middleagedman1's Profile

Yesterday morning I decided to go online to discover what the name of the succulent weed with the bright yellow flower was, and voila ! It's purslane. I never heard of it before, and I definitely hadn't planted it, but it was growing profusely in an area of the yard that I had taken the lawn up from. I haven't even watered the area. It was just dry dirt. And the Purslane looks like it was drinking from the fountain of youth. After going online and reading all about the healthy benefits of purslane I went ahead and ate a few leaves and stems. Not bad. The larger stems are sort of lemony, but the leaves are quite nice, with a taste similar to me of a cross between young asparagus, spinach, and raw green beans.

Anyway I decided to try cooking it this morning with some eggs. Oops ! No eggs. So I sauted about a cup of the leaves and leave stems in olive oil for about three minutes. I flavored it slightly with salt and pepper, and yum yum. Very nice. A little slimey, but ever so slightly. And no unpleasant aftertaste at all. Very good. Delicious.

Later on in the afternoon I made myself a turkey and Mexican cheese sandwich on eight grain bread spread with a garlic and herb cheese spread and topped off with at least a cup of fresh Purslane . I heated the turkey and cheese for about a minute in the microwave in order for the cheese to melt, and then placed the turkey and cheese on the bread, sprinkled the
Purslane over the entire sandwich, and once again. Yum, yum, yum. Delicious !!!! Since it's free and tastes as good as spinach, and is so very good for me I've decided that I'm going to be using Purslane in most situations where I would have used lettuce or spinach.

Purslane. Another wonder weed. I love it. Who knew ? Definitely, not I. I'm definitely a new convert to this "weed".

Now, to try it in some more recipes. Hmmm......