Afinal umaa das ervas daninhas que eu andava a arrancar daas minhas camas parece

que tem alguma utilidade

Chama-se ansarina-branca! Ainda tenho q confirmar se é mesmo esste o nome da

planta.

Mas se o for, já não vou ser tão agreste com ela. Pelo menos, há-de ir acabar ao
prato.

Uses and consumption

Food

The leaves and young shoots may be eaten raw or cooked as a leaf vegetable, but
should be eaten in moderation due to high levels of oxalic acid. The flower buds
and flowers can also be eaten cooked. Each plant produces tens of thousands of
black seeds. These are high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and
potassium. Quinoa, a closely related species, is grown specifically for its seeds.
The Zuni people cook the young plants' greens.

Archaeologists analysing carbonized plant remains found in storage pits and ovens
at Iron Age, Viking Age, and Roman sites in Europe have found its seeds mixed with
conventional grains and even inside the stomachs of Danish bog bodies.

In India, the plant is called bathua and found abundantly in the winter season. The
leaves and young shoots of this plant are used in dishes such as soups, curries,
and paratha-stuffed breads, common in North India. The seeds or grains are used in
phambra or laafi, gruel-type dishes in Himachal Pradesh, and in mildly alcoholic
fermented beverages such as soora and ghanti. In Haryana state, the "bathue ka
raita" i.e. the raita (yogurt dip) made with bathua, is very popular in
winters.Bathua seeds also double up for rice and dal. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to
have once relied on bathua seeds to feed his troops during lean times.

Animal feed
As some of the common names suggest, it is also used as feed (both the leaves and
the seeds) for chickens and other poultry.

Construction
The juice of this plant is a potent ingredient for a mixture of wall plaster,
according to the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra, which is a Sanskrit treatise dealing with
Śilpaśāstra (Hindu science of art and construction).

Ayurveda
In Ayurveda traditional medicine, bathua is thought to be useful for treating
various diseases,[28] although there is no clinical evidence such uses are safe or
effective.