The new garden is finally getting going, but I’m still waiting on stuff that I ordered months ago and it’s pretty crazy-making. This has been my first spring in 18 years without a garden, and I’m missing that daily contact with the vegetable kingdom that inspires so much of my cooking.
There are, however, some silver linings. First, the lack of a garden and related projects made it easy for me to largely stay in the kitchen working on the cookbook. So it’s done, and delivered, and as soon as I can talk about it I will. Developing, testing, and writing 110 recipes in a little over 3 months was a lot, but I feel good about them and I think you’ll be excited when it’s time to go wide with the news.
Second, the lack of domestic plants to eat has made me pay extra attention to the wild offerings around the house. You can read my love letter to dandelion greens, and learn how to make Korean-style wild chive pancakes with sourdough starter. And for you mycophiles I talked about two favorite ways to eat morels: here and here. Most recently, the pile of topsoil that sits waiting for the rest of the beds has sprouted a host of volunteers, most of which are lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium berlandieri). You may well have some growing near you right now.
It’s closely related to quinoa and amaranth and was cultivated as a grain by indigenous peoples throughout the Americas—and still is in parts of Mexico. I’ve always been most interested in the leaves, which cook to a velvety, dark green softness that spinach can only envy. They tend to be more tender when they’re young. I prefer to steam rather than boil them; after washing and trimming away the stalks and thicker stems I just pile the leaves in a steamer basket inside a pot with an inch or so of water underneath and let them cook until they have wilted and darkened dramatically.
Then it’s just a question of how you want to serve them. Salt, olive oil, and a little lemon or vinegar is all they need—toss them well to distribute the dressing and serve. Or you can go full creamed spinach, blending them with a little cream, salt, pepper, and some freshly grated nutmeg for good measure. But you can just use them as you would spinach. They’re super nutritious, too—high in protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, and powerful antioxidants. You can eat them raw in salads but they’re honestly not that interesting. You want the dark green velvet, I promise.
That gorgeous purée up top sure looks like it would be delightful on some bread, doesn’t it? It was, but that’s not where most of it ended up. Stay tuned—you won’t believe what happened next!
Congratulations on finishing the manuscript!