Edible Chickweed?

[Sanchia Dunn]

I had a few conversations last week with people surprised to find out that chickweed is edible. Familiar to gardeners as a ubiquitous weed, up at Kilburn tube station where Transition Kensal to Kilburn has mini-allotment, our beds are full of them.

Michael Stuart, who is our resident urban foraging expert at the tube garden (he knows more than many people I know, anyway) told me a while ago that it's edible. Since then, we started referring to our weeding of chickweed as "harvesting", and we take away a bag of greens after every session.

So for interest, I thought I would post some photos of my first experiment (experience?) cooking with chickweed from this past February. I based it on a Greek style spinach and feta pie, adding onion, olives and a big pinch of dried dill, then baking the mixture in/on a puff pastry base. You could also go for a much simpler options of simply lightly sauteeing the chickweed with some olive oil. 

Tips:

Wash the chickweed well, a good few times.

If I made this again, I'd make sure I chopped the chickweed up finely.

This might also work better as a closed pie, rather than an open tart. Or by baking it in an egg custard like a quiche.