Want to get rid of your creeping bellflower? Try eating it.

Minnesota gardeners are on the lookout this time of year for dark, pointy leaves and bell-shaped, purple flowers. These are tell-tale characteristics of creeping bellflower, a weed that spreads by way of sprawling roots as well as seeds.

Some Minnesotans have posted yard signs and Facebook posts urging their neighbors to help keep the plant in check. The University of Minnesota Extension recommends digging it up by the roots and disposing of it by either burning it or letting it decompose in a yard waste bag.

There’s one other option, as forager and chef Alan Bergo told MPR News host Nina Moini. He sautés creeping bellflower greens, boils its roots and sprinkles its flowers as garnishes on salads. Bergo, who specializes in cooking with wild plants and mushrooms, joined Minnesota Now to explain how to turn creeping bellflower from a maligned weed into an ingredient.

Leaves

The leaves of creeping bellflower, especially the young leaves at the base of the plant, have a “mild, almost slightly-sweet flavor,” Bergo said. They don’t have the bitterness of a dandelion or the “strong herbaceous flavor” of other plants.

But you don’t want to throw bellflower leaves into a salad raw. Bergo recommends cooking them as you might collard greens, or spinach. “I really enjoy them in a big mix of greens that I throw in a pot of boiling salted water, drain, and then add to a little bit of sliced garlic and olive oil and chili flake and a squeeze of lemon,” he said. “It can be some really good eating.”

Flowers

Bergo describes the flavor of creeping bellflower as “neutral” — they won’t change the taste of a dish. But they bring quite a bit to presentation. Bergo uses them to dress up sweet and savory dishes and as flower arrangements.

Roots

People around the world eat the roots of creeping bellflower or related plants. In France, they’re called campanules, and Korean cuisine uses a plant in the same family called balloon flower, Bergo said.

After digging up creeping bellflower, he said you can scrub them and boil them to get “kind of like a really thin carrot with a slightly artichoke-like taste.”

Other weedy ingredients to watch for

Bergo said there are other weeds in his garden with cooking potential, including thistle, lambsquarters and purslane, a low-growing succulent that Bergo said is used in Latin America. Another plant he likes to cook with is sochan, a relative of the yellow flowers known as black-eyed Susan.

There are also edible plants he doesn’t go for, like plantain leaves. “I mean they're edible, but they're really tough, and I've never found a way that I liked to use those,” he said.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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