Purslane is a succulent and a vegetable that many people don’t know about or have even tasted. It grows wild everywhere, I mean everywhere, and most likely everyone has seen it without even realizing what it is and that it is actually edible, very healthy for you and tastes delicious when cooked. It makes a great complement to other healthy vegetables when combined with them. Purslane is high in Omega-3, an excellent source of vitamins A, C and B-complex, an assortment of minerals: iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and manganese and an extra source of protein.
It is also very inexpensive and easy to grow since you don’t have to buy any plants or seeds for growing. Every year I find them growing everywhere amongst my other vegetables and it also grows well in almost any type of soil. For this reason it is viewed as a weed.
In this brown rice and vegetable recipe, I tried something new. I added thawed purslane that I previously froze this past summer. I have never frozen put purslane in the freezer so I wasn’t sure if it would work or taste good or end up just being mushy but I decided to give it a try. Well, it did cook and re-heat well, worked well for this recipe.
Preparing Purslane for Freezing
- Picking it takes awhile if you have the very common ground hugging variety that I used. You can include some of the softer stem as well.
- Wash the leaves and stems well.
- Boil some water and cook it in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes tops to get rid of any bacteria. Remove it from the water and let sit until it is cool, at room temperature. I noticed that the boiled Purslane sort of smells like cooked cauliflower.
- Once cool put in tightly sealed freezer bag for freezing. You may want to section off portions in a freezer bag for freezing or freeze dinner-sized portions.
Unfreezing and Cooking
Before using the purslane, I decided to thaw it in my refrigerator so it is no longer frozen before using it. I then added it to previously cooked rice and re-heated the rice with the purslane, but you can also cook your rice and add it in at the end for 5 to 10 minutes to cook and heat up at a very low heat. If you leave it cooking too long, the purslane may become overcooked and turn into mush.
Recipe:
- Brown Rice
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Purslane
Chopped:
- Green Beans
- Beets
- Any spices or seasoning for flavor, if you like.
Purslane tends to grow well in late spring and early to mid summer. During summertime you can also eat it fresh by sprinkling the leaves in fresh salads or in many other dishes One day people will be calling purslane a superfood but in reality it's a nutritious vegetable.
