Salad, pesto, soup, sauce, cottage cheese, cold soup, tapenade, humus, risotto, tart, ice cream, pizza, pie, mousse, beer, jam, vinegar... we can use weeds to create all these dishes. They can successfully replace popular leaf vegetables, such as spinach. They will add an interesting flavor to our dishes and diversify our menu. We painstakingly grow vegetables in our gardens - fertilizing them, watering them, preventing diseases, protecting them against pests, and weeding them. Meanwhile, most of the weeds that we consider troublesome are edible, tasty and healthy! Next time, instead of throwing them into the composter, take them to the kitchen and add them to your favorite dish! Here is a list of common, edible weeds that often accompany our garden crops:

• Lamb'sTongue (Plantago lanceolata)

• Ground-Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) 

• Chickweed (Stellaria media) 

• White Nettle (Lamium album) 

• Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album) 

• Red Clover  (Trifolium pratense) 

• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)  

• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

• Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria) 

• Common Nettle (Urtica dioica)  

• Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) 

• Potato Weed (Galinsoga parviflora)