Eat Your Weeds - Purslane

If you garden at all, you're probably familiar with purslane since it's a pretty common weed. But that's just one way of looking at it. It does tend to grow all over but it's also downright tasty and ridonkulously good for you.

A succulent, low-growing plant, purslane has a mild lemony flavor with a hint of pepper and a pleasing texture that is half-chewy, half-crunchy. I like it so much that I actually planted it between the rows of my garden this summer.

Known as verdolaga in Spanish, semizotu in Turkish and pourpier potager in French, purslane is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and has the highest Omega-3 content of any leafy green. It's so full of goodness that Michael Pollan actually called it one of the two most nutritious foods on earth in his treatise, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Says Pollan, "Wild greens like purslane have substantially higher levels of Omega-3s than most domesticated plants." His other top pick is lamb's quarters, also considered a weed.

Best of all, it has a lovely taste and texture. I like to eat it in salads. Or if you feel like something even simpler, just slice up a ripe tomato, add some purslane and a little crumbled goat or feta cheese, drizzle with good olive oil and vinegar and add salt and pepper to taste. The sweet juicy tomato pairs so nicely with the crunchy, lemony purslane and the cheese adds a rich, creamy element that makes it even more addictive. MWAH - so good!

Purslane is very versatile - you can eat it pickled, in a chopped Middle Eastern salad, in a green salad, in tacos, with garlic, yogurt and salt, in potato salad, in a cucumber-yogurt salad, in a hearty lamb stew, in soup, and more.

To sum up, purslane is a wildly nutritious, tasty vegetable that grows like a weed. What's not to like?

You might also like:

• Eat Your Weeds - Wild Garlic
• Wild Raspberries, Invasive, Yes, But Mighty Tasty...
• On the Hunt for Wild Greens - Miner's Lettuce

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