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Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid in particular[4]) than any other leafy vegetable plant. Simopoulos states that Purslane has 0.01 mg/g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land-based vegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid found mostly in fish, some algae, and flax seeds.[5] It also contains vitamins (mainly vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin B and carotenoids), as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron. Also present are two types of betalain alkaloid pigments, the reddish betacyanins (visible in the coloration of the stems) and the yellow betaxanthins (noticeable in the flowers and in the slight yellowish cast of the leaves). Both of these pigment types are potent antioxidants and have been found to have antimutagenic properties in laboratory studies.[6]100 Grams of fresh purslane leaves (about 1 cup) contain 300 to 400 mg of alpha-linolenic acid.[7] One cup of cooked leaves contains 90 mg of calcium, 561 mg of potassium, and more than 2,000 IUs of vitamin A. A half-cup of purslane leaves contains as much as 910 mg of oxalate, a compound implicated in the formation of kidney stones. However, note that many common vegetables, such as spinach, also can contain high concentrations of oxalates.
A succulent, sprawling plant of lawns and meadows; flowers inconspicuous, 1/5 inch wide, five yellow petals tucked between the branches, mid-summer to fall; fruit capsules up to 1/4 inch long, filled with tiny, round, black seeds; leaves paddle-shaped, succulent, stalkless 1/2 to 2 inches long, alternate or opposite; stem reddish, succulent, branching, creeping, 4-10 inches long.Purslane is one of my favorite summer vegetables, with a mild, sweet-sour flavor and a chewy texture. Its reddish stem, nearly as thick as a computer cable, creeps along the ground, rarely getting taller than a pint of milk. The stalkless leaves are paddle shaped, about as long as a small paper clip.
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/surprising-lambs-quarters/Forage for wild lambs quarters around your landscape or allow a few plants to grow in the garden amongst your vegetable and herb plants. A few seed suppliers sell a cultivated variety of lambs quarter or Giant Goosefoot called “Magentaspreen.” This variety has an attractive magenta hue on the young leaves and stems.To harvest lambs quarter just cut or snap off the youngest and best looking branches from the top and sides of the plant.Learn to identify lambs quarter and you may be surprised to find it growing up all around you. Once you steam a batch of the fresh leaves and stems the biggest surprise may be just how much you enjoy the taste of this plant that you previously yanked from the garden and discarded.
Customers asked Bowling to plant African produce and said they would come to pick it, she says, so he gave it a shot. He ordered specialty seeds for vegetables like "garden eggs" — tiny green African eggplants — and chocolate habanero peppers, and planted them.And now many customers come to Bowling's farm, picking 16-pound bags of hot peppers at a time. They load up their cars, drive home, tell their friends and come back for more. It's mostly word-of-mouth marketing.If you can find these peppers at a specialty market, they are often expensive or dried out, says Gladys Fontem, who is originally from Cameroon. She wears surgical gloves to protect her hands while picking the hot peppers. She comes to pick, she says, because the peppers here are fresh, and the farm is clean."You can't cook without peppers," says Fontem. "We love that spicy stuff."But there's another reason they come, according to her sister, Ara: "It gives us a taste of home. The smell, the fields — it's like we're back home."http://www.npr.org/2011/08/31/140057840/some-u-s-farms-trade-tobacco-for-a-taste-of-africa
I'm including a recipe for Poke Salat (Salad), a springtime dish served in the Ozarks. My parents knew just where the plants grew on the farm and would gather up a "mess" to have with fried fish. There are warnings to take into account if you are going to cook the greens fresh. Consumed raw, poke salad will make you sick as a dog. The stuff that makes you sick is concentrated in the root, stems, and the veins of larger leaves. Mom would only pick the small leaves from a plant no more than knee high. So how does it taste? Some people compare it to asparagus. It's more like spinach I think, but it's a "acquired taste"Traditional Southern Recipe· Begin with a “mess” of poke salad: enough leaves to fill a plastic grocery bag.· Wash and rinse the leaves.· Add to cook pot and bring to boil. As soon as it’s boiling, drain and refill with water. Do this two more times.· After boiling and draining three times, squeeze out the excess water.· Add bacon grease to a skillet on medium heat. Saute in pan just to heat through.· Salt to taste.· Optional: cook with a half cup of chopped onions and bacon or country ham. Poke TriviaPoke comes from the Algonquian Indian word "pakon" or "puccoon," referring to a dye plant used for staining.Poke is sometimes spelled polk. The leaves were reportedly worn by enthusiastic supporters during the campaign of James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States.Poke contains vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and phosphorus.Poke contains steroids that resemble cortisone, making it a helpful treatment for skin conditions like psoriases, acne, and fungal infections.The song Polk Salad Annie by Tony Joe White was later covered by Elvis Presley.During the War Between the States, soldiers fashioned quills from feathers and used ripe pokeberry juice for ink. Some of these letters can be found in museums today, as legible as they were on the day Sherman burned Atlanta.
It is called by several names: poke salat, poke salad, or pokeweed. We call it poke salat. It is a green (or herb) that grows wild in the woods of Mississippi and other places. During hard economic times, like the Great Depression, it literally kept people from starving because they could just walk out in the woods and gather it to cook.Poke salat is a toxic plant but if cooked properly is perfectly edible. And it tastes good. The American Indians used it for centuries for various medicinal purposes. Elvis sang a song about it. And modern researchers are looking into the possible benefits of it's use for cancer and AIDS treatments.My brother Gregory and I cooked up a batch of poke salat last month. Gregory went out to gather the tender young green leaves of the plants from our land and we washed them thoroughly:Once the leaves are clean, we placed them in a large pot of water and boiled the poke salat for about 20 minutes. Then we drained the water off and put in fresh water. We brough the water to a boil again and let it cook for another 45 minutes. Then we drained that water off the poke salat.We placed the drained poke salat in a skillet with a tablespoon of cooking oil and turned the cooking flame on medium-high under the skillet. We took three fresh eggs, broke them into a bowl and scrambled them slightly. We dumped the eggs over the poke salat in the skillet and stirred it over the heat until the eggs were full cooked.
