  Serve over toast with sauteed or blanched veggies… and if you want to get fancy, top with a poached egg, some grated cheese and any green herbs you like.  If you don’t like chipped beef from the store, it isn’t that complicated to make your own.  Basically, you just bury a cut of lean beef in a box of salt mixed with a little curing or pink salt.  Change the salt when it becomes saturated.  You can include herbs and spices if you like.  Then, thoroughly dry it.  It is something between a ham and beef jerky when done right.  Chipped beef is not usually spiced or smoked, but it certainly can be.  Start with a few inexpensive, small roasts and experiment.  I always add pepper, at least.



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Where I live, Impatiens glandulifera, Himalayan balsam, or for some reason, locally called Himalayan impatiens, appears to be a close relative of Jewel Weed. Certainly the "springiness" and shape of the seed pods is the same.

It is a large annual plant native to the Himalayas, which is considered invasive in many areas of North America.

I've heard that it is edible and wondered if you've run into it at all, and would treat it similarly as the Jewel Weed?

Jay Angler wrote:Where I live, Impatiens glandulifera, Himalayan balsam, or for some reason, locally called Himalayan impatiens, appears to be a close relative of Jewel Weed. Certainly the "springiness" and shape of the seed pods is the same.

It is a large annual plant native to the Himalayas, which is considered invasive in many areas of North America.

I've heard that it is edible and wondered if you've run into it at all, and would treat it similarly as the Jewel Weed?

I have not but I will look forward to finding some - thankks!