P U R S L A N E
So we had Purslane for dinner, after digging messes of it from a friend's garden where it had achieved "weed" status. We transplanted it to our garden beds where we rank it one of the easiest and tastiest plants ever! You may have the recipe in moment, if you can't find plenty of Purslane recipes to your own liking with a quick search online: Purslane (Portulaca oleracea).
But first, the SERIOUS BUSINESS.
OK. You want to eat organic and non Genetically-Modified food? Something super tasty, that's as good raw in a salad as stir fried or stewed. Something succulent, to extend your expensive organic carrot juice (maybe)? But organic veggies are so expensive! Most garden favorites are attacked by insects and disease! What can you do? Plenty of "weeds" are "food." Not all are edible at all stages of growth, and some aren't all that palatable no matter how nutritious they may be. Purslane is actually grown specifically as a vegetable in certain places. For instance, it's a food crop in India, allegedly Gandi's favorite food. Purslane's also supposed to help circulation and arthritis, and be good for the liver (maybe). Vitamin A and C? Yep! Omega-3 fatty acids? More than any other leafy vegetable, 'tis said! Low calories? Plenty calcium and iron? Yes, yes, yes!
But forget all that because Purslane is just plain GOOD.
Plus, Purslane's easy to grow, easy to keep under control, but nearly impossible to kill, unless you do that on purpose. Meaning it recovers from a serious drout and if you pull it and drop it on the ground, it may likely root again. As an added benefit, Purslane even looks good; resembling a cross between a Jade tree and an octupus. I recently observed Purslane cultivated as ground cover / living mulch for the taller plants in a row of window boxes at a snazzy eatery. Either that or the boss was on vacation and the gardener very lazy!
If Purslane didn't grow wild, you'd probably need to pay $3-5 a plant at the garden center. FYI Purslane is one of those "weeds" that seems to sprout where ever you break the earth for a garden, along with Amaranthus, Goosefoot (Chenopodium album), Chickweed, and several other wild edibles.
Here's how my wife prepared Purslane for dinner tonight.
* Pick a bunch of Purslane.
* Wash it and shake off the loose water.
* Cut it into 4-6" lengths if you must.
* Put e.v. olive oil in a skillet or wok.
* Smash as much garlic as you fancy and stir-fry to your liking.
* Toss in the Purslane
* Quickly stir the Pursline through the hot oil and garlic.
* Then add 2-3 ounces of filtered water and cover.
* Simmer / steam until the water is mostly gone.
* Then stir in Oyster Sauce to your taste.
* Serve warm, over rice.
The taste is equal to any dish I've ever had in an Asian restaurant or on the street.
Note on Oyster Sauce. This can be made with mushrooms, rather than oysters. Most commercial brands have Mono-Sodium-Glutamat (Natrium Glutamat) and other junk (including the oyster lol). You can make a vegan version with inexpensive Chinese mushrooms -- you don't need the more costly shitake shrooms or mushroom cubes. Sad to say, ours this evening came from an Asian market,so I suspect the worst. That's why I came online this evening: to find a recipe for vegan Oyster Sauce.
Scroll down for Bryanna's Vegan Chinese Oyster Sauce
http://www.ellenskitchen.com/recipebox/glutchuck.html
Here are three (3) good links to Purslane pages:
1.) Purslane page with links to recipes (not especially vegan, but try the Mexican Purslane Stuffing, and see what you can substitute for the one egg :-)
http://www.prairielandcsa.org/recipes/purslane.html
2.) Wildman Steve Purslane page with useful photos and facts
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Purslane.html
3.) An East Indian health and nutrition journal, published in USA.
http://www.vepachedu.com/tsjNovember2004.html
Final thoughts. The older Purslane stems have been pickled, probaby for thousands of years, so it must have been a lacto-fermented type of pickle. I want to find out how to do this, or develop a method myself, so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know because Purslane is a heck of a lot easier to grow to maturity than cabbage! For now, here's a recipe for pickled Purslane the vinegar way.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/98promotions/april/recipes.html
P.S. Seeds? Each plant may produce up to 240,000 seeds (and not one seed more, 'tis said :-) And the seeds are viable for 30-40 years, depending which anti-weed university Science quack you care to believe :-)
