Enjoy your vegetables and your weeds too!

By Kathy Chavez

Seeing the basket of purslane at the Macias booth brought back memories of fresh tortillas, chile, and a walk around the alfalfa fields. We called them verdolagas, though others referred to them as pusley or pigweed, and the official scientific name is portulaca oleracea.  All parts of the plant are edible, from its pale-red, succulent, round stems about six inches long to the small yellow flowers that bloom from midsummer to early fall.  

We would gather the verdolagas off the ditch bank, not realizing it was a weed. My New Mexican nurse friends and I sometimes reminisce about verdolagas and how they're comfort food for us.

My grandmother cooked them with pinto beans and red chile to make one of my favorite meals. I always enjoyed purslane's slightly lemony salty taste. The weed also contains the most omega-3 fatty acids of any leafy vegetable and more of these essential fatty acids than many types of fish.  It is a rich source of vitamin A which provides natural antioxidants essential for healthy eye sight.

The plant, most likely Southeast Asian in origin, can be found today at growers markets, and some local grocery stores in New Mexico. You might also be able to find it growing in your back yard.  It is safe to eat provided you don’t use any pesticides; chemical fertilizers, herbicide, and you don’t have a pet that has free range potty privileges. 

It's a versatile ingredient, so feel free to get creative. Use it fresh in a salad, cook it like spinach, or add it to a stir-fry. People make pastries out of purslane in Turkey, soup in Portugal, and fry it with cheese, tomato, and garlic in Greece. Below you'll find a simple yet delicious recipe my grandmother used. 

 

Ingredients:  

8 ounces of purslane

1 clove fresh garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cooked pinto beans with or without the broth

Red chile sprinkled to taste

Directions: 

Dice the purslane and sauté with garlic

Add the beans and chile sprinkles, lightly sprinkle with salt. 
They are cooked when they are tender yet firm.  
They can be eaten in a corn or flour tortilla, or on their own.

Enjoy these tasty and nutritious weeds! Check out more recipes here.

Edited by Jasmine McBeath