What are some nutricious things that you normally wouldn't think of as edible?

Sumac flowers make a nice tea, taste pretty lemony and have anti-oxidants. (Not poison Sumac)

I hear grubs are full of protein.

Nasturtium

Insects. Intellectually I know they are edible and a good source of protein, but personally I don’t consider them to be food. Yet I can happily eat their relatives, shrimp, lobster and crab. Go figure.

Dandelions are definitely edible. We used to eat dandelion greens when I was a kid, and there is, of course, the literary reference to dandelion wine as well as the actual stuff.

There is also pine needle tea, which I used to make and consume when backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas. It’s a good source of Vitamins C and A.

Nasturtiums, roses, violets and other edible flowers have long been consumed by people and are currently making a big comeback in fancy restaurants. However, you need to be 100% certain that no pesticides have ever been used on them.

I have also consumed a variety of reptiles and a few amphibians that don’t usually show up on supermarket shelves. A lot of them do tend to taste like chicken.

If you want to see a whole bunch of strange foods, try checking out this site. Also watch for Andrew Zimmern’s show Bizarre Foods.

And then there is the Durian

@Darwin GA, I would also add Chickweed to that list . Highly nutritious.

Oh, and Dandelion Coffee.

Rose hips make a great tea that is full of vitamin C.

Have you had jerusalem artichokes?

We used to eat Jerusalem Artichokes quite often, but I class them as “food that you eat when there is nothing else.”

I recently found out that my husband had never eaten parsnips before. I made some for him and he loved them.

dandelion and burdock – or is that just a British thing?? Nettle Soup is delicious and a really good source of iron and its free if you go walking and pick it yourself!

Paw Paw fruit, Noni fruit, Lima beans…

Nice rack of ribs, a cold beer and a sweet potato.

Peanut shells are supposed to be great for cleaning out the intestines and colon. They are bitter as hell though.

Grasshoppers. Never tried one though.