This Week's Recipe: Where the Wild Things Are

Ed note: Today, we're launching not only a new feature -- a weekly recipe from a local chef -- but also a new Voracious contributor: Angela Garbes. Find more Garbes on her blog, Eat & Tell, and on Twitter at @agarbes.

For frequent visitors to Seattle Farmer's Markets, Christina Choi is a familiar face. As co-founder, along with Jeremy Faber, of Foraged & Found Edibles, Choi's knowledge of local wild ingredients -- berries, nettles, mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns -- runs deep. As a chef about town (she worked at the Herbfarm alongside Faber and Matt Dillon, and you're likely to find her moonlighting at events put on by One Pot or the Corson Building), Choi has developed simple, earthy recipes highlighting these ingredients.

Last year Choi took a chance and self-published The Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar, a year of recipes featuring a different wild seasonal item each month. The calendar, with simple, charming drawings by Emily Counts depicting ingredients among seasonal flora and fauna, also includes bits of information about foraging habitats. The project was successful enough that Choi is publishing another calendar this year. After the jump, she offers a sneak peek with her recipe for Minty Sea Bean and Pea Salad with New Potatoes.

​The new Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calender will be available at Foraged & Found's Farmers Market booths starting August 15, then online and elsewhere soon after. You can also find Choi at her blog Nettletown, where she often gives the inside scoop on what to expect at the market each week.

Minty Sea Bean and Pea Salad with New Potatoes

If possible, Choi suggests making these with first-of-the-season new potatoes. She recommends serving it alongside grilled salmon or chicken.

1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, cut in half

8 ounces sea beans

2 cups fresh shelled peas (10 oz), about 1 1/2 pounds in the shell

1/2 cup sliced scallions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup chopped mint

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 tbsp wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

A few grindings of black pepper

Cook potatoes in well-salted water until tender. Drain, then spread out on a tray to cool. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add sea beans and blanch for 2 minutes, then add peas and cook for 1 more minute. Remove and cool in an ice water bath. Drain peas and sea beans, then toss with warm potatoes and remaining ingredients. Let stand for 10 minutes for flavors to blend; taste and adjust seasoning. Serve at room temperature or chill for later use.