Steamed Chickweed Recipe

publication date: Mar 7, 2008

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author/source: Kimberly Gallagher

Spring is on its way, and the greens are starting to poke up through the earth once more!

Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm has been providing a weekly box of local vegetables this year, so we have been eating a lot of root crops these past weeks, and these early spring greens are quite a welcome sight, let me tell you.

Just a few days ago, we took a trip over to the farm and found some lush beds of chickweed, especially in the green houses where the chickweed was growing in amongst the pea cover crop the farmers had planted in there. We did a big harvest and brought home a stuffed plastic grocery bag packed full of chickweed.

I made some chickweed vinegar, dried some for adding to my daily herbal infusions, put a bunch in the fridge for adding to salads (and for healing this little wart on my wrist), and then took 8 cups of the leaves and stems to make a delicious chickweed pasta dish.

This recipe we’ll be sharing with you today came to us from Wildman Steve Brill, an interview that will be posted on HerbMentor Radio.

Before I pass on the recipe let me say that there are many more reasons to include chickweed in our diets besides its wonderful mild green taste.

Chickweed is high in vitamin C, calcium, and iron as well as many other important minerals, and it is very nourishing for the lungs. Eating chickweed also thins the membranes of your cells so that nutrients are more readily absorbed and utilized.

Since chickweed is a plant, it is important to break down its cell walls in order to access the nutrients available within it. 

I do love picking and eating chickweed raw, but this is definitely not the way our bodies process it best. Adding a vinegar or lemon juice salad dressing will help break down the cell walls, as will cooking it before eating it. So, that’s another benefit of preparing this pasta dish.

Also remember to harvest your chickweed from a clean source and try to pick it so you don’t have to wash it, since some of the vitamins actually exist right on the plant surface.

Here’s the recipe:

• 8 cups chickweed leaves and stems

• 2 tsp. olive oil

• 1 tsp. lemon juice

• ¼ tsp. salt

• ¼ tsp. black pepper

Start some pasta cooking. (I used udon noodles, but any sort of pasta will do.)

Measure and chop the chickweed.

Place in a heavy pot, cover, and cook over low heat 5 – 10 minutes or until just wilted. Avoid overcooking. If you’ve rinsed your chickweed, don’t add any liquid, as the water clinging to the plant is sufficient. Otherwise you might add a tablespoon of water to the pot. (I didn’t rinse or add water, but I did uncover the pot and stir the chickweed while it was cooking to prevent it sticking to the pot and burning.)

Remove from heat, stir in the remaining ingredients (adjusting amounts to your personal taste.)

Serve hot over pasta.

Enjoy!