Chicken and purslane sandwich with tarragon mayonnaise
August 6th, 2007
At the farmer’s market yesterday, I picked up some purslane, a leafy succulent that I haven’t cooked with much. It’s a versatile green sometimes called “poor man’s spinach.” Elizabeth Schneider describes it well in her book Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini:
Perky purslane has oval, juicy-slippery, medium green or yellow-green leaves (more like pads) and a mild, fresh flavor brightened by a tart finish. Wild purslane (it grows naturally in most organic gardens, so “wild” seems an exaggeration) and cultivated purslane can be quite different… At its best (usually wild), purslane has a sorrel tang and a hint of tomato; mediocre purslane (usually cultivated), can be bland and slimy but still looks cute.
I’m not sure if the purslane I got today was wild or cultivated (it was moderately cute), but I can tell you that: 1) it feels good between your fingers, and 2) it’s delicious tossed with a little tangelo juice, salt, pepper and olive oil, piled on top of sliced roasted chicken, and sandwiched between two pieces of sourdough slathered with tarragon-spiked mayonnaise.
I’m looking forward to trying purslane in a salad, like this one with grilled zucchini and tomato. Any thoughts on what else to pair purslane with?
August 6th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Never see recipes that use purslane, so this is a treat! Mostly we think of it as a weed, but up the road from me a farmer puts it in her salad mix (along with 30+ other types of greens), and I’m learning to love it.
August 6th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I got purslane in my CSA box and didn’t know what to do with it; I ended up making a potato salad with a yogurt-mustard dressing. The hot potatoes were supposed to wilt the purslane a bit, but they were still pretty crunchy. I’m glad to see another idea for using it.
Did you just use the leaves, or the stems, too?
August 6th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Summer Salad with Melons and Cashews. The green used in the salad in purslane.
It’s very common in the Middle East (just use the leaves, the stems are too thick), It often goes into a mixture of greens for fattoush, and I find it stands in well in places you might use baby arugula.
August 8th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I recently discovered that the “weed” I pull out by the handfuls in my vegetable and herb gardens is purslane! Now I call that activity “harvesting”! It was great in a play on this Arabic salad. I used leaves and stems, but the stems were very tender, since the plants were young. I gather that when it’s cooked it becomes mucilaginous a la okra but I haven’t experimented with that yet. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109458
August 10th, 2007 at 1:41 am
It seems to be such an interesting mix of ingredients i.e. purslane for a sandwich. Well if it tastes great, I bet it would definitely make a great snack.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Years ago I was so happy to find that the annoying weed was not only
edible, but very nutritious. Since then, I have eaten purslane in various
ways:
1. Cooked greens — Chop coarsely the leaves and young stems.
Add to half/sauteed onions & stir-fry 1 minute. Add 2 T. water, salt
& pepper, + 1-3 t. bacon grease, cover, and cook until tender — 10-
15 min. over low heat. I like it with a little vinegar.
2. Great in salads. Leaves and young stems.
3. Great in vegetable soups.
4. Once I had an abundance of young plants which needed clearing, so
I decided to add them to some marinara sauce. Delicious!
My advice: Try to cut it back before the seed pods form. If they are
already there, brush the tops to remove the tiny poppy-like seeds.– I
have it volunteering from various pots where I periodically cut them
back, and allow them to re-grow. Good luck. (They don’t like the cold.)