Lamb’s Quarters

November 16, 2013

Lamb’s quarters was a popular spring tonic in the South—an early season edible green—but its leaves are good throughout the summer.

 

 
 

Chenopodium album
Native range: Described by Linnaeus in 1753, this European native has been transferred throughout much of the world. Because its spread was rarely recorded, C. album‘s native and invasive status is sometimes obscure.

Invasive range: The European strain of Chenopodium alba has invaded the Lower 48, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, and Greenland. There are native variants in parts of the Lower 48 and Canada.*

Habitat: Gardens, croplands, old fields, weedy meadows, edge habitats, even sidewalk cracks. Common in disturbed areas.

Description: Bushy appearance, tapering toward the top. Diamond shaped leaves are dusty white underneath. Upper leaves are smaller, narrower, and appear mealy from the presence of tiny white hairs, which are present on the lower and upper surfaces. The leaves are odorless when crushed. Stout stems. Dense spikes of small green flowers along the top branches. Also known as pigweed, fat hen, and the best descriptor of all, goosefoot, for the weblike tapered leaves.

In Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America, the botanist Merritt Lyndon Fernald and Alfred Charles Kinsey, the renowned sexologist, recalled planning a dinner party for botanists that would feature a purée of fairy ring mushrooms, escalloped purslane, and lamb’s quarters bread. In January along the edge of a frozen truck-farm, they quickly gathered a peck of seeds, husks, and stems. Also in the cold, the seeds had to be winnowed outdoors to yield a quart of fruit: black, dry, ready to be ground:

“When the meal was served, Mrs. Fernald brought in the soup, which found favor, along with thin biscuits of Jack-in-the-Pulpit flour. Then came the Purslane and a salad, accompanied by some deeply black muffins. That plate went around the table, receiving one polite “No, thank you” after another until it reached the late Emile Williams, half-French and with more than usual Yankee consideration for others. He took one, put on his glasses, inspected and then sniffed it.

“‘Ah, Chenopodium album.

“Asked how he guessed, he replied, ‘I’ve just been reading Napoleon’s Memoirs. Napoleon at times had to live on it.’

“The plate was promptly cleared by the suddenly ravenous guests, and had to be refilled with more, which were polished off accompanied by the Beach-Plum preserve.”

Chenopodium album, a native of Eurasia, goes by various common names: lamb’s quarter, goose foot, pigweed, fat hen, all of them suggesting that the plant is more fit for animal consumption than human and yet human consumption of both leaves and seeds goes back at least to the Vikings. Early settlers, their animals, and fodder brought the plant intentionally and otherwise to North America, where it proved to be another perfectly designed invader ready to hop the garden wall.

A Few Early Observations

April 18, 1749. Chester, Pennsylvania. Both the Swedish and English settlers are in the spring accustomed to prepare greens from various plants . . . . They generally boil the leaves in the water in which they had cooked meat. Then they eat it alone or with the meat. It is served on a platter and eaten with a knife, which is different from the Swedish custom. Here also vinegar is placed in a special container on the table to be used on the kale. I must confess that this dish tastes very good. . . . In some places hereabouts there was a plant, the Chenopodium album L., which grew in great quantities in rich soil and was . . . used as kale. Only the young plants a few inches in height were used and prepared like the preceding one.

–Peter Kalm, Travels in North America

1825-26. Columbia River drainage, Northwest Territory. Botanical specimen #410: Chenopodium sp.; annual; plentiful in all rich soils; fertile banks of rivers; grows very strong and abundant around Indian villages and camps. . . among the numerous vegetables used by them it is rather singular they should omit one which is almost universally used in every country.

–David Douglas, Scottish botanist

1847. White Chenopodium. Vulgò–Lamb’s Quarters. Goose-foot.
Obs. This coarse and rather homely weed has become very extensively naturalized throughout the U. States,––and is quite troublesome in gardens. The young plant is sometimes used as a pot-herb; but would be gladly dispensed with by all neat gardeners and farmers.

–William Darlington, Agricultural Botany: An Enumeration and Description of Useful Plants and Weeds, which Merit the Notice, or Require the Attention of American Agriculturists

*If you are a diehard invasivore, restrict your consumption to Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, and the St. Pierre and Miquelon islands.

Harvest

 

Young tender plants, less than a foot high, are the tastiest. Young plants can be found, especially near cultivated ground, from midspring until frost. Young leaves are egg shaped, with toothed margins. They are dull green on top, dusty white on the underside. Back in the kitchen, make sure to rinse well.

Wildman Steve Brill notes that all the leaves are excellent throughout the growing season, although you have to strip them off the branches when the plant isn’t young.

In fall or early winter, it is easy, if labor intensive, to gather the seeds, which form panicles at the end of each branch. Euell Gibbons suggests rubbing the husks over a pail between your hands to separate the seed and chaff. The small seeds are blackish brown. They can be roasted, at 300 degrees, and ground for baking or as a meal for breakfast cereal.

Recipes

Lamb’s Quarters Crostini
From the Sierra Club

4 cups lamb’s quarters leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 whole head of garlic
1 loaf French bread, sliced into ½ inch slices
1 oz block of Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rub one side of the bread slices with garlic. Place the bread on a baking tray, garlic side up, and bake for 8 minutes. Mince the rest of the garlic.

In the mean time, immerse the lamb’s quarters is a large bowl of water to remove all the grit. Grit doesn’t taste very good! Chop coarsely.

In a medium frying pan, sauté the olive oil and garlic over medium heat until the garlic is soft. Add the lambsquarter leaves and sauté for another 2 minute before adding the lemon juice. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Top the bread slices with the lamb’s quarters mixture and a thin slice of parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Lamb’s Quarters and Beans
Adapted from The Crunchy Chicken and The Vegetarian Times, July 1997

1 pound lamb’s quarters
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 leeks, finely chopped
1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse greens several times to make sure that all sand and grit are removed. Steam greens in a tightly covered pot until wilted. Drain and finely chop.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and leeks and cook, stirring frequently, until leeks are soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in greens, beans, and chili powder. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until heated through.

Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Links

Phoenix farms has posted several straightforward recipes, including lemony lamb’s quarters feta salad.

A straightforward heritage (read, with bacon or salt pork) recipe for Lamb’s quarters spring greens.

Read garden columnist Bill Finch’s prose ode to the lost custom of serving up lamb’s quarters (aka goosefoot) as a spring tonic in the South here.

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Joni Solis October 31, 2014 at 1:20 am

I put fresh, raw, lambs quarters leaves in my green smoothies. I like lambs quarters because it grows in our hot summer months when all the winter greens are finished or full of bugs.

Reply

"Wildman" Steve Brill August 30, 2013 at 5:01 pm

Archeologists found remains of lamb’s-quarters seeds cultivated by Native Americans for food from before contact with Europeans. Muddy-footed migrating birds blown off course by storms probably transported the tiny seeds across the Atlantic in prehistoric times.

Reply

Duane Chapman August 30, 2013 at 4:42 pm

What do you do with the seeds?

Reply

JoeRoman September 16, 2013 at 9:35 am

Thanks, Duane. Steve Brill says that you can cook the seeds as you would any other grain, boiling them in water for about 15 minutes until they are soft like rice. For nuttier taste, toast them in a pan until they pop.

It’s also great for breakfast. The seeds can be stirred into oatmeal when you set it to boil or add them to cornbread, muffins, or pancakes.

Reply

Duane Chapman September 16, 2013 at 9:43 am

Thanks, I might try that some day. I used to get a lot of this stuff at my last place, but it is pretty uncommon on my current spread. I always called it “goosefoot” and pulled it as a weed. I got some once in a salad of mixed greens at a local restaurant and thought it had just gotten in there by accident – actually, I still think that.

Reply

"Wildman" Steve Brill September 16, 2013 at 11:29 am

Lamb’s-quarters seeds are quite good to eat, only it’s rare to find them in enough quantity to make harvesting worthwhile. Amaranth is much more practical, with much greater harvests.

Reply

"Wildman" Steve Brill August 16, 2013 at 2:18 pm

Good article, but I’d like to make a few corrections. All the leaves are excellent throughout the growing season, although you have to strip them off the branches when the plant isn’t young. The seeds are good, but quite labor-intensive to collect in any significant quantity. Amaranth is a much better choice in that respect.

Reply

JoeRoman August 16, 2013 at 2:31 pm

Thanks, Steve. We’ll update this. Always love getting your view.

Reply

"Wildman" Steve Brill August 16, 2013 at 3:08 pm

Thanks, Joe. Glad I can help. I always enjoy getting your newsletters.

BTW, everything I know about edible wild plants is in my iPhone/iPad/Android app, Wild Edibles (and in my books as well), which you might want to cross reference before publishing articles on the species it includes.

Reply

Leave a Comment

Land

Wild_boar

Wild Pig

Did the domestic ancestors of today’s feral pigs streak off De Soto’s ship into the Florida scrub of their own accord in 1539? Or did they have to be urged to go find something to eat? All you need to…


EAT ME!
6a00d83451b96069e2017d3d0b7851970c-400wi

Garden Snail

Deliberately or accidentally, by the movement of plants and by hobbyists who collect snails, humans have spread the garden snail to temperate and subtropical zones around the world.


EAT ME!
GarlicMustard1

Garlic Mustard

  Alliaria petiolata Native range: Europe, Asia, Northwest Africa Invasive range: Much of the Lower 48, Alaska, and Canada. (See map.) Habitat: Moist, shaded soil of floodplains, forests, roadsides, edges of woods, and forest openings. Often dominant in disturbed areas. Description: Biennial herb. First-year plant has a rosette of green leaves close to the ground. […]


EAT ME!
nopales con huevo

Prickly Pear

Fall is here, and the “cactus fig” is in season. Time to plate-up another widespread invader.


EAT ME!
Screen Shot 2012-11-18 at 8.02.21 AM

Sow Thistle

It’s spring and time to weed. Sow thistle is a delicious invader found throughout the continent.


EAT ME!

Sea

Hemigrapsus_sanguineus_big

Asian Shore Crab

The first sighting of the Asian shore crab in the United States was at Townsend Inlet, Cape May County, New Jersey, in 1988. Though the source is unknown . . .


EAT ME!
Periwinkles

Periwinkle

The common periwinkle, which first appeared in New England in the 1860s, is now found along the coast wherever there’s hard substrate–rocks, riprap, broken concrete, or docks–from Labrador to . . .


EAT ME!
Pterois volitans

Lionfish

Some say it started in 1992 in Miami when Hurricane Andrew smashed an aquarium tank. Don’t blame the weather, others say; in the mid-nineties, disappointed yet softhearted hobbyists…


EAT ME!
chuka wakame

Wakame

  Undaria pinnatifida Native range: Japan Sea Invasive range: Southern California, San Francisco Bay, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Argentina Habitat: Opportunistic seaweed, can be found on hard substrates including rocky reefs, pylons, buoys, boat hulls, and abalone and bivalve shells. Description: Golden brown seaweed, growing up to nine feet. Forms thick canopy. Reproductive sporophyll in […]


EAT ME!
Kleiner_Taschenkrebs_(Carcinus_maenas)

Green Crab

Since the green crab was first recorded off southern Massachusetts in 1817, it has been hard to ignore. A few minutes of rock-flipping in Maine can turn up dozens of them, brandishing their claws as they retreat…


EAT ME!

Fresh

Armored Catfish Meatballs (1)

Armored Catfish

The armored catfish is abundant and destructive in Florida, Texas, and Mexico. Cast your nets for these flavorful natives of the Amazon. Scientific name: Two types have become established in North America: armadillo del rio, Hypostomus plecostomus, and sailfin catfishes in genus Pterygoplichthys Native range: Amazon River Basin Invasive range: Texas, Florida, and Hawaii; also […]


EAT ME!
Picture 1

Common Carp

For a bottom-feeder, what is the good life? The common carp isn’t very demanding: any body of water that’s sluggish and murky will do. If the water is clean, and you’ve got corn for bait, try one of these recipes.


EAT ME!
IMG_W007-2

Watercress

  Nasturtium officianale Native Range: Northern Africa, Europe, temperate Asia, and India Invasive Range: In USA: all lower 48 states, except North Dakota. Found in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Also southern Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Australasia, and parts of tropical Asia. Habitat: Common along stream margins, ditches, and other areas with […]


EAT ME!
rusty_crayfish-large

Crayfish

  There are numerous invasive crayfish. We include details for the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and the rusty crayfish (Orenectes rusticus). The same recipes can be used for both species–and many other invasive crayfish. Red Swamp Crayfish Native range: Known as Louisiana crayfish, crawdad, and mudbug, Procambarus clarkii is native to the south central […]


EAT ME!
nutria-mugshot

Nutria

Nutria, also known as coypu and river rat, is native to temperate and subtropical South America. It has been introduced to Europe, Asia, and Africa, mainly for fur farming. These voracious. . .


EAT ME!

Field Notes

Digital StillCamera

Can We Eliminate Invasive Species by Eating Them?

On restaurant menus across New England, green crabs are showing up in everything from bouillabaisse and bisques to croquettes and crudo. Read about it in Salon.


EAT ME!
151118153748-invasive-lionfish

Radio Health Journal

Can adding invasives to your diet help the environment and your health? Listen to Radio Health Journal here.


EAT ME!
Screen Shot 2022-04-08 at 7.39.53 AM

Qui veut manger des espèces invasives ?

Joe Roman chats with Camille Crosnier about eating invasives on France Inter. Listen here. In French.


EAT ME!
Screen Shot 2022-03-12 at 7.18.19 AM

Berlin’s Invasive Species Cuisine

A Berlin food truck is opening people’s minds and mouths by feeding them a menu of invasive species with the slogan, “If you can’t beat them, eat them!” Read more about it in the Good News Network.


EAT ME!
Screen Shot 2022-02-14 at 7.14.15 PM

Rack of Squirrel, Anyone?

Patrick Greenfield discusses the rise of invasivorism in the Guardian. Read it here.


EAT ME!

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1878

Previous post:

Next post: