Lamb’s Quarters / Quelitas Chenopodium album Goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae)

Colitas, quelitas, lambs quarters or wild spinach how ever you spell it or what you call it people have been enjoy this delightful weed for a long time. The following recipe is just one way to enjoy quelitas. I don’t cuss’em in my garden I eat’em, I harvest the plant, pull them up by the roots, shake off the dirt, cut off the roots which goes into the compose. I store the whole plant in the crisper, the best size for harvest is from seedling to about 12 inches tall at that size you can eat stem and all. Anything taller the stem is woody but you can still pick the leaves no matter what size and they can grow be 10 ft. tall and be like a small tree to remove. They will store for weeks, I layer them in lasagna or enchiladas add them to stews and soups cookies and muffins and I add them to a salad for free.

I have seen them dried and coated with chili and honey like sweet – hot chips. I am now working on how to use the seeds, kind of like poppy seed. The seeds are higher in protein than wheat. Leave some mature plants with seeds for next years crop. The wind will scatter the seeds, and in the spring new plants will grow without any effort or expense on your part.

Not much being said about gathering sites. I was delighted to find a huge crop in my flower bed grown on barn scrapings. I collected the seed heads and forgot them in the garage. Mice had visited them so I decided to plant them in the spring rather that eating them. Before spring came, I’d read about the nitrogen concentrating and was glad the mice had spared me. I’ve had trouble with heavy metals so worry about sources. Have some lovely dandelions that didn’t take to the lawn weed poison used a few years ago. I’m shy of havesting the dandelions. Any tips on where to find dandelions away from areas likely to have been treated with weed killer?

This year I’m growing Amaranth & Quinoa – you can really see the family resemblance in Quinoa! Local Farmers had bunches of Magentaspreen at the Market (which you mentioned – http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-12-17/home-and-garden/17405251_1_spinach-organic-gardeners-magenta-pink ) with it’s lovely fuscia tips. I fell in love with it’s joyful appearance in salads, so ordered seed from Nichols, & also some orach, another relative. I’m planting them in my fall garden (I’m in Western Oregon), & will see how they do there.
I also thought of making pesto, as I’ve done nettle pesto – thanks for sharing your recipe!
I lightly blanch the nettles (< 3 minutes, so they still have their enzymes) before whirring with the other ingredients.
Here's a fun pizza recipe: http://www.glutenfreeforgood.com/blog/my-new-favorite-gluten-free-pizza-topping – These are quinoa – but you could easily use lambs quarters.

Happy foraging!

J Hannah, I never thought of making a pesto with Lams Quarters. I snagged your recipe.