PURSLANE

"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." - Laurie Colwin

Friday is the day that I usually talk about food and tonight is devoted to purslane, Portulaca oleracea, as it is the birthday plant for this day. The generic name is derived from the Latin “milk-carrying” relating to the milky sap that exudes from the cut stem of some species. The plant has been used as a salad plant for centuries and the famous French soup, potage bonne femme is made with purslane and sorrel. The herb strewn around one’s bed was supposed to protect the sleeper from death by lightning or by gunpowder. Astrologically it is a herb of the moon. The plant symbolises loquacity and its consumption in quantity supposedly makes one verbose.

TOMATO, CUCUMBER AND PURSLANE SALAD

Ingredients
4 ripe tomatoes
2 Lebanese cucumbers (baby cucumbers)
1 handful of roughly chopped fresh, washed purslane (pick only the young, flowerless tops)
1 medium sized onion
1 small sweet green capsicum
some chunks of cheese (blue vein is nice or you may like a cheddar better)
pickled capers, dried oregano, salt and pepper
1/2 cupful olive oil
1/3 cupful of balsamic vinegar

Method
Scald the 3 tomatoes and peel them. Chop into segments in a salad bowl. Peel the cucumbers and cut into slices, mixing with the tomatoes. Add the purslane, the finely chopped onion, herbs, the seasonings and capers. Mix well. In a small bowl mix the oil with the vinegar and grate into it the remaining tomato. Pour this dressing over the salad and mix again. Garnish with finely sliced green capsicum and the chunks of cheese.

This was our dinner tonight and all of the ingredients (well, almost as we don’t make our own cheese and oil!) were from our back garden! Each person had their own plate and it was accompanied by Italian foccacia bread that we toasted. It is so nice to dunk the chunks of bread into the salad juices and by the end of the meal the plates are so clean they almost need no washing! ;-) A surprisingly filling and nutritious meal that is also so good for you. Research suggests that consuming vinegar or lemon juice with meals is good for lowering blood lipid levels.

Despite the drought, our back garden is doing very well with the reclaimed water we use. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, salad greens, purslane, eggplants, green beans and all of these in amongst the rose bushes and other flowers! Summer is a good time to be planting and enjoying vegetables.

Bon Appétit!