Plant of the Week- Lambs Quarters-

Chenopodium alba and Chenopodium berlandieri

For many years, I knew Lambs Quarters as only a weed in my garden. Then I read that it's leaves made a great spinach-like green that could be used fresh in salads when raw and as a cooked green. When I tried it I was amazed. Why doesn't everyone in the South use this plant. I suspect the problem is, it has been around too long.

I learned recently that lambs quarters(aka , goosefoot, Aztec red spinach, fat hen, Huauzontle) was cultivated by Native Americans in North America before corn was introduced to this part of the hemisphere. In a very interesting presentation earlier this year, Dr Gary Crites, a Paleo Ethno Botanist from the McClung Museum explained that, over 4,000 years ago, plants in the goosefoot family were being cultivated and harvested for seed. The plant is closely related to quinoa though the seed is quite a bit smaller. They are not able to tell if the leaves were used though they probably were.

As with all plants that come up on their own, you need to positively identify Lambs Quarters before you eat it. The leaf shape is very distinctive, but the most obvious thing is the waxy, powder that is very heavy on the newest leaves and lighter, but still present on older leaves. Make sure you have someone who definitely knows this plant, show it to you.

I don't really like it raw, but use Lambs Quarters as a nearly direct substitute for spinach in cooking. It cooks down much less than spinach, so for most recipes I find it is best to use between 1/3 and1/2 as much as the spinach called for. It also freezes well after blanching.

As far as cultivating it, I generally just leave some plants in places where they will not be in the way. The plant starts small and can grow to five feet or more. I find that the biggest leaves are a little tough, but even fairly large leaves cook down well.

Here are a couple of links if you want to learn more.

Lambsquarters: Prince of Greens

Edible Wild Foods: Lambs Quarters