Summer ingredients are overflowing at the Union Square Greenmarket.  When you visit the market and see the city’s chefs purchasing their ingredients for the day, you know you are in the right place to stock your refrigerator.

One seasonal ingredient I particularly enjoy is lamb’s quarters (sometimes referred to as wild spinach.)  It has a nice earthy flavor and can be added to a variety of dishes.

Growing up, my mom would make a traditional spinach dip and put it in a hollowed out sourdough loaf.  It was and still is one of my favorite foods to make when company comes over.

So why not use her recipe (sans the frozen spinach) and replace the main ingredient with this nicely flavored green?

I purchased 1 bunch of lamb’s quarters and chopped off the thicker bottom part of the stems.  I then boiled for 5 minutes because I wanted them on the softer side.

After cooking, I removed from the hot water and quickly put them in an ice bath (you can also run under cold water to stop the cooking process.)

I let the lamb’s quarters drain and then finely chopped.  I then squeezed out any remaining liquid with my hands which yielded about 2 cups of cooked and squished lamb’s quarters.

At this point you can follow any number of recipes.

I used about

1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise,
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
salt and pepper to taste

You can also use plain greek yogurt to replace the mayo but let your traditional family recipe be your guide.

After you chill in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to set, pair with some homemade sourdough bread and serve.