Bracken Sprouts.

Bracken is coming up apace, breaking through the silvery-brown stems and fronds of last year. These are tinder dry and crackled underfoot like weetabix when I went gathering the young sprouts. I collect these at about 5 to 9 inches tall, whilst their heads are still curled up tight and the stems snap juicily, like sugar peas. 
Bracken has, quite rightly, the reputation for being extremely poisonous, with a cocktail of toxic agents that are cancer causing and lower Vit B levels. They should definitely not be eaten raw.
However, with simple preparation they can be de-toxified and, as with many foods, they are not harmful eaten in moderation and then only once or twice in the season.  
I wash, and then boil the stems two times. The first time for about 7 mins and then throw away the water and the second time bringing to simmer for a couple more minutes. Eaten doused with melted butter and salt they are reminiscent of asparagus in texture, with a slightly bitter subtle flavour.
This year I had some left over and found some mashed potato from the day before in the fridge, so I tried them as the green ingredient in bubble and squeak. That was a winner!
Japanese cooking sites have other dishes, involving soy sauce which I haven't tried yet, but they often suggest soaking the stems in Baking soda to get rid of the bitterness before using. I'm not sure if that would leave them very bland.
Following the Japanese theme, the raised salad bed in my garden self- seeded with mizuna last autumn and these have come up in profusion. What a nice surprise that has been! I've been eating them for a few weeks now, slightly hairy and slightly peppery. It makes normal lettuce taste very unexciting.