So, You've Decided To Try Purslane

So, I go out this afternoon and pick about a pound of purslane this afternoon before logging onto the t00bz, and (in a spookalicious display of synchronicity, I see this comment on yesterday's post (did you purchase Tra already?), in which Jennifer mentioned that she'd just tried purslane (I'd mentioned purslane in a comment on her blog- wheels within wheels!). Well, the question posed was: What was your favorite way to prepare it?

My answer is... uh, I dunno. I usually just pick it, wash it off, and eat it out of hand. I finally have enough purslane on hand that I will try cooking it (besides the Mexican recipes in the linked post, I've found an interesting recipe for Turkish-style purslane salad (the comments on this post are hilarious- I'll do an attributed cut-and-paste at the end of the post). The lovely, gracious, and talented Aunt Snow (the artist formerly known as "g") suggested finding a Persian purslane salad recipe, and a Google search turned up this recipe. Of course, having lemons up the yinyang, I bought a couple of cans of tahini, so a tahini, lemon and garlic dressed purslane salad may be in my near future. Personally, I love the stuff so much, I'd substitute it for just about any green, or add it to mixed salads (if only I could refrain from wolfing sheeping it down long enough to get it into the kitchen).


So, on to the comment which had me laughing so hard- Cebtoo, in a reply to Greengirl's request for advice on how to grow purslane, writes:

To GREENGRL: Try to grow something else. Water once a week lightly. Everything else will die but your purslane will thrive with or without fertilizer, in sun or shade. Once you get some growing, break it up with a hoe. Spray it with broadleaf weed killer, it loves it. That's been my approach for years here in San Antonio and probably could grow 500 pounds or so in 100 square feet if I let it run wild.

Yeah, plant azaleas, plant zucchini, plant Stygian black lotus, plant a seed from a sepulchre- you'll get purslane. You see, you don't bring purslane into your life, purslane comes to you.