You Weed Eater You!

Do you know what this is? Do you eat it? 

This weed otherwise known as Purslane is considered a gourmet weed. Is there really such a thing? Even if you don't grow a vegetable garden, you probably have purslane growing on your pathways or amongst your stone garden or perimeters of your yard. If you're anything like me you don't weed religiously, in fact you let it wait as long as you can or until it appears that what use to look like a garden is now an overgrown jungle. I had no idea that people eat weeds, well actually that's a lie, when Martha Stewart was in the pen she recalled a story of her 20 minute recreation in the yard where she leisurely strolled the cigarette strewn lawn for dandelion greens, so that she could microwave them and enjoy a delightful meal in her cell. Well lahdeedah! So I guess weeds are gourmet now and we should all take note. So here's a bit of info before you run out back and rip up those suckers out of the ground and throw them in your pot. 

Med Cucumber and Purslane

recipe and photo courtesy of yourorganicgardeningblog.com

6 medium sized cucumbers, sliced

2 cups Purslane leaves

1 cup yogurt

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp chopped mint

1/2 tsp coarse black pepper

Slice cucumbers and mix together with Purslane in a salad bowl. In a blender, mix together the rest of the ingredients for your dressing. Coat the cucumber-purslane mixture well with the dressing.  Serve chilled.

Purslane can be found in most parts of the world. Australians, Middle Easterners and Mediterraneans use it pretty frequently, adding it to raw salads and combining it with soft cheeses and yogurts. If you've eaten at a Mediterranean or Persian restaurant, you probably had a bit of purslane on your plate or mixed in with your vegetables. You'd never know it and would probably think it's just a micro green or some herb. The great news is that purslane is a low calorie vegetable/weed. It is a huge source of fiber, omega 3s, calcium and potassium. You might have recently heard Dr. Oz say that eating purslane can boost your bone strength and help fight osteoporosis.

So what does it taste like? Spinach with a little bit of lemon zest mixed in. It can be a little bit bitter if isn't used within a day of harvesting it from the ground. You can saute it, stir fry it, put it in casseroles and soups and simply add it to a raw vegetable or green salad. I've seen recipes for pesto and pickling and Moms adding it to pasta sauce to hide it from the kids. I haven't cooked a lot with it, in fact I've only made two dishes with it, one raw and one cooked. You wont find it at the regular grocery store or even a health food store, but you will mostly find it at a farmers market or a small market that specializes in local farmers. You can also get a packet of seeds from your nursery, but it's wild and is most likely already in your garden. Remember that if you get it from around your vegetable plants in your yard or on your pathways, don't use pesticides or weed killer, but I'm sure you already knew that.

So I wanted to cook the purslane to see if the flavor changed when it was cooked. It tastes no different than spinach in quiche. Next time I run out of fresh spinach (cause I never use canned or frozen, don't ask why, it's a weird phobia) anyway, I'll just run in the backyard and grab a weed and throw it in my eggs and cheese. It was really great and my child even ate it which never happens. Then again, I didn't tell my family that it was made with weeds from the garden, they just thought it was spinach.

Purslane and Cheesy Quiche

1 Sara Lee Frozen pie shell (that's right, I don't make my own, ever cause I suck at it)

5 strips of bacon, chopped

1/3 of a yellow onion, chopped finely

1 cup of purslane, leaves whole, stems chopped

5 eggs

1 cup cheese, I use edam, fontina and cheddar

1/2 cup half and half or 2%  milk

In a skillet, saute bacon until crisp, drain drippings and add onion and saute until soft, then add purslane until it's tender and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, half and half, cheese and whisk until combined. Set your large pie shell on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and pour in your bacon, onion and purslane mixture. Pour egg mixture overtop and bake in oven at 350* for 40 minutes or until the top is slightly browned. If you have a temperamental oven, place a crust cover over the outer crust rim or lined tin foil so it doesn't burn.

Photo and Recipe courtesy of http://stylishcuisine.com

This is the recipe I'll be trying soon as I find another patch of purslane amongst my bell peppers. 

 Purslane Bean Salad

2 cups of purslane leaves – washed and dried
2 15oz. cans of garbanzo beans
1 small onion – minced (I like sweet onions)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of parsley – finely minced
Make the dressing by whisking together the oil, vinegar, mustard and honey. Once mixed, add the parsley.
Mix the beans, purslane and onion in a large salad bowl. Toss with the salad dressing. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.