Purslane is one of the marvelous volunteers in my garden plot. While others see it as a weed, I encourage it, and harvest a bag or two every week during its growing season. I've been eating purslane in cooked dishes for years because it's so nutritious, not to mention completely easy trouble-free to "grow" in the garden.
We enjoy purslane in soup – it has a lemony flavour and thickening properties. For a suggested recipe, see Summer Harvest Soup.
Purslane also makes a tasty side dish when chopped, lightly sauteed, and mixed with an equal part of cooked quinoa, it is quick and satisfying. It's also a complete lunch if you add some spicy ground beef. See Purslane and Quinoa Skillet.
This is my first purslane-based salad, a perfect sweet and sour combination of early summer flavours.
Lime and Mint Purslane Salad
- 1 or 2 cucumbers
- 1 cup purslane
- 10 sugar snap peas
- 3 sprigs mint
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime
- honey to taste
- Peel and dice the cucumber. Chop the purslane. Slice the sugar snap peas. Mince the mint. Combine all of these in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
- To make the dressing, squeeze the lime and combine the juice with the olive oil. Add honey, one teaspoonful at a time, tasting until you get the sweet-sour combination that you like. Alternatively, you could sweeten the dressing with stevia, monk fruit extract or organic white cane sugar.
- Pour the dressing over the vegetables in the bowl, and seal with the lid. Gently swirl and shake until the dressing is distributed.
Garden recipes tend to use the vegetables and quantities that are at hand so these measurements are flexible.
Delicious Note to Self
When the sugar snap peas finished producing, there were months of purslane still to come so I tried this salad using a peeled and diced orange instead of the peas. It was so good that I wanted to make it every day.
