Purslane seed saving time

Most of my large purslane patch is about ready to burst seed pods actually some have but not all that many are spent yet. Probably will pull plants and carry in a bucket to a large plastic spread cloth to let them rest or just pound seeds out. The seeds are very tiny but are good and high nutrition items. I want to be able to reseed them elsewhere. Hoping to be able to save some plants to put in a blender with a little water then freeze in ice cubes. Use the frozen cubes this winter in stir fries and soups for flavor and as a thickener to say nothing about the high nutrient content this super food has. Here are a few more recipes I copied from www.prodigalgardens.info . Have not tried them yet but plan to start soon.

Cucumber Purslane Salad:
The combination of cucumber and Purslane is like a good wedding or couple, we can get the ultimate taste with their union. Ingredients to be kept ready are
• 3 average sized cucumbers neatly sliced
• 1 cup of Purslane leaves
• ½ cup of yogurt
• ½ tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar ( it can better try your favorite herbal vinegars )
• 1 tablespoon of well chopped mint.
• ¼ teaspoon of coarse pepper (black)

Procedure to be followed
• Take salad bowl and put the sliced cucumber and Purslane.
• Put the other ingredients which are kept ready in a blender for the purpose of dressing.
• Then apply the dressing of ingredient mix to the mixture of cucumber and purslane.
• The recipe is ready to make it chill for serving.
• It would be better to coat with dressing just before serving, the above method will make 4 servings.

Purslane Green Bean Marinade:
Ingredients to be kept ready are
• 2 cups of green beans.
• 2 cups of purslane leaves
• 2 cups of cooked beans or 1 can of cooked beans ( optionally we can go for kidney beans, lima beans or garbanzos)
• 1 minced small onion

For Dressing
• ½ cup of olive oil
• ¼ cup of vinegar ( it can better try your favorite herbal vinegars )
• 1 garlic clove
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 2/3 cup of wild green ( fresh and chopped)
• Prepare the dressing with all the above by whizzing all the above in a food processor or a blender.

Procedure to be followed
• Boil the green beans until they become and let them to cool.
• Then rinse the cooked beans so as to clear the water.
• Add green beans, raw and fresh Purslane and onion together in a bowl.
• Now add the dressing and let it sit for whole night.
• The recipe is ready to serve.
The above method can work for 6 to 8 servings (to be chilled before serving).

Purslane Gazpacho:
Gazpacho is prepared with fresh and raw summer vegetable which come late in garden. The Purslane then comes in its fresh greens so it would help to add to the Gazpacho recipes which will be mild and sweet . Ingredients to be kept ready are
• 4 cups of tomato juice
• 2 cups of tomatoes diced
• 1 peeled and minced cucumber
• 2 cups of Purslane leaves ( chop them only if they are very large)
• ½ cup of finely minced green scallions or onion
• 1 finely minced garlic clove
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar ( or your favorite herbal vinegars )
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• 1 teaspoon of tarragon
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cumin
• ¼ cup of minced parsley
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper for taste

Procedure to be followed
• Mix all of the above ingredients.
• Take the mixture and put in food processor or a blender
• Keep it to chill to make it very cold.
• Garnish with Purslane or use it as sprig for serving.


The above method can work for 6 nourishing servings (to be chilled before serving). It would be best for taste when taken along with some chips or sourdough garlic bread.

Purslane Pasta With Cherry Tomatoes:
The recipe is simple yet has very beautiful look of Purslane.
Ingredients to be kept ready are
• 6 cups of cooked pasta.
• 3 cups of raw and fresh Purslane leaves
• 2 cups of cut in half cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup of green onion, minced

For Dressing
• Half cup of olive oil
• ¼th cup vinegar (better try your favorite herbal vinegars )
• 1 clove of garlic
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 2/3 cup of wild green ( fresh and chopped) or parsley
• Prepare the dressing with all the above by whizzing all the above in a food processor or in a blender.

Procedure to be followed
• Add pasta, cherry tomatoes, Purslane and onions in a bowl
• Add the dressing and let it sit for whole night in a fridge.
• Very good to serve in cold.
Additionally you can add cheese, pepperoni or something else which you would prefer in your pasta to make it variable endlessly.

Purslane Spanish Rice:
Purslane is usually cooked in a recipe, it would better add some extra taste and good amount of nutrients when added about 1 cup of raw Purslane to the recipe at the end of preparation.
Ingredients to be kept ready are
• 3 cups of rice
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cups of Purslane Salsa
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Procedure to be followed
• Add and mix the olive oil with rice in a low bottom jar or pot
• To this, add about 6 cups of water or even 9 cups of water when the wild rice is used
• Add Purslane Salsa and salt.
• Simmer the whole contents for about 20 minutes in a briskly fashion or until rice is cooked.
• Optionally can be cooked for drier texture.
• The recipe is ready to serve.

Purslane Salsa:
Purslane can be added to any of your favorite salsa recipe which can help to make the recipe thicken, also tomatillos in Purslane Salsa is a wonderful recipe
Ingredients to be kept ready are
• 4 cups of fresh tomatillos
• 2 cups of Purslane leaves
• 4-5 green chilies, well roasted, seeds removed and peeled.
• 3 garlic cloves well crushed
• ¼ cup of fresh and minced cilantro
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt

Procedure to be followed
• Add tomatillos in a food processor or in a blender and whiz well.
• Then put the above tomatillos in a pot and simmer for about 15 minutes and make it chill and cool.
• Purslane leaves are to be chopped coarsely
• Put everything together and mix, add salt to taste.

Wow - I always thought purslane was an inedible noxious weed. What does it taste like? Is yours "wild" or a cultivar? How do you keep it under control? Do you have any photos to share?

Mine is wild although it grows almost world wide in slight variations you can purchase seeds just don’t ask me where, Google has that answer. There are a couple similar looking plants that grow in the same kinds of places and are listed as poisonous plants. Learn how to spot the bad guys first and then how to identify your desired plant. Here is a decent starting place with picture. Just get to know your plant well before you sample any of it. Socrates carried out his government ordered suicide by consuming something that grows in my gardens regularly, poison hemlock which looks almost like Queen Anns Lace that is also called wild carrot. Therefore I won’t eat wild carrots. Purslane, lambs quarters and nettles are common weeds with uncommonly good nutrient values, purslane seems to be the most complete and tasty weed that I regularly consume. Books by Lee Peterson, John Karras and Samuel Thayer are among the best for us middle America folks. A few days ago I walked around my block and consumed 5 different wild items including pine nuts. Euell Gibbons had a lot to do with my youthful interest in foraging which at 70 am now resuming after a long lay off. http://www.culinarymusings.com/2008/06/purslane-not-a-weed-but-a-wonder/
Google, Wikki and youtube make getting started in foraging a lot easier and much more fun. Just be careful to know what you are doing, make a lot of dry runs, settle any doubts and slowly built a list of things to enjoy. Knowing the bad guys in your foraging area is at least as important as knowing the good guys. Control heck I’d be happy if that was all that I could get to grow as healthful as it is although it is a bit high in oxalic acid so some moderation could be best for folks with very touchy stomachs.

I have a window box that reseeds itself with golden purslane, and I've transplanted some to a strawberry jar. But I prefer the wild purslane. I had a nice patch in the landscape bed, but I think the naturally released seeds got buried when the bed was re-mulched. Fortunately I had seeds that I kept from when I harvest some for eating. Last year's attempt to plant them in the garden wasn't successful. Then I read somewhere that they like blazing heat. So this year I prepared two window boxes, sprinkled the seeds on, and topped with a thin layer of decorative black sand to help absorb heat. I think I see them coming up!

I just pulled some from between my squash plants, it is very weedy as far as growth habit, outpacing my cultivated plants.  Something had to go.  I would like to try it as a crop though!

Scorpio Rising wrote:I just pulled some from between my squash plants, it is very weedy as far as growth habit, outpacing my cultivated plants.  Something had to go.  I would like to try it as a crop though!

I'm still pulling and finding them when I least expect it. The little buggers are a problem down here in Texas. I loved the taste, but eliminated them from my growing list.

has55 wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:I just pulled some from between my squash plants, it is very weedy as far as growth habit, outpacing my cultivated plants.  Something had to go.  I would like to try it as a crop though!

I'm still pulling and finding them when I least expect it. The little buggers are a problem down here in Texas. I loved the taste, but eliminated them from my growing list.

Yeah, they are aggressive, low growing, here at least and kinda form a mat of water sucking plant life....ahead of my actual squashes!

I thought I had Purslane growing wild in my gardens and pathways.  Turns out is a Spurge ... a highly toxic plant. 

Here is the Spurge. It has the red tear drop in the middle of the leaves.

Spurge is my main nemesis! Great photo! May steal it.

sanderson wrote:Spurge is my main nemesis!  Great photo!  May steal it.

Please, be my guest.