Another prolific weed
that makes good eating is fat hen or Chenopodium album. This is a classic story
of one man’s trash is another man’s treasure as it is cultivated in India and
is also grown specifically in Africa whereas throughout most of the rest of the
world, we do our best to eradicate it.
Archaeologists
tells us it was used by the Vikings, the Romans and therefore through out early
Europe . It is another plant that I find once
harvested needs to be used. Maybe this is one of the reasons it is not a
commercially grown plant in the part of the world where supermarkets rule.
As a plant, it is a
luxurious looking beast and certainly chooks know of
its nutritious value hence the name.
You
use fat hen much as you would spinach. You can use it in salads or lightly
boiled as a green. The leaves contain high levels of vitamin A, calcium, potassium, phosphorus,
trace minerals, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, iron, and fibre. One word of
caution however, like spinach, the leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid so
fat hen should be eaten in moderation. As mentioned previously, cooking breaks
down some of the oxalic acid but do not make fat hen vegetable to be consumed
daily.
I
have never tried them but I read the flowers are edible as well as the seeds. In
another “wow it is amazing what you find on the internet” I saw a suggestion
the seeds can be sprouted to produce a delicate reddish brown sprout. I might
give that a try if I can collect enough
seed. However that might be a hard one as it is a voracious weed and I will eat
it happily but I do not want it to spread too much. Eating it is my form of a
perfect natural weed control!
Substitute fat hen in recipes calling for spinach. If you want some good recipes if you like Indian cuisine, type bathua, the Indian name for fat hen into Google and follow your taste buds.
Always
remember with all weeds taken from roadsides or other land not under your
control, ensure they have not been sprayed with herbicide.
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