Pick Wild Foods From Your Garden!

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Mature lamb's-quarters stands two to seven feet tall and can be identified by its jagged-edged, diamond-shaped leaves . . . leaves which—on their undersides—are powdered with coarse, whitish particles (hence the Latin name album, or "white"). The short leafstalks may either be reddish-streaked or plain green. (Both the stem and leaves of young plants are usually just mealy white.)

While only the tender, growing tips of mature Chenopodium album are mild enough to eat, every part of the plant from the ground up is tasty when taken from lamb's-quarters less than a foot tall.

Some folks like to use this green in salads, but I prefer mine cooked as a substitute for spinach. (It's especially delectable when creamed, I might add.) Lamb's-quarters is also quite toothsome when wilted in hot dressing, as follows:

Fry one small, diced onion in 1/2 cup of salad oil. Then (after first checking to make sure the oil isn't hot enough to "splash") add 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and—if desired—pepper to the frying pan. Throw in four cups of lamb's-quarters, stir-fry until limp . . . and eat with pleasure.

Once you've tried Chenopodium album— either cooked or raw—you'll know why pigs chomp happily away on all of this weed that they can sink a tooth into!

GREEN AMARANTH (Amaranthus retroflexus)

A milder-tasting relative of lamb's-quarters that can be prepared in the same manner is green amaranth . . . also known as redroot, wild beet, and (coincidentally) pigweed. Euell Gibbons has labeled this hardy native of tropical America "among the most common of all weeds".

You'll recognize green amaranth by three main features: [1] a stout, hairy stem, [2] rough-to-the-touch, pointed oval leaves borne on stalks almost as long as the leaves themselves, and [3] a crimson-colored root (hence the names red root and wild beet). The height of the plant varies. I've personally harvested a six-footer with a stem thicker than some baseball bats! Usually, however, the mature plant grows no more than three feet tall.

While some authors suggest ways of preparing raw amaranth leaves, I recommend that you only eat the leaves after they've been cooked, due to the fact that the foliage contains a substance called saponin. Used commercially as a foaming agent in fire extinguishers, beers, etc., saponin gives the raw leaves of green amaranth an odd taste and—because of its detergent-like properties—can cause digestive upsets.

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