Looks like 'lambs ear' to me. Stachys byzantina. Here is a link that might be useful: Lambs Ear

We eat every dandelion and purslane that shows up anywhere in the flowerbeds or veggie garden. The lamb quarters are pretty decent eating, but like the OP says, you have to prepare them with some care. Purslane is good eating out of hand in the garden, and excellent in salads. Dandelion is so good for me healthwise that I put up with the hard stems and even look for it in shady spots after those in the sun have flowered. The other things I like are nettles, though there aren't any here (I considered planting them), a superior potherb (do not eat them raw, they sting badly, pick with gloves), grape shoots (to mix in salads with dandelions in April), of course I only pick the wild ones, and the wild chicories that I planted once in my lawn from a Territorial Seeds selection, and have naturalized over time. Corn salad and arugula also have naturalized around the vegetable garden. It's good to get early, nutritious free meals.

I don't grow it intentionally (there's no need!) but I do take advantage of what grows naturally. I did find the information below on a Google search, on one of the weed management sites from Purdue university. Granted the information was intended to suppress the plant, not to encourage it - we can use knowledge any way we want to, right? :-) I linked the source, too, if you want to look. "Brown seeds germinate readily, while black seeds are more dormant. Many of the seeds remain on the plant until early winter and these small, smooth seeds have no other apparent adaptation for dispersal other than their high density and ability to spread from site to site by various means, including equipment transfer. The seeds also can survive well in the digestive tracts of cows, sheep, and horses, so manure is considered a possible source for introducing seed. Seed dormancy in common lambsquarters contributes to its success as a weed. Under certain conditions it can remain viable in the soil for several decades. In fact, viable seeds have been recovered from medieval ruins in Europe (Mohler and DiTommaso). Most seeds require some time before they are ready to germinate. Light, strong day and night temperature fluctuations, and the presence of nitrate in the soil increase common lambsquarters seed germination (Mohler and DiTommaso, 2006). Some research suggests that only 10 to 30% of the current seasonâÂÂs seed will germinate under favorable conditions the following season (Forcella et al., 1997)." When growing quinoa, a close lambsquarter relative, it's recommended to refrigerate the seeds before planting if nighttime temps are much over 60. I wonder if something similar might be helpful for lambsquarters, especially if as the source cites, strong day and night temperature fluctuations are useful? Here is a link that might be useful: Pudue This post was edited by LilyD74 on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 10:17

The leaf on the left does look like Chenopodium - Lamb's quarters, however it is difficult to say 100% without seeing the entire plant. One would expect to see the telltale white almost woolly look of the growing tip.