Chenopodium album, or Lambsquarters greens are better than spinach, and are usually available from February until the first hard freeze. The plants don’t bolt or get bitter. This species is related to the “modern” quinoa.
So, making sure you know how to identify the plant, snip off the plant stem, say midway up (sometimes they will continue to grow). Gather enough plants. Snip the leaves off, over a collander. Wash the leaves. Put them in a steamer. Steam for a few minutes, until the desired consistency and dark color is achieved. Enjoy them with “sport pepper” sauce (peppers in vinegar). A wonderful quiche can also be made with lambsquarters.
Shown below are the reported nutritional aspects of Chenopodium album, versus Amarnthus and spinach:
| Substance | Amaranth | Spinach | Lambsquarters |
| 100 g each | |||
| From Vol 1, UWP | from nutriondata.self.com | ||
| Calories | 36 | 26 | 43 |
| Protein | 3.5 g | 3.2 g | 3.6 g |
| Fat | 0.5 g | 0.3 g | 0.7 g |
| Fiber | 1.3 g | 0.6 g | 3.6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 6.5 g | 4.3 g | 7.1 g |
| Calcium | 267 mg | 93 mg | 309 mg |
| Phosphorus | 67 mg | 51 mg | 72 mg |
| Iron | 3.9 mg | 3.1 mg | 1.1 mg |
| Potassium | 411 mg | 470 mg | 454 mg |
| Vitamin A | 6100 IU | 8100 IU | 11,600 IU |
| Thiamine | 0.08 mg | 0.1 mg | 0.0 mg |
| Riboflavin | 0.16 mg | 0.2 mg | 0.4 mg |
| Niacin | 1.4 mg | 0.6 mg | 1.1 mg |
| Ascorbic Acid | 80 mg | 51 mg | 80 mg |
| Zinc | 0.4 mg | ||
| Copper | 0.4 mg | ||
| Magnesium | 33.9 mg | ||
| Selenium | 1.1 mcg | ||