Eating Wild - Experimental Cooking

I have had my first "meal" out of my garden but it wasn't anything I planted. A weed known as purslane is overrunning parts of my garden, especially around my beans. I have hoed and hoed and hoed and it keeps coming back. Last summer my mom and I did some research on purslane because she had heard you could eat it. She was correct, but we weren't brave enough to try it. I did more research this past week on edible weeds to be sure I wasn't going to get sick. There is an evil twin of purslane called spurge that is poisonous. The difference is that when you break off a stem of spurge there is a white, milky sap in the stem. It is very sticky and irritates the skin. The stem of purslane has a clear, watery sap in it. I checked mine 3 times and then had Grace give me her thoughts on my weed identification. We are both sure I have purslane growing in my garden.

I found out while researching that purslane is a cholesterol buster with high amounts of omega 3 oil in it. Omega 3 is usually found in fish so this is interesting. It is also a resilient weed. If you cut it up with the tiller you aren't killing it but actually spreading it. And if you pull it out by the root but leave it laying in the garden, it will re-root itself. I also found that you can buy purslane seeds in organic seed catalogues. Not sure I would want to plant weeds in my garden that take over so speedily.

I made a chickpea salad with purslane and rucola (garden rocket?) for supper. I am not sure how common rucola is in the US but over here we have a plethora of different greens for salads. The Germans really don't like iceberg lettuce. A lot of the greens they do like look like they should be weeds! I had a salmon fillet (got a good dose of Omega 3 in one meal!) along with the salad.

Grace was on call in case I got sick and needed to go to the hospital, but I didn't have to call her. Grace is teaching horticulture at BFA this next year and she wants to do a project on identifying edible things in the wild. So we now have 2-3 recipes for purslane and know it won't kill you!

Chick Pea Salad with Purslane and Rucola

Ingredients

1 C cooked & drained chick peas (1 small can?)

1 teaspoon capers

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I used 2 and it was a bit too much)

1 scallion, thinly sliced (that's the fancy name for a green onion)

2 T extra virgin olive oil, or as needed (maybe a bit less)

2 T lemon juice, or as needed (I used 1.5 and it was fine)

salt to taste

1 1/2 C rucola leaves, torn into pieces

1 1/2 - 2 C purslance (leaves and tender stems) - cut into 1 in lengths

Directions

1. in a bowl combine chick peas, capers, garlic, and scallion

2. Add olive oil and lemon juice - salt to taste. Mix.

3. Add rucola and parslane and mix well. Add additional salt, olive oil, or lemon juice if desired.