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This ancient grain alternative (it makes thousands of tiny seeds on each plant), prized by the Incas and Aztecs, is also a metropolitan weed and a fine cooking green, high in protein and minerals. Pick the growing tips and young, freshest looking leaves, and boil in water. Discard the water (amaranth contains oxalic acid) and serve dressed as a side dish, or use anywhere you would use spinach.

Amaranth (various Amaranthus species)

A lovely salad green with a sweet onion and garlic taste as good as any cultivated green onion. Notable for its triangular cross section (thus the name) and its beautiful white bell flowers in late winter and spring. All parts are edible including the bulb in summer which is like a mild garlic. They are deceptively fibrous, especially the tops, which you discover if you try to use them coarsely chopped in cooking, so cut finely. They could be confused with grass before flowering, or snowdrops during, but the smell is unmistakable. See here for some common angled onion look-a-likes.

This delicate cool season herb is a common volunteer in the veggie patch for it likes moist rich soils. The taste is very mild if a little grassy, and it is highly nutritious, being particularly high in iron, vitamins A and C and antioxidants. Trim just the tops off for the growth tips, which are good in salads, sandwiches and pestos. Look for the single row of hairs along the stem as an identifying marker to distinguish it from its many look-a-likes. Chickweed is an ancient remedy for rashes and other skin conditions, used as poultice or ointment. See here for some common chickweed look-a-likes.

Perhaps the most iconic of all weeds, the dandelion is also one of the most nutritious plants on the planet, high in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. All parts are edible, from salad sensational yellow petals, to the root, which can be slow roasted and used as a coffee substitute (although do be aware of soil toxins in the city). The freshest looking young leaves make an excellent addition to salads for those that like bitter greens, while even older leaves are traditionally cooked and eaten all over the world, e.g. in the Greek horta (wild greens), served with olive oil, lemon juice and salt – all three of which reduce bitterness.

Fennel’s feathery foliage and yellow flowers can often be found alongside railway tracks and on other sloping land. Be sure you have fennel by sniffing for its intense aniseed aroma. The seeds and young foliage are both digestive aids and a good accompaniment to bean dishes. Fennel is a popular ingredient in teas, while the pollen is an expensive gourmet ingredient used in sweet and savoury dishes. Medicinally it is a digestive, and one often served after Indian curries coated in sugar.

A common sight with its dark green geranium-like leaves, mallow is a lovely mild-flavoured green. It is a relative of okra and contains the same mucilage fibre, which is good for digestion and can thicken soups and stews. Young leaves can be used in salads, but mallow’s flavour develops when it’s cooked. The young round seed heads can be used like tiny okras in stews and curries. They have powerful proven effects against gastric ulcers, and are calmative on sore throats.

Also known as the wood sorrels, these clover-like plants are the bane of many a gardener due to its obstinate bulbs. However, they have a delightful lemony flavour and, used like a herb, can be added to any dish where this tang is welcome. Use sparingly as they are rich in oxalic acid. Possibly also avoid in quantity if you are trying to conceive.

An easily identifiable weed; one can do it by touch alone, for they carry a fierce sting! If dried, or wilted in boiling water for 30 seconds, they lose this disagreeable feature, and are transformed into a highly nutritious cooking green. Nettles are extraordinarily high in calcium. Strip the young leaves from the stems and use as a spinach substitute, one of such a deep chlorophyll green that it’s easy to appreciate their reputation as a blood tonic. The dried leaves are used for tea, and nettle gnocchi with sage butter is a classic. The sting is used to treat arthritis.

One of the first plants to colonise bare earth over the warmer months, this prostrate semi-succulent, with its jewel-like leaves and reddish stems is another nutritional superstar, and one valued in cuisines in both the Middle East and Mexico. Purslane has a crisp, tart flavour, and more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy green ever tested. Cooked, it excels in tomato dishes. Raw, it’s a great foundation for salads or tzatziki-style dips (we’ve a delicious recipe in the book). Yoghurt also binds up this plant’s oxalic acid.

Sow thistle looks a bit like upwardly mobile dandelions with a vertical trunk and multiple flowers. Despite the name they are not prickly but are a tasty and only slightly bitter salad green when quite young. When older, the growth tips are easy to harvest, and delicious cooked and served with olive oil and lemon juice. They have hollow stems and produce a white sap when picked. Perhaps our favourite edible weed!