With summer’s bounty flooding into local farmer’s markets and farm-stands the hardest part of the challenge will be choosing between rainbow chard and fresh broccoli, Sungold tomatoes or Early Girls. My advice – buy some of everything that looks good and then invite some friends to dinner.
Even if you can’t make it to the farmer’s market and you never planted a garden this year, you may be surprised to learn that you probably have a salad just waiting to harvest in your own backyard. For millennia poor people the world over have made tasty, nutritious dishes from what most Americans think of as weeds – things like lamb’s quarters, dandelion greens, amaranth and sorrel.
Unfortunately, as the weather heats up, most of these greens tend to grow bitter and tough, more fit for the compost heap than the salad plate. There is one salad weed, though, that seems to thrive on August’s swelter, producing succulent, lemon-tangy foliage even during droughts. What’s more, this green also happens to be packed with nutrition, full of amino acids and antioxidants, lots of Vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, not to mention the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids that researchers at the
So what is this miracle green? Its scientific name is Portulaca oleracea. If you’re a gardener, and have spent a lot of time pulling its fleshy, sprawling stems out of your flower beds, you probably know it as pigweed. A more polite name for it, especially if you intend to serve it to dinner guests, is purslane. Purslane - more than 40 varieties of it - grows all over the planet, thriving in hot dry situations – indeed, on a recent trip to
Because of its ability to survive in the harshest of weather, its astounding ability to seed itself about, its refreshing, crunchy tartness, and its nutritional wallop, purslane features large in traditional recipes from many countries, especially those around the Mediterranean. From the South of France to
The easiest way to find purslane is to weed a garden – if you don’t have your own, volunteer to help a friend. You can also find it growing wild, but be careful that you harvest it from a spot that hasn’t been exposed to contaminants (like that Hell’s Kitchen sidewalk). Remove the roots before soaking the purslane in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes. This will allow grit to fall to the bottom of the bowl. Lift the purslane from the water to dry – that way the grit remains behind in the bowl. All parts of the purslane are edible, though the lower stems can be tough. Some people prefer eating only the leaves.
One of the most common recipes for purslane, found across many cultures, is a simple salad made by chopping the whole plant - stems, flowers, leaves and all – into ½” – 1” pieces and then tossing the chopped greens with a dressing made of lemon and olive oil, with perhaps a little garlic, salt and pepper. Purslane salad, however, isn’t to everyone’s taste. You see, purslane is a succulent, like aloe or jade plants. If you’ve ever squeezed fresh aloe onto a burn you know that its juice is kind of sticky. Purslane’s juicy leaves share this slightly mucilaginous quality, a trait that some diners might find unappealing.
This is probably why many purslane recipes call for ingredients that hide this quirk. Try mixing chopped purslane with mayonnaise, capers and lemon juice when you make your next potato salad. Or do as the Greeks do, and chop purslane with dill, mint and garlic and then toss the mixture with well-drained plain yogurt and a drizzle of olive oil. In cooked dishes like soups and stews, purslane’s juices actually work to the cook’s advantage, taking the place of traditional thickeners like roux. Try substituting chopped purslane for okra in gumbo, or using it in lieu of cornstarch to add body to the sauce in your next stir fry.
One of the most popular purslane recipes in the
Both can be prepared almost entirely in advance, fried for a few minutes at the last moment and served hot out of the pan. Pour a cool, sparkling glass of Spanish Cava or Italian Prosecco (both of which can be found very reasonably priced at the State Liquor Store) to sip alongside – their clean, bubbly flavor marries especially well with fried foods.
When making this salad, feel free to monkey around with the ingredients. The idea is to use whatever is fresh and on-hand. I do recommend using the olives and pickled peppers if you have them – they add a touch of umami to the dish that really adds to its complexity.
Greek Summer Salad (inspired by a recipe from Paula Wolfert’s The Cooking of the Eastern Meditteranean)
1 cup chopped purslane
1 cup herbs – a combination of dill, basil, mint and cilantro is delicious – stemmed, washed and roughly chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped into ¼” chunks
1 onion, peeled and sliced thin or chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
2 medium tomatoes, or 2 cups cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
A dozen or so Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
3 or 4 pickled hot peppers, or to taste (you may use fresh peppers if you like), sliced
juice of 1 lemon (or to taste)
3 or 4 Tbs. olive oil (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for an hour or two to let the flavors mingle before serving. Serves 8 as a an accompaniment to New Potato and Purslane Fritters
New Potato and Purslane Fritters (inspired by a recipe from Diane Kochilas’s The
1 ½ lbs. small new potatoes
1 cup chopped purslane
1 cup good quality hard cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, Asiago or Manchego, grated
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of flour (more if needed)
oil for frying (I like grape seed or canola)
Wash the potatoes well (do not peel) and then boil them until they are tender. Drain them, put them into a large bowl and mash well, skins and all.
Stir in the purslane, grated cheese and two of the eggs until well blended but still a little chunky. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Shape the mixture into small patties about 1 ½” in diameter and ½” high.
Beat the remaining egg with a few tablespoons of water in a bowl until well blended. Pour the flour into a wide flat pan; season with a little salt and pepper. Dip the patties first in the egg mixture and then in the flour mixture, coating well.
Heat a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat (cast iron works very well for this) and then pour in the oil to about ½” deep. When the oil is shimmering, test one of the fritters to see if it browns fairly quickly. If it does, add more fritters, but don’t overcrowd the pan. When the fritters are done on one side, carefully flip them to brown on the other.
When they are brown on both sides, lift them out of the pan and drain them on a paper bag (I find paper towels make the fritters soggy). Serve immediately garnished with Greek Summer Salad. Makes about 2 dozen fritters.
Though most cookbooks recommend summer squash blossoms for eating, I find any kind of squash blossom delicious for this recipe (including those from pumpkins, which are technically winter squash). Squash blossoms come in male and female – the female blossoms have a tiny squash forming just beneath the flower and are usually tucked down near the vine’s main stem, while the male flowers are held above the foliage on long, thin stems.
Most people choose the more abundant male flowers for eating and leave the females to form squashes, but you can eat both. In fact, if your zucchini plants are overly-productive, by all means harvest female blossoms now rather than trying to foist canoe-sized zucchini off on your friends later. Pick blossoms that are open or about to open with a long enough stem to keep them in a glass of water until you’re ready to cook. You may also find squash blossoms at your local farmer’s market. If not, try putting in a special order with a vendor that has good looking squash.
There’s no need to wash the blossoms, but do check for stray bees, ants and beetles. The blossoms will probably have closed up again – gently pry them open and look inside. And though most cookbooks will tell you to remove the pollen-laden stamen and pistil from the interior of the blossom and the pointed green calyx from its base, I like their slightly bitter flavor and recommend leaving them on.
Squash Blossoms filled with Mozzarella and Herbs
one dozen squash blossoms
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (feel free to try other cheeses)
1 cup mixed herbs (I like basil and parsley for this), stemmed and washed
¼ cup good quality olive oil
the rind and juice of one small lemon
¼ cup hulled pumpkin seeds (you may substitute other seeds or nuts)
1 clove garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1 cup flour
oil for frying
sliced lemon for serving
Cut the mozzarella into twelve baton-shaped pieces. Set onto paper towel to drain.
Meanwhile combine the herbs, olive oil, lemon juice and rind, pumpkin seeds and garlic in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until well chopped, though it doesn’t need to be smooth puree. Add salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind how salty the cheese is and don’t oversalt).
Open each squash blossom and insert a piece of cheese and a spoonful of the herb mixture (you may wind up with extra cheese and herb mixture, depending on how large the blossoms are). Gently squeeze the blossom closed again, trying not to tear it. Put the egg in a bowl and blend it with a few tablespoons of water until smooth. Put the flour into a wide, flat pan. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Dip each blossom in the egg mixture and then roll in the flour until well coated.
Heat a frying pan over medium heat, then pour in about a half inch of oil. When it’s hot, test fry one blossom. If it browns nicely, fry the rest, draining them on a paper bag when done. Serve immediately with slices of lemon.
