Every time I see lamb's quarters, I think back to my childhood to a time when that was the only green we ate for a time. I grew up half a world away in South Africa and most of my childhood was spent during a 10-year drought. As a farmer's daughter, I knew exactly what the impact of a drought was. We grew all our food, but there was no water to spare on the vegetable garden so nothing grew very well.
The only thing that grew really well was the weeds. Picking weeds under the broiling sun was not a chore anyone was eager to do so we had to weed either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Then one day as the sun was sinking my mom's employee casually pointed out that we could eat "umfino". The next day she showed her how to cook up lamb's quarters in mashed potatoes like spinach. It really is delicious!
2. Place potatoes into a pot suitable for mashing - I use my biggest pot - and pour in some water so that the water level is half-way up the potatoes.
3. Rip the leaves off the thicker stalks (the thinner stalks are fine to put in), wash them and lay them on top of the potatoes.
4. Cover the potatoes and boil on medium-high until soft - about 15 to 20 min. The leaves will have wilted by now. Keep an eye on your cooking so that you don't burn your potatoes.
5. Mash the potatoes with some butter (or margarine) and milk to make it super creamy.
This recipe can make as little or as much as you wish. As a rule of thumb I usually prepare one medium potato per person.
Young, tender plants are tastier than older plants about to go to seed.
Of course don't use weeds that have been sprayed with poisons!