Wild Spinach Dip

Ingredients:

1 generous cup steamed, cooked and chopped fat hen

Aromatic Oil:

½ teaspoon fresh ground cumin

1 large clove garlic minced or grated

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

⅛-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes to taste, or a dash of hot sauce

Dip:

1-1.5 cups Thick Greek yogurt, unflavored Highest fat content you can find

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Zest and juice of one small lemon (Juice is optional-see note)

1.5 oz Very thinly sliced fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems (roughly half a bunch) or a mix of cilantro and fresh dill, or fresh mint, or another combination of tender herbs you like.

A few chive, onion, or wild flowers to garnish, optional

Wash the fat hen if you have any reason to suspect they’re dirty. Working in batches if needed, steam the fat hen until tender (cook them a little longer than usual as this needs to be spreadable) then cool naturally spread out on a baking sheet. Chop the greens medium-fine and reserve, making sure to chop up any stems.

In a small pan, heat the oil with the garlic*(see note) on medium heat until the garlic is starting to brown around the edges and is aromatic, about 5 minutes. Swirl the pan occasionally to promote even browning.

Add the cumin to the pan, turn the heat off, and swirl to allow the garlic to continue cooking with the residual heat. Add the cumin and crushed red pepper to the garlic and stir. Do not allow the garlic to burn. If you're unsure about the color, go lighter as opposed to darker.

Scrape the garlic-cumin-chili oil onto the Lambs Quarters, then add the remaining ingredients, mix well, taste and adjust the seasoning for lemon juice and zest* (see note), salt, and herbs, then continue tasting and adjusting the seasoning as needed until it tastes good to you. I like it with just a hint of spicy heat.

Notes:

*Grating the garlic on a microplane grater will give you the strongest flavor and cook the fastest here.

*If you want to make the dish ahead of time, add the lemon juice right before serving to keep the green color bright. When, and if you add the lemon juice, the “darkening timer” will start, and the dip will lose its green luster after a few hours. You will get some tang from the yogurt alone, so let your taste buds guide you-but don’t skip the zest!

Varying the flavors:

Instead of the cumin, a combination of a few scrapes of nutmeg and grated fresh ginger is also good.