It’s Andy here today introducing our guest blogger, David from Albuquerque. You’ll also find me over in OurLittleCorner digging up some dirt about weeds.
It’s always a special treat to have our friend David from Albuquerque as a guest blogger here at BigLittleMeals. When I first met David, which was more than 50 years ago, he was into “weed” (as it was called then). Now it appears that he is more into “weeds” – which, as you will see in today’s blog, is not the same as being “in the weeds”. While this all may seem complicated, rest assured that, per usual, David has written an entertaining and enlightening account about alternative cuisine. You will never look at a “weed” (or perhaps a taco) the same.
Quelites
By David from Albuquerque
Ever since I was a little boy I have really been drawn to foraging. We lived in a new development on the outskirts of Farmington, New Mexico, where hundreds of 1000 square foot, $4000 homes had replaced peach, apricot, pear and apple orchards. The orchards that had not yet been bulldozed were not tended or irrigated, but somehow many of the scraggly little trees survived and produced golf-ball sized fruit. It wasn’t too pretty, but it was doggone delicious. I would climb up into a peach tree and eat until I was sick of eating, which if you have ever seen me eat you know to be a prodigious amount. Mom made jam, and sometimes we went fishing in the mountains and would gather chokecherries, which made terrific jelly.
In the springtime she would give all the kids grocery bags and we would walk along the ditch banks gathering what I guess you would call “feral” asparagus, which she froze and we ate all year long. We ate it often enough that I thought urine always smelled that way and didn’t realize it came from the asparagine in asparagus. But maybe it is a stretch to refer to gathering feral domestic plants (or stealing fruit from other people’s trees) “foraging.”
We didn’t have enough interaction with our Native or Hispanic neighbors to learn how to gather or prepare the native plants. I tried a few times to eat prickly pears, but the little stickers were too much to contend with.
As a teenager, I learned about “Mormon tea” (Ephedra viridis, which contains a stimulant, pseudoephedrine, but doesn’t taste so good) and Cota tinctoria, known by many names, including Cota and Navajo Tea (which does taste pretty good). Maybe the old people among the readers of this blog remember Euell Gibbons TV commercial for Grape Nuts cereal. One of the funniest bumper stickers I ever saw said, “Help Save Our Forests, Pull Euell Gibbons’ Teeth.”
But I want to tell you about quelites. Many years ago I learned that local Hispanics say “quelites” [pronounced “keh-LEE-tays“] to refer to what is known in English as “Lamb’s Quarter” (Chenopodium album). I tried cooking some, but the results were underwhelming at best, and my family wouldn’t eat it. (I think it improves the flavor to blanch it in boiling water, then draining and discarding the water before using the lamb’s quarter in a recipe.) Of course, some of them won’t eat Swiss chard either.
I also learned that what the locals call “verdolaga” is known in English as “purslane” (Portulaca oleracea), and that it is good to eat. Then a couple of years ago I was out botanizing with a Mexican friend and she called amaranth (Amaranthus spp) “quelites.” She is from central Mexico, so I figured this was some kind of regional variant.
Volunteer amaranth growing in my garden.
Freshly harvested verdolaga, before removing the big stems
Recently, I found Alan Bergo’s website to be real eye opener for me. It turns out that the word quelite comes from the Nahuatl quilitl, which means, roughly, “greens.” Another friend told me that the Nahuatl root of the word is the word for the color green. And there may be as many as 350 individual plant species of quelites used in Mexican cuisine.
Regardless of what I am trying to grow in my own garden, I raise a bumper crop of the three mentioned above. What is more, the specimens that grow untended in the cracks of the sidewalk often look healthier and more succulent than those in my garden. I have pirated a recipe of Bergo’s below and tried several others I found by Googling around the web. Frankie, my wife, will eat these and even likes some of them. I have given her amaranth greens a couple of times without telling her what they were and I don’t think she realized she was eating “weeds.” You really should check out Bergo’s website. There is great info there and his photos are better than mine, too.
quelites mixture is already blanched.
Bergo's Quelites Mexicanos
- 8 oz mixed quelites especially purslane, lambsquarters and amaranth (note from Ann: should you not find these quelites, you might substitute dandelion greens, chard, or even spinach)
- 2 T cooking oil or pork lard
- 1 large clove garlic thinly sliced
- 1 small 3 oz yellow onion or shallot
- 1 jalapeño seeded and cut into 1 inch julienne strips
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
- ½ tsp freshly ground cumin or to taste
- 1 12 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (or 1 large fresh tomato)
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the greens until nearly tender, about 30-60 seconds. Remove the greens and refresh in cold water, squeeze dry and reserve.
Squeeze the seeds from the tomatoes and discard. Dice or chop ½ cup of the tomatoes. Reserve the rest of the tomatoes and their juice for another purpose. (If using fresh tomatoes, core them, score the bottom with an X and blanch in boiling water until the skins peel. Remove the tomatoes to cool, discard the skins, squeeze the seeds out, and dice into medium cubes ½ inch).
In a 10 inch saute pan or large skillet, heat the oil and sliced garlic until aromatic and starting to turn golden. Add the sliced onion and jalapeño and cook until wilted. Add the chopped peeled tomatoes and cook for a minute more. (Note: a good spoonful of mild chili powder can help thicken the mixture and add good flavor, especially if it’s freshly ground).
Add the cooked greens and mix/toss the pan to thoroughly combine. Season with salt, pepper and cumin to taste. Continue cooking the greens mixture until the pan is nearly dry and the greens are tender and taste good to you.
Meanwhile, heat the tortillas on a comal, over a fire, or on a griddle.
Serve the greens with the tortillas on the side and allow guests to build their own tacos, or build the tacos and serve however you like. Other additions like hot sauce, salsa, sliced avocado or sour cream are all great. Feel free to use your favorite garnishes.
It is always fun to see David’s guest columns. He is quite the chef and quite the character!