Whether you are at home, in the garden, or on the road, you can make this delicious wild spinach salad with just a few inexpensive and free ingredients.
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Lamb’s quarter, also known as wild spinach, is a very hardy plant that you can find in many areas.
Although I never planted any spinach I have an abundance of ‘wild spinach’ all spring and summer long.
I don’t know if I will ever plant salad greens again.
That may sound a little bit extreme, but that is how sold I am on these delicious fast growing wild greens.
My garden wasn’t doing the best this year, as it is on sand and I don’t have a water source for it.
I replanted several rows of green beans one week in June.
The next week I went back to weed the garden and there all in a row were beautiful lamb’s quarter (wild spinach).
It literally looked as if I had planted the wild spinach all in a row.
Why did they grow like that? Wild spinach likes to grow in disturbed soils.
When I hoed the row up to plant the green beans, the soil was in the perfect condition that wild spinach loves.
All this being said, the easiest spot to look for wild spinach is in your garden!
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What is wild spinach?
Wild spinach, or lamb’s quarter (chenopodium album), is fast growing hardy annual herbaceous plant.
It grows in six of the seven continents (excluding Antartica).
Wild spinach will grow in almost any soil, especially moist, well-drained soil. They often grow in gardens because wild spinach likes to grow in disturbed soil that is rich in nitrogen.
This plant likes full to part sun, and can withstand heat, drought, frost and poor soil.
You can find lamb’s quarter along roadsides, in gardens, sunny areas, fields, and along wooded paths.
In short, be on the look out anywhere you go to find some of this delicious plant!
This makes wild spinach a great option to eat even if you are on a camping trip.
To learn more about wild spinach (or lamb’s quarter) read this post here.
![a cluster of wild spinach](https://homelifeonadime.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/How-to-Make-Wild-Spinach-Salad-2-768x1024.jpg)
What is that white stuff on the leaves?
Wild spinach may or may not have a white powdery substance on its leaves.
This white powder is mineral salt that the plant pulls from the soil.
Because of this, wild spinach is a great source of naturally occurring salt.
This powdery mineral salt is an added bonus to eating wild spinach in the summer when you are already hot and loosing minerals through sweating.
So is the white stuff on wild spinach leaves ok to eat? Yes! If the leaves don’t have it though, don’t worry it is still very nutritious.
![a woman holding a wild spinach plant](https://homelifeonadime.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Nutritional-Benefits-and-How-to-Eat-Lambs-Quarter-11-1024x768.jpg)
How to harvest wild spinach
To harvest wild spinach, pick the young, tender leaves of the plant.
Wild spinach is a fast growing plant, so you can typically find plants in all stages of growing throughout the growing season in your area.
Only pick leaves off of plants that haven’t gone to seed yet (before the seed head emerges).
Because wild spinach is a very hardy annual plant, you can be quite aggressive with how many leaves per plant you harvest.
Wild spinach grows in abundance and will most likely come back even after a good pruning.
![a plate of wild spinach salad with fruit](https://homelifeonadime.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/How-to-Make-Wild-Spinach-Salad-21-1024x768.jpg)
How to Make wild spinach salad
Ingredients:
- 2 cups wild spinach leaves
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt, good quality
Directions:
1. Wash the wild spinach very well. You don’t have to get all the white powder off of the leaves, as this is just mineral salts from the soil. This powder will add nutrition.
2. Chop the wild spinach leaves into bite-sized or smaller pieces.
3. Place the leaves into a small bowl.
4. Add olive oil and massage the oil into the leaves with your hands.
5. Pour the lemon juice over the leaves and massage this in as well.
6. Sprinkle in the salt and give it one more mix with your hands.
7. Add the berries or chopped fruit if using.
8. Serve immediately.
Notes:
Massaging the leaves helps break them down and making them more palatable. It helps release the bitter compounds in the leaves resulting in a less bitter tasting salad.
Use any type of fruit that is in season. Some suggestions are: chopped apples or pears, small orange slices, pomegranate, blueberries, blackberries, sliced strawberries, or raspberries.
If you don’t have any fresh fruit, can also use frozen and thawed berries.
![3 bowls of wild spinach salad each with different fruit](https://homelifeonadime.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/How-to-Make-Wild-Spinach-Salad-15-1024x768.jpg)
![wild spinach salad with fruit](https://harmonymeadowhomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/how-to-make-wild-spinach-salad-recipe-featured-image-360x361.png)
Wild Spinach Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups wild spinach leaves
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt good quality
Instructions
- Wash the wild spinach very well.
- Chop the wild spinach leaves into bite-sized or smaller pieces.
- Place the leaves into a small bowl.
- Add olive oil and massage the oil into the leaves with your hands.
- Pour the lemon juice over the leaves and massage this in as well.
- Sprinkle in the salt and give it one more mix with your hands.
- Add the berries or chopped fruit if using.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
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Have you eaten wild spinach?
What is your favorite way to enjoy it? Let us know in the comments!
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