Didja know that Gandhi’s favorite food is growing in your own backyard? No, it’s not creeping charlie or dandelions, though both are edible. (Creeping charlie is a member of the mint family, surprised?) I’m talking about purslane, a little leafy succulent plant that sprouts between your patio bricks and cracks in your driveway.
My path to purslane appreciation started this spring. Little red and green sprouts had taken over the one of my garden beds. As I planted my snap peas, I thought I had pulled them all up. But I was wrong, so wrong. The little succulents multiplied faster than crab grass. A week later, I had twice as many sprouts and twice as much weeding to do.
Later in the spring, my girl crush, Lynne Rossetto Casper interviewed botany professor Dr. Peter Gail, an advocate of eating weeds. During the depression, his family was extremely poor. A concerned neighbor showed his mother how to prepare purslane. He and his siblings would harvest this nutrient-rich weed for dinner. (A 1986 study showed that purslane is high in Omega-3’s, Vitamin C and Vitamin B.) When Lynne said it tasted like spinach, my ears perked up. I’m a big fan of greens, but despite my best efforts, my spinach always bolts before I can harvest more than a serving or two.
“Gee, I wish I had purslane in my backyard,” I remember thinking, “I should really Google that…”
I soon forgot about purslane, but purslane did not forget about me. It thrived on our patio. It sprung up alongside the driveway. It crept between the cracks in our sidewalk.
“Grrr… What is this stuff?” Brian growled as swept the patio tile for our 4th of July party.
“Dunno,” I shrugged, “Just throw it in the compost bin.”
Then, Sunday morning, I finally put two and two together. Brian was playing Super Paper Mario while I was looking for ideas for lunch in Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. As I flipped through the salad section, I was struck by a drawing of some greens. The plant looked really familiar… Purslane… Purslane… a succulent with slightly salty, slightly sour taste… popular in Asia… used like spinach during the Depression… Purslane…
I jumped off the couch and ran out to the patio. I bent down and pulled a few leaves from the stubborn succulent plant sticking out between the tiles. Purslane? I took a bite. The plant had slightly salty, slightly sour taste.
“Purslane!!! Whoo-hoo!!!”
I hopped online for a little insight and few recipes, and found a world of purslane enthusiasts. In fact, the only country not in love with purslane is the United States. Most of us Yanks treat it as weed, not an edible plant. However, in New York, purslane is currently the little darling of haute cuisine and widely available in farmers markets. Who knew?
Monday, I tossed some purslane in a Tupperware container with some snap peas, mustard greens, thai basil, cashews and leftover chicken. It was a fantastic lunch. I made my coworkers try it.
“This is a weed? This is tasty!”
I guess Gandhi really knew his greens.
Are your a fan of purslane? How do you prepare this persistent little plant? Are there other weeds that tickle your palette?
(Note: I once knew a new age herbalist in Portland, Maine. She believed that certain medicinal plants would appear when people need healing. I *did* notice a ton of it growing outside the Subway restaurant on Washington Avenue. It certainly gives new meeting to the slogan “Eat Fresh.”)
