Purslane Salad (a common Turkish recipe) – Remove thick stems (retain for soups and stews). Chop thin stems and leaves. Add diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley. Add olive oil, salt, and lemon juice to taste. Eat.
Purslane in yogurt salad – Remove thick stems from purslane. Sauté the rest in olive oil until softened (3-5 min). Cool on a paper towel to remove oil. Add double the plain yogurt as there is purslane to a bowl and add sautéed purslane. Add minced garlic (or garlic scapes from AFM!) and salt to yogurt. Mix. Eat.
Purslane & Avocado Tacos with Pico De Gallo – for the Vegetarian in You!
Purslane has long been considered a weed, but it is increasingly showing up for sale in bunches at farmers markets. Meanwhile, Mexicans have known about its healthful properties for hundreds of years and they eat it both raw and cooked. In Mexico it’s called verdolagas. Cooking mellows its tang and shrinks it, which means you can eat more of it! Paired with avocado and a tomato relish, this is a super-healthy vegetarian snack or main dish. YIELD: Makes 8 tacos (4 servings)
INGREDIENTS
1. For Pico de Gallo:
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1 tablespoon lime juice, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh Serrano chile, or to taste
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Salt
• Freshly ground pepper
2. For Tacos:
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb purslane, including tender upper stems, chopped (about 6 cups)
• 8 fresh corn (or flour-from AFM!) tortillas
• 2 avocados
• 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese (about 3 ounces), or to taste
• cilantro sprigs and lime wedges for serving
PREPARATION
Make Pico de Gallo:
1. Combine tomatoes, onion, lime juice, chile, and cilantro in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Let it stand while assembling the tacos.
2. Cook garlic in oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until pale golden. Add purslane with salt to taste and cook, stirring, until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a sieve set over a bowl and let it drain.
3. Have a folded kitchen towel ready for the tortillas. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot, then heat a tortilla, keeping the others covered, flipping it occasionally with tongs, until it puffs slightly and gets brown in spots, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer tortilla, as toasted, to towel, enclosing it, and repeat with remaining tortillas. Keep them warm in towel.
4. Quarter avocados lengthwise and remove pit, then peel. Cut each section into thin slices (lengthwise or crosswise, it doesn’t matter) and season with salt.
5. Assemble tacos by spooning some purslane into a folded taco and topping it with avocado slices, cotija cheese, cilantro sprigs, and pico de gallo. Serve with lime wedges.
Purslane Taco recipe courtesy of https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/purslane-and-avocado-tacos-with-pico-de-gallo-51240610
Atchison Farmers' Market 