Sometimes an author’s personality jumps right out at readers from the pages of a book. Such an author is Alexis Nikole Nelson, author of the new cookbook “Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!”
I had never heard of Nelson before receiving the book from its publisher, but I gather that if I were a social media connoisseur I would know of her. She lives in Ohio but can be found frequently on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
There she is known as Black Forager, and she signs off from many of her posts and videos with the title of her book. In 2022, she won the prestigious James Beard Award for “best social media account.”
In “Happy Snacking” Nelson’s prose and photographs radiate joy as she leads the reader through the seasons of the year, highlighting foods that can be found outdoors in different weather.
She is careful to tell her readers not only where they can find delicious wild foods but also where they should not seek them — for example, on golf courses and near railroad tracks. Both those locations are heavily treated with herbicides.
She begins the book with a little family history and by describing lessons learned from her parents. Her mother was an avid gardener; her father, an accomplished cook.
She notes that she views her habit of looking for food in nature as a tribute to ancestors who were either enslaved or free but treated as second-class citizens.
Of her enslaved forebears, she writes, “[S]omething I’m sure of is that foraging wild greens, either by them or by other members of their plantation community, helped them to survive.”
Nelson can wax funny and sincere in turns. She clearly loves foraging, and she has amassed a trove of knowledge to share with the public.
She argues that foraging helps relax people by giving them an excuse to get off their electronic devices and commune with nature. I applaud that goal, although I don’t think one has to become a forager to bond with nature. My dog and I do that all the time on our walks.
Even so, I am impressed by the many foods Nelson finds to use in her cooking. It never would have occurred to me to make a drink from goldenrod or to create pancakes with acorns.
One food she highlights that struck me as particularly fascinating is Japanese knotweed.
If you have been to any sort of seminar or meeting about native plants lately — or if you spend a lot of time walking outdoors — you will be familiar with the scourge that is knotweed. Sheila Litchfield of Heath recently organized a well-attended symposium about the stuff.
Alexis Nikole Nelson is aware of the dangers of knotweed.
“Fewer plants strike more fear into the hearts of environmentalists and gardeners,” she says of this plant, which grows at an amazing rate.
“Anyway, knotweed is so dang good at the reproduction game that cuttings can take root and start new colonies. Cool, but also terrifying in, like, a zombie plant kind of way?”
After giving careful instructions to readers about harvesting this daunting crop, she reveals that it has a bright, appealing flavor. In fact, she compares it to one of my favorite plants, rhubarb. Like rhubarb, knotweed contains oxalic acid, which is toxic in large quantities but delicious in small ones.
Nelson features knotweed in two recipes, one for a refreshing frozen granita and the other for a scone. A sucker for baked goods, I chose the scone to feature. The recipe uses the plant to create a liquid extract that lends flavor to these pastries.
The author is careful to tell readers to destroy any leftover pieces of knotweed that could spread.
Please note that Nelson eats only plant-based foods. She frankly encourages those of us who are not vegan to use classic ingredients like butter instead of vegan butter and regular milk instead of soy milk.
“Foraging is supposed to help you cut back on consumption,” she explains. “I would never ask you to go and buy new things when what you have will work perfectly.”
Lemony Knotweed Poppyseed Scones
Ingredients:
for the scones:
2 cups roughly chopped tender Japanese knotweed stems and leaves
3/4 cup sugar
the grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted vegan butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 tablespoons poppyseeds
for the glaze (optional):
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
candied violets, lilacs, or forsythia flowers or additional poppyseeds for topping (optional)
Instructions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, place the knotweed and 2 teaspoons of water. Cover and let the knotweed steam, stirring occasionally, until it wilts and is a vibrant green color, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and the lemon zest and use your fingers to rub them together to release the citrus oils. Add the flour and baking powder and whisk to combine.
Add the butter and toss it gently in the dry mixture to coat. Cut or rub the butter into the dry mixture so it’s uniformly clumpy. (This will make sense when you see it!) Set aside.
In a cheesecloth or nut milk bag set over a small bowl, place the cooled, cooked knotweed. Tie off or twist the bag closed and gently squeeze over the bowl to strain and extract the liquid from the knotweed—you’ll need just 1/2 cup of liquid for this batch. Discard the cooked knotweed.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the knotweed liquid with the milk and poppy seeds.
Add the knotweed mixture to the flour mixture, and use a spatula to fold and combine gently, checking for any unincorporated dry spots. If you find your mixture is too wet, add a dusting of flour. If it’s too dry, dribble in a teaspoon of the knotweed liquid.
Cover the dough, and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
On the prepared baking sheet, dollop 1/4-cup-size scoops of the dough, spaced about 3 inches apart. (If you run out of room on the baking sheet, save the remaining dough to bake off after the first round of scones.)
Bake until the scones are golden and fragrant, and a toothpick comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes. Let the scones rest on the pan, undisturbed, for 5 minutes.
If you wish to make the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle all over the scones.
Top the scones with edible flowers (if using), and serve warm or at room temperature. Makes about 10 scones.
Excerpted from Happy Snacking, Don’t Die: Foraging and Vegan Recipes with Black Forager. Copyright 2026, Alexis Nikole Nelson. Photography Copyright 2026 by JB Douglas. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.