LAMBSQUARTERS RECIPES
1 cup tomato juice
½ cup Lambsquarters broth (pot liquor)
1 Tbsp vinegar (use your herbal vinegar!) or lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
Serve hot or cold
This salad is hearty and delicious!!! Super-nutritious too!
2 cups Lambsquarters greens
2 Cucumbers
2 Tomatoes
2 green onions or 2 heaping Tbsp red onion, minced
4 oz feta cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup olives, chopped
2 tsp oregano (fresh if possible!)
I like to buy the fancy Greek marinated olives for this recipe, but canned olives will do. Try to use the young, tender Lambsquarter leaves from plants about 1 foot tall or so for this salad.
Dressing:
1½ Tbsp lemon juice
1½ Tbsp red wine vinegar
½ cup olive oil
¾ tsp salt
2 Tbsp fresh herbs or 1 Tbsp dried (your choice, try dill, parsley, or oregano)
¼ tsp coarse ground black pepper
Blend dressing ingredients together in a blender until smooth. Coat the salad just before serving.
Lemony
Lambsquarter Feta Salad
5 cups tender Lambsquarter greens
4 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper (lemon pepper is best)
1. Toss Lambsquarter greens and feta cheese together.
2. Mix up the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a separate cup or bowl.
3. Add dressing just before serving.
Note: This salad does not keep well at all, so make only what you are going to eat when serving.
This recipe is a bit expensive to make but worth every penny. There are never any leftovers! It's a good one to try when you want to show off at a potluck or special dinner.
4 cups tender Lambsquarters leaves
1 can garbanzo beans
1 6.50-oz jar artichoke hearts
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1/4 cup sliced olives
1/2 cup pepperoni slices, cut in half
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Dressing:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp worchestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
1 dash pepper
1. Toss everything together in a large bowl.
2. Add the salad dressing just before you serve to avoid wilting.
Pie crust:
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup butter or shortening
½ tsp salt
2-3 Tbsp cold water
Note: I like to make my pie crusts in a food processor. It’s quick and easy and makes a fine, flaky crust.
1. Put flour, butter and salt in a food processor.
2. Turn on medium to high, until it forms a coarse, crumbly mixture.
3. Add 1 Tbsp cold water at a time and blend until it forms into a lump. Be careful not to add too much water.
4. Roll out as for any pie crust.
Filling:
4 cups lambsquarters leaves, chopped
¼ cup onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
½ tsp salt
3 eggs
1½ cups milk
2 cups (8 oz) Swiss cheese, grated
1. Pre-bake pie shell in oven at 450° for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned.
2. Sautee Lambsquarters and onion in butter until tender (don’t overcook)
3. Add flour and salt and mix together
4. In a separate bowl or in a blender whip together eggs and milk.
5. Add egg mixture to Lambsquarters.
6. Spread the grated Swiss cheese over the bottom of the pie crust.
7. Pour filling over the top of the cheese.
8. Bake at 325° for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for a few minutes before cutting.
9. Serve hot or cold.
This recipe is a bit of a project to make but well worth every minute of it!
12 lasagna noodles
1 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
Ricotta filling:
1 15-oz tub ricotta cheese
½ cup minced parsley (I use the food processor)
2 small eggs or 1 large
Lambsquarters Filling:
4 cups cooked Lambsquarter (about 1 gallon fresh)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3 cups milk
½ cup minced onion
1. Cook lasagna noodles until soft in boiling water, drain and cool under cold water.
2. Blanch Lambsquarter leaves for 5 minutes in boiling water, drain.
3. Shred the mozzarella cheese and set aside.
4. Prepare the ricotta filling in another bowl and set aside.
5. Make Lambsquarter filling by melting butter at medium heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan. Saute onion briefly, then add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk and salt. Stir until smooth, then add Lambsquarters. Cook at medium heat, stirring constantly, until nice and thick.
6. Put ½ cup Lambsquarter filling in bottom of a deep 9x13 pan, spreading evenly.
7. Put 3 lasagna noodles side by side in bottom of pan.
8. Spread 1/3 ricotta filling, then 1/3 Lambsquarters filling, then 1/3 mozzarella cheese.
9. Repeat layers twice more, saving ½ cup mozzarella and ½ cup Lamsquarters filling for the top.
10. Spread filling and sprinkle cheese over the top of the noodles, cover with foil and bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
This recipe works well with Wild Amaranth, Nettles, or Lambsquarter.
This is a variation on pesto that uses a good quantity of fresh tender greens.
1 lb spinach pasta
4 cups fresh Lambsquarters greens
½ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ cup sautéed green onions
1 carrot, grated
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled (or grated parmesan)
½ cup chopped olives
1. Cook spinach pasta until tender, drain.
2. Meanwhile sauté green onions, grate carrots, crumble cheese and chop olives.
3. In a food processor, blend Lambsquarter, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper until a smooth paste.
4. Mix all the above ingredients together with the cooked noodles, thoroughly coating the noodles with the Lambsquarter.
5. Serve warm with a lovely green salad and garlic bread.
Note: If fresh, sun-ripened tomatoes are in season, you may want to add 2 cups chopped, raw tomatoes to this recipe. Yummy!
My husband grew up eating Hamburger Helper, so anytime I cook something that reminds him of home, he just loves it. Here’s a green, healthy version:
1 lb flat pasta noodles
1 lb hamburger
4 cups cooked Lambsquarter (about 1 gallon fresh)
1/3 cup butter
½ cup minced onion
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3 cups milk
1. Cook pasta noodles in boiling water, strain and set aside.
2. Brown hamburger in a frying pan until well-done.
3. Sautee onions in butter in a large frying pan or heavy-bottomed pot.
4. Add flour to make a thick paste, stirring until smooth.
5. Add milk and salt, and stir, cooking until it just starts to thicken.
6. Add 4 cups pre-cooked Lambsquarters greens, and keep stirring and cooking until it forms a thick gravy.
7. Add hamburger and pasta and stir everything together.
8. Serve hot.