What are you eating from your garden today?

Unfortunately purslane is also called pig weed around here so it automatically gets thumbs down. But it is kinda tasty a bit tart. It was a staple to pioneers but so were dandelions and many other weeds. Lambs quarters have a very high protein content and are a reasonable excuse for spinach. There is a domestic purslane seed available which grows a bit more vertical and the petals are closer together. I kinda like weeds (Just not THE weed) now and then. I got started trying out natural things back when Euell Gibbons had his book “Stalking The Wild Asparagus” out. Do you remember his grapenuts cereal tv commercial from the 60’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XJMIu18I8Y

Now I just ran outside and ate some so that my comments are not off topic. Not quite as tart as I last remembered it to be but would make basically just another lettuce in a salad. Challenge you all to try it for its healthy value.
"Purslane nutrition facts

Soft, succulent Purslane or "Pusley" has more omega-3 fatty acids than some of fish oils. If you are a vegetarian and want to avoid all forms of animal products, then here is the answer! Go for this healthy dark green leafy vegetable and soon you will forget fish!

Botanically, this herbaceous leafy vegetable belongs to the family of Portulacaceae and scientifically known as Portulaca oleracea.

Other common names for this green vegetable are pusley, pigweed or verdolaga.”

From nutrition and you site.

Watch out, westie, The Weed will be showing up on your pharmacist's counter in the very near future!

I remember Euell. Didn't he choke to death on a dandelion or something like that ?

I don’t remember exactly how he died but he was my hero and I took a lot of guff from my friends about him “killing” himself on his “stupid” ways though. That was hard to live down because I was making headway at obtaining converts.
Here I found below this in response to another similar wise crack.
"Please do some real research before saying how Euell Gibbons died. He had Marfan Syndrome, which is a genetic disease that affects connective tissue. He was a very tall guy, 6'7", which is one of the characteristics of this disease. He died of aortic complications due to this disease. It had NOTHING to do with diet. As to the pine tree quote, Tim Conway of the Carol Burnett Show did a spoof of him, and that is where that line came from. I remember that part of the skit.”

Now that dude was offended. Nothing offends me I have a wife who took that out of me long ago and tests me daily just to make sure.

Stripes, to me it's a light tart taste, very crunchy, would go great in a salad. I have not tried stirfrying it yet. And how ODD that it's also called pigweed! The pigweed I know here is a COMPLETELY different plant. I'll try to photo it next week. That's the hazard of common names. I bet it would market well with the name "verdolaga", yes? How exotic!

I also loved Euell Gibbons! I have two of his books. This wonderful man did NOT die from choking on any kind of plant so please pass this on. Westie, you have info to toss back at your misinformed friends! I found this info from a relative of his (by marriage).

"He died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm , a known complication of the Marfan syndrome (genetic disorder of connective tissue) that he was born with." Euell was 6 feet 7 inches tall. Here's the website I found:

http://www.aprillorier.com/2010/07/searching-for-euell-gibbons-i-knew-part.html

Thanks Oxmyx1 for the backup. Why should I spend $20 a month for Ohmega3 when it gets hoed from my garden. Online is a ton of support for more than just letting it grow where you don’t really want it. Below are quite a few recipes, links and notes from folks that partake.

Sorry these links did not contain the site link and the picture did not show either.

Anatolian Purslane, Lamb and Lentil Stew
Cucumber Purslane Yogurt Salad
Mexican Pork & Purslane
Mexican Purslane Stuffing
Creamy Purslane Potato Salad
Oil & Vinegar Purslane Potato Salad
Spicy Purslane Potato Salad
Food & Wine's Purslane Potato Salad

Purslane Cucumber Salad     Serves 4
 This recipe includes two of the earliest garden vegetables and herbs: cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. It’s a good, light side dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced.
2/3 cup halved cherry tomatoes
½ cup purslane leaves
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
2-3 Tablespoons rice vinegar (start with 2 tablespoons, and add more if needed)
1-2 teaspoons sugar
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, cover, and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
 
Purslane Potato Salad with Curry     Serves 4 – 6 
Since purslane is such a popular food in India, it just makes sense to spice up your purslane potato salad with a bit of curry. Mix the salad while the potatoes are still warm (not hot!) and they’ll soak up more of the flavors of the salad.
Ingredients:
3 cups potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks, and boiled just until tender.
3 stalks celery, minced
1-2 green onions and stems, diced
½ cup sliced bell pepper
2/3 cup raw purslane leaves
½ to 2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
While potatoes are still warm, add remaining ingredients and stir well to coat vegetables. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Purslane and Parsley Salad
Gourmet, August 2008

Purslane, Meyer Lemon, and Pear Salad with Kaffir Lime Vinaigrette
Gourmet, October 2003

Grilled Zucchini Salad with Purslane and Tomato
Gourmet, August 2002

Spicy Tomato, Pepper, Cucumber, Mint, and Parsley Salad
Epicurious, April 2009
Mediterranean Hot And Spic
Chopped Arabic Salad
Gourmet, May 2004

Sonoma Salad with Walnuts
Gourmet, October 2001

Lebanese Bread and Tomato Salad
Gourmet, September 2000


Massimo's "Farinella"
Epicurious, September 1996
Red, White & Greens

VERDOLAGO CON QUESO
1 quart purslane including stems
Approximately one-half cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Collect tender purslane, including the stems, and carefully rinse to remove any sand or soil. Gently boil for about two minutes or until tender. Drain the water and chop the purslane into smaller pieces. Return the purslane to the frying pan and shred the jack cheese over it. Keep the purslane in the pan just until the cheese melts. Be careful not to over-melt the cheese. Serve warm.
Serves 2.

PICKLED PURSLANE
1 quart purslane stems and leaves
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 quart apple cider vinegar (or old pickle, jalapeno juice,etc.)
10 peppercorns
Clean the purslane stems and leaves by rinsing with fresh water. Cut into 1" pieces and place in clean jars with lids. Add the spices and pour the vinegar over the purslane. Keep this in the refrigerator and wait at least two weeks before using. Serve as a side dish with omelets and sandwiches.

TRAVELER'S JOY
3 cups purslane, chopped
1/2 onion (wild, if avail.)
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
1 cup chickweed
1/2 cup amaranth leaves
1 ripe avocado
Approximately 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon garlic salt
(or other cheese), diced into small bits
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Much of this salad can be gathered on the trail (or in your backyard, for that matter). Chop the purslane, chickweed, amaranth, and onion into bite sized bits. Add the avocado, peeled and diced. Add one hard-boiled egg, sliced. Mix in approximately 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese which has been cut into small bits. Squeeze the lemon over the salad, add the garlic salt, and mix well. If you have them, you can add chia seeds and one tablespoon of mayonnaise to this lip-smacking salad.

VERDOLAGO CON HUEVOS
2 cups purslane, with stems, diced
6 eggs
1 cup wild or domestic onion
Butter
1 cup nasturtium leaves and stems, diced

Carefully clean and rinse the purslane. The entire above-ground plant can be used as long as it is still tender. Add the diced onion and purslane to a heated and buttered cast-iron skillet. Cook for about five minutes. Add the eggs and cook omelet-style. Serve with a tomato slice. Serves three.

FRIED PURSLANE
Approximately 1 cup of purslane growing tips
Flour
Ground bread crumbs
Beaten eggs
Collect the tender new tips of purslane--about the last two or three inches from the stems. Rinse these in water to remove any sand. Roll them (or shake them) in flour until thoroughly floured, and then dip in the beaten eggs. Cover each purslane stalk with bread crumbs. This process is easiest to do if you simply line up the three dishes of flour, eggs, and bread crumbs, and do the breading production line style.
When the breading is done, fry or saute each purslane stalk for about five minutes or until golden brown. Serve with catsup, mustard, or sour cream. This is a unique hors d'oeuvre for even your finest, fanciest parties.

HAM AND PURSLANE ON RYE 
Delectable Sandwich
2 slices rye bread toasted or plain
(or you can use whole wheat, pumpernickel, or sour dough)
A few slices good quality ham
A handful of fresh purslane, stems included
Mustard/horseradish mix
(no yellow dye, please)
Instead of lettuce or pickles on this ham sandwich, you're using fresh purslane. It's quite flavorful. The slightly crunchy flavor of the crisp, succulent purslane stems helps to make this a satisfying sandwich.

MEXICAN PURSLANE STUFFING
This is a home-type dish that is as simple to prepare as "scrambled eggs with..." but much more nutritious. Serve as a side dish, a brunch main dish or as a filling in tortillas and pitas.

1 to 1
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium-size ripe tomato, chopped (not skinned)
1 SERRANO or jalapeno chile, finely chopped, or freshly cracked black pepper, according to taste
2 to 3 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 egg beaten
1. Set aside a few raw springs of purslane for garnish. Steam or blanch the rest until tender-crisp (three to five minutes). Drain thoroughly, transfer to a plate covered with several layers of paper towels and blot dry.
2. In a large pan, saute garlic and onion in vegetable oil until soft. Add tomato and chile, and saute until the mixture becomes sauce-like. Season with soy sauce. (If you aren't using the chile, add freshly ground black pepper.) Saute until mixture is warm and the flavors marry.
3. When ready to serve, add the beaten egg to the warm mixture in the pan and mix gently. The egg will bind the mixture loosely but should not harden into scrambled eggs. Garnish plate servings with reserved sprigs.
YIELD: 4 servings

Additional notes on it’s uses:
Quantities of it appear spontaneously in our planters on our Roman terrace. We make a delicious salad with it -- just the purslane (portulacca), some sliced green or sweet red onion, and salt, extra-virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. We don't usually dress salads with balsamico, but for some reason it appealed more than the usual red wine vinegar with this plant.
they are great in salads but also great in pickles - i throw them in any type of pickle, also in korean mulkimchi and they are awesome.

If you have so much purslane you want to branch out from salads like mbfant's excellent recommendation, saute equal parts chopped purslane and onion before scrambling in some eggs - it's a traditional Mexican dish called huevos con verdolagas. Lovely wrapped up in a warm corn tortilla.

really good in as greek salad: purslane, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, peppers, onion, olives, olive oil, vinegar.

Throw it into a rustic pasta dish, letting it wilt, the way you might with any other green. Just make sure it's a sauce that can stand up to a little bite.
and it's great added to a summer succotash with fresh corn, limas, etc.

I use the stems and the leaves.

Besides the suggestions others made, purslane is good to use in soups. Like okra, it will help thicken the soup. My grandmother used to cook it and serve it like any other greens (mustard, turnip, etc.). She also fixed purslane as a baked dish with some bacon and cream. I like to put it in jars of mixed pickles. It can be sautéed along with some spring onions and served as a side dish. Pretty versatile.

Whoa, Westie! what a wonderful bounty of data from you! THANK YOU! A few of my friends have effectively looked at me as insane (more than usual) for eating a 'weed'. I will SHOW THEM. Off to the store tomorrow for some ingredients! Lower cholesterol, here come I!!

From digging around the Al Gore internet I was surprised that purslane apparently grows very widespread. Looks like it must be a popular item in Mexican kitchens from all the Mex related recipes. So it should be very naturally adaptable into Tex-Mex and SW recipes. Although I read that European settlers brought it over some Spaniards must have also brought it to Mexico. As healthful as it is no wonder they took it along. I wonder if yours and mine look different. When get a new battery found for my camera will put up some pics. those on the internet do vary some.

Purslane - Wow! I have another crop thriving in my garden that I didn't even plant! I may just quit pulling it up out of the squares and let it grow for a while. Hubby will get a new crunch in his next salad.

GG

Westie, your a very interesting person. Thank you for the information and I appreciate the recipes. I will print them out and use some of them. I love to cook and read recipes and cookbooks like other people read novels. If it wasn't for the dishes, I'd cook more. Maybe I should talk to your wife on how to get that done, lol. I will have to stop pulling the purslane up and start to use it in salads and cooking. It's great that it's so good for you and free!

Yes I do remember Euell Gibbons. I forgot about that book, but I've wanted to read it for a long time. I think I'll have to find it and get a copy. I've always wanted to learn more about the native plants of Iowa- what you can eat. I use to really enjoy hunting morel's. The last few years, I've not been able to, for several reasons, but I'm looking forward to doing it next year. One year, I found a patch with 120 lbs of them. I was with a group of people and we split them 3 ways between the families. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon that.

Thank you too, oxmyx1 for bring up the subject and your reply to my question. Also, it's nice to meet you .

Lambs quarters for one mite be even healthier than purslane which by the way is a portucala as in moss rose portucalas. Not sure yet if moss rose should be eaten or not eaten there are several opinions and none confirm the issue. Wild plants are about like wild mushrooms many good many bad and plenty of look alike’s that can lure you into trouble.

we pulled another broc yesterday from our in ground three sisters garden area and a bunch of sugar snap peas from our SFG....going to have it today with a side of ranch going to take it to gramma's house to have as a snack while my sister is visiting from out of town



we were shocked on how thick the stock was



sugar snap peas from our SFG


hugs
rose

In the past 2 months:

Peas (done already), beets, carrots, new potatoes, lettuce, radishes, peppers, basil, bush beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.

Hopefully when I return home today, carrots, peppers, basil, bush beans, zucchini, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, rutgers tomatoes.

Dunkinjean

FamilyGardening wrote:we pulled another broc yesterday from our in ground three sisters garden area and a bunch of sugar snap peas from our SFG....going to have it today with a side of ranch going to take it to gramma's house to have as a snack while my sister is visiting from out of town

Gorgeous broccoli, much bigger than mine and look at that stalk!
I just finished the side shoots of my last broccoli and pulled it up today. Planted celery in its place, a bit late, but I grew the transplants from seed.
Sugar snaps still growing like mad, they love the cool weather here.
Lettuce still producing salad greens.

Tonight's dinner plate will be covered with salad made of lettuces, broccoli and diced sweet banana pepper, along with a side of sugar snaps. Still have to find some protein for tonight.

ETA forgot I also have two artichokes to cook for dinner tonight.

Ahhh, I'm having broccoli envy! The rabbits (there are now 3) got all of my broccoli.

GG

Wonderful to meet you, too, Stripes! And Westie, you seem to have the same affliction I do - FIND MORE INFORMATION, no matter the topic.

Boy does that broc look good, FG - let us know how it tastes. I cut a head last week from the farm that had an acidic kind of flavor. Really weird and not good. Maybe the heat is finally getting to them.

I think my sugar snaps are retiring for the season but I still have a few - drat, forgot the variety - really strange ones that put out like 20 tendrils from one location and then they have many locations... Creepy!

My IB SFG (itty bitty - only 2 4x4's) is also sporting several tomato plants that were almost dead and headed for the trash. I saved their little lives, graced them each with a square and they have thanked me by .... living! 4 of them now even have flowers! I get a kick out of rescuing living things from almost certain death...

Looking forward to grabbing more purslane from the farm tomorrow! Last week, 2 of us spent two whole days putting up wire and tying 200+ tomato plants up. ugh!

I have a recipie for broccoli and tofu in spicy Thai peanut sauce that uses peeled and sliced broccoli stems. Don't throw those away they are great peeled and thinly sliced, yumm.

tonight was great!!

we ate the stalk and all....well....not all the stock because momma said down towards the bottom of the stalk you could hardly cut thru....she said it was woody.....LOL....she said *i think you kept it in the ground to long the stock is so thick*....she had never seen the stalk so big....LOL....my sister said....*well mom they dont sell them in the stores with the whole stock on them*....LOL......we did eat most of it.....it was yummy!!.....wish i had my camera with me...it was to cute to see my son with his lips covered in ranch

it is pretty neat to be able to share something that started out as a seed
hugs
rose.....keeping her eye on her califlowers.....

It is magical to see a seed grow. It just never stops amazing me.

I just harvested about 8 lbs of Roma Tomatoes, some eggplant, wax beans, peppers and okra. Maybe pizza or gumbo!

hugs
rose

i'm making a meal my mom always made when i was growing up - porcupine meatballs! - using the holy trinity which i harvested from my garden - onion (could be bigger, but I just had to steal one), celery, and my first green pepper! i'll let you wonder about what else is in the recipe - LOL!

I'm so excited about my SFG and what it is producing - there are at least 20 baby roma's on my 4 tomato plants. can't wait till they are ready - YUM!

My cabbage and broccoli are getting HUGE - but the broccoli isn't forming any sort of head yet, just LOTS of leaves that are shadowing everything else.

I harvested the last of the garlic and shallots. I picked 1.25 lbs of green and wax beans from my 4 squares of bush beans today, also 1 pound of kale from 4 squares. The broccoli plants are doing well and will allow for progressive harvest.The summer squash is finally coming for harvest. Hooray!

We had house guests this weekend, 4 grade school grandkids and their parents. I showed them the carrots planted April 15, and instructed them to feel around the base of the green tops to see if the baby carrot was at least as big as their thumb. If it was, they could pull it and eat it. They were here two days...now the yard looks like Bugs Bunny lived here: tops of devoured carrots are showing up EVERYWHERE.....more than anyplace else. Likewise for the sugar peas. Strawberries fared better, but that was because there were so many of them. They grazed the ripe raspberries, too. The Savoy Cross Kale was cut and fixed in the manner of collard greens. Man, is that good eating! In fact, most of the meals this past weekend were vegetarian. Don't you just LOVE summer? Even if it is too rainy to ripen up a tomato. Nonna

We were so late getting the garden planted. Then it turned so dry. Even with the drip irrigation things seem slow.

But, the squash is heavenly! Cukes are starting to come in slowly. 2 or 3 green peppers. We have some green tomatoes.

Life is good.

Hugs,
Betty

Yesterday I was looking at the garden for the last time for a week since I'm heading out of town to see family. I picked several sungolds, a few Romas, a hot banana pepper, and got a couple of my shallots and I've brought them with me on my vacation to enjoy. Not sure what I'll make out of it - some kind of salad, I suppose! Next week when I get back I hope to enjoy one (hopefully) large zucchini and I think I'll harvest the square of onions I planted too.