The Merits of Weeds

Is it a weed, a herb, or a flowering plant? Each of the following plants are considered weeds, but they also have positive virtues for their edibility, nutritional benefits, and herbal remedy uses. Furthermore, several can also be considered beautiful flowering plants. It really does come down to personal perspective.

Our focus here is the culinary and nutritional value of these weeds. Keep in mind that several of these plants also have great value as herbal remedies, and as with all herbal remedies, the advice of a health care practitioner should be sought before their use. This is especially important for those with a health condition or those who are taking any medications.

Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale

The dandelion scarcely needs an introduction, as it is found almost everywhere, spreading far and wide by reseeding with wild abandon.

The whole dandelion plant is very rich in nutrients, particularly the young leaves. It is an excellent source of vitamins A, B, and C, along with many minerals—most notably iron and potassium.

Few realize that the golden yellow flowers of the dandelion are edible when cooked and add zest to dishes. Fresh young leaves lend a special tang to salads and can be cooked like spinach or blanched like endive. The dried roots of dandelion can be either used as a coffee substitute or added to your favourite coffee blend.

Try a delicious dandelion salad made with dandelion leaves, lettuce or spinach, tomatoes, chives, toasted breadcrumbs, an oil and vinegar dressing, and dandelion flowers as a topping. To wash the meal down, have a dandelion leaf tea or dandelion root coffee.

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

Yarrow prefers hot and dry sites in full sun with well-drained soil. The plant multiplies rapidly by shallow, horizontal rhizomes as well as by seeds. Rubbing or crushing the hairy fernlike foliage between your fingers releases the plant’s strong, aromatic, somewhat nutmeg or sagelike fragrance.

The younger leaves of yarrow can be cooked like spinach or added to soups or stews. If you are adventurous, toss a few leaves into your salad. For a delectable, although bitter, taste sensation, try adding a few leaves to a cream cheese sandwich, or you can dry the leaves for use as a spice that imparts a strong sagelike flavour. A tea of the leaves is tangy and bitter, though you can sweeten it by adding honey.

Red clover, Trifolium pratense

Many of you may remember sucking on the red florets of red clover to enjoy their sweet honeylike flavour. The flowers are even commercially produced for a tasty syrup in some regions of the world. The young leaves of a close cousin, the white clover, T. repens, can be added to salads or cooked like spinach. Flowers of both these species can be tossed into a salad as well.

Red clover has estrogenic properties, so those with an estrogen-sensitive condition such as breast cancer should consult a health care practitioner before use.

Ground ivy, Glechoma hederacea

This is a tough ground cover perennial that spreads by horizontal rooting stems and has the potential to become extremely invasive. Otherwise, it can actually be quite pretty with its delicate blue flowers and mintlike fragrance. The young leaves and flowers are edible, with a slightly bitter and pepperlike flavour. They are believed to be rich in vitamin C and iron, so try adding them to salads, soups, or stir-fries. A tea made from fresh or dried leaves is known as “gill tea” and is considered a spring tonic.

Chicory, Cichorium intybus

Most of us have enjoyed seeing the exquisite blue flowers of the chicory growing abundantly along roadsides or in neglected fields, but few are aware of the plant’s many valuable uses. The young leaves can be added to salads, steamed like spinach, or added to stir-fries, soups, or stews. Younger chicory leaves taste best, though the older leaves can be blanched to lessen their somewhat bitter taste. The leaves are rich in vitamins and minerals.

The flowers are edible as well, and are a delicious addition to salads. Another way to enjoy eating your chicory is as chicons, also known as Belgian or French endive. Perhaps the best-known way that chicory is used is as a caffeine-free substitute for, or an additive to, coffee, prepared by drying, roasting, and grinding the roots.

Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica

Stinging nettle is an appropriate name for this weed of dampish meadows and roadsides. If your bare skin comes into contact with this plant, you most definitely will feel its stinging effects. Thankfully, cooking the leaves removes the sting of this nettle. Wear gloves when harvesting the plants.

Stinging nettle is a storehouse of many vitamins, minerals, and protein, being especially high in iron and vitamin C. Fresh or dried leaves can be made into a nutritious tea and served either hot or cold (after boiling of course). The pleasant tasting leaves can be cooked like  spinach or added to stir-fries, soups, and stews.

Curled or yellow dock, Rumex crispus

The leaves of curled dock are rich in iron, magnesium, vitamins A and C, and several other nutrients. These can be boiled, sautéed in stir-fries, or added to soup and stews.

Purslane, Portulaca oleracea

This is a familiar sprawling annual often found in rich garden soils. It bears tiny, fleshy leaves, even smaller yellow flowers, and reddish creeping stems. The whole plant can be sautéed, boiled, or added to casseroles and omelettes for a tasty nutritious meal that is high in vitamins C and A, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and several other nutrients. The flavour is difficult to describe-—tangy, slightly sour, peppery, and hazelnut-like will give you an idea.

Borage, Borago officinalis

Borage is a tough hairy-leaved annual that is well deserving of a spot away from your main garden. It is a thoroughly undemanding plant, wanting only well-drained soil and full sun exposure.

The fresh young leaves have a cucumber-like flavour that goes well in salads. They can also be prepared as a cooked vegetable—fried or boiled or added to other dishes such as soups and stews or with pickles. The leaves also make a tasty tea, either hot or as iced tea with lemon or honey. The leaves are high in calcium and potassium, plus the omega-6 essential fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).

The blue star-shaped blooms have a deliciously tart and sweet flavour. Try these flowers as a colourful addition to salads, or candy them for decorating cakes.

Lamb’s quarters, Chenopodium album

Also known as goosefoot, lamb’s quarters is another well-known weed that has many uses in the kitchen. The tender young leaves and shoots are a pleasant spinach substitute when boiled and served with butter. They are a rich source of vitamins A and C, plus protein, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.

Tip

As a safety precaution, do not harvest and use any plants from areas where chemical spraying of any sort is suspected.