Purslane
Posted in recipes, featured selections on Jun 5th, 2007
In this week’s market bag there’s a specialty green with which many folks are unfamiliar, yet purslane is an age old edible green that fell out of favor with American gardeners, perhaps because of its invasive nature and ability to root easily from bits of stem left in the garden.
Long used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking, purslane also holds important medicinal qualities. Various cultures have used purslane for its diuretic, antifungal, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-parasitic properties among others. Below, I’ve included a fascinating list I found at the Cornell site, but for now, the more pressing point is what we can do with it.
Purslane is a tasty, crunchy green that can be used in much the same way as spinach: in salads, steamed, sauteed, on sandwiches, stews, soups, etc.
More than just tasty, however, purslane is loaded with Vitamin C, anti-oxidants, and has more Omega-3, including ALA, than any other leafy vegetable plant—five times the amount found in spinach.
***Note: although there is no known toxicity and purslane is reported safe even at high doses, there is some concern over its potential to cause uterine contractions in large doses; therefore, pregnant women are advised not to eat large amounts.
Cucumber Purslane Salad from Steve Johnson
- 5 large Cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into quarter-round slices
- 1/4 pound Purslane, large stems removed, washed and drained well
- 2 tablespoons each, Fresh chopped mint, cilantro and chervil
- 4 cups Whole milk yogurt
- 1/4 cup Virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves Garlic, puréed with the blade of a knife
- 2 teaspoon ground Coriander
- kosher Salt and ground Black Pepper
Place the cucumber, purslane and herbs into a large bowl. In another bowl, stir together the yogurt, olive oil and garlic, coriander and season to taste with salt. Add the yogurt mixture to the vegetables and mix well. Add a pinch of ground black pepper. Taste the dressed cucumber-purslane salad for seasoning, adding a little more salt if needed. Serve chilled.
Various uses for purslane across the world:
- Alexiteric — China
- Alterative — Turkey
- Anthrax — China
- Antidote
- Antiphlogistic — China
- Aperient — Java
- Ardor — Turkey
- Astringent - India and Sudan
- Bactericide — China
- Bite (Bug, snake) - China and the Philippines
- Bladder — India
- Blennorrhagia — China
- Boil — China
- Burn
- Cardiotonic — Haiti
- Cold — China
- Colic — China
- Demulcent — Sudan
- Dermatitis — China
- Detergent — India
- Diuretic — China, Haiti, India, Sudan and Turkey
- Diarrhea and dysentery - China and the Philippines
- Dyspepsia — China and Haiti
- Dysuria
- Ear ache
- Eczema — China
- Edema — China
- Emollient — China, Dominican Republic and Turkey
- Empacho — Trinidad
- Enteritis — China
- Erysipelas — China
- Fever — China
- Fungicide
- Genital — China
- Gonorrhea
- Heat - India and the Philippines
- Hematuria
- Hemostat — Haiti
- Hemoptysis
- Hemorrhage
- Herpes — China
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypotension — Trinidad
- Inflammation
- Insomnia — Haiti
- Intestine — China
- Kidney - Haiti and India
- Leucorrhea — China
- Liver
- Lung — India
- Mouth
- Nausea — China
- Opacity — China
- Ophthalmia — Malaya
- Palpitation — Trinidad
- Pile — China
- Poison — Australia
- Poultice — China
- Pruritis — China
- Scald
- Scurvy — China, Haiti, India and Turkey
- Sedative — Turkey
- Soporific — Haiti
- Sore — China
- Spleen
- Swelling — China
- Thirst — China
- Tonic — China
- Toothhache
- Tumor — Brazil, China, Colombia and Gabon
- Urogenital — China, Kurdistan and Spain
- Vermifuge — China, Dominican Republic, Iraq, Java, Trinidad and Venezuela
- Viricide
- Vulnerary — India
- Wart — Japan, Mexico and Peru
- Wound - China
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