It seems that various culinary types have suddenly noticed that one of the weeds that will grow almost anywhere is actually haute cuisine. Dandelion and purslane (portulaca oleracea) are on the menu at many fine dining establishments, and the diners never recognize the greens they shovel in their mouths as the same plants they poison in their yard, nor as the weeds they trod upon growing in the cracks of the sidewalk.
The funny part is how nutritious these plants are. Purslane has one of the highest levels of omega-3's of any land based, leafy vegetable. Other compounds they contain are not only anti-oxidants, but also anti-mutagenics. Rounding out the mix are A, B, and C vitamins along with minerals like Mg, Ca, K, and Fe.
Purslane is easily used in the kitchen as it may be eaten raw, as a salad or a burger topping. They are also good boiled, stir fried, or even chopped up in soups and stews. I have even heard of (but not sure I'm quite ready to try it), pickling the seed pods to use a caper substitute. The seeds (and there will be plenty) can be sprinkled like poppy seeds or scattered about to grow again.
Growing purslane certainly doesn't take much work. Scatter seeds and pull the plants up where you don't want them to grow. Every time you pick some, wrap it in newspaper before you leave that area of your garden, as you will otherwise trail purslane seedlings to your backdoor. The best part about purslane: it doesn't care about the soil. If it's in dirt, it's happy. The purslane in our own
garden (below) is already starting to grow. We are digging up the little
plants and moving them to their own bed. The neighbors think we are
crazy, but that's nothing new. We also broke down and purchased some purslane at the nursery (pictured at top) for comparison. Because it's a member of the succulent family, we plan on enjoying purslane throughout the driest days of summer.
