The Purposeful Pursuit of Purslane

There is increasing concern about rising food prices.  Many families try different strategies to cope, from using coupons, shopping at discount stores or eating out less.  Yet every day we walk right past all the free food that God has given us.

It’s not really our fault that we don’t recognize this bounty of free food.   It’s not part of our consumer culture to recognize wild edibles as anything more than “weeds.”  Nobody is advertising or promoting wild edibles because there’s no money to be made in them, beyond trying to eradicate them.  Many people seek a healthier diet yet they remain unaware that some of the freshest and healthiest food is growing right by their doorstep.

One of the wild edibles that could literally grow on your doorstep is purslane.  It loves to pop up in beds of pebbles or even in between the cracks of sidewalks.  It is hard to know whether to classify purslane (Portulaca oleracea) as a “weed” or as a “rediscovered vegetable.”

 It is actually cultivated as a vegetable and as an ornamental plant in some parts of the world.  The wild variety is reported to taste better than the cultivated varieties.

Purslane is a succulent plant that continually produces small yellow flowers with tiny black seeds.  As always, make sure you can positively identify Portulaca oleracea before you add it to your inventory of wild edibles. 

You can eat purslane raw or cook it.  Some people just use the leaves but the stems are also edible.  In my family we mainly use the raw leaves as a great addition to a tossed salad.  I once made a slaw out of purslane but my recipe needed some more work.  I see that Epicurious.com has several recipes that call for purslane as one of the main ingredients.

Some sources warn about the high oxalic acid content in purslane as well as the woodsorrel that I discussed in my previous blog, .  Oxalic acid binds calcium so that your body is unable to assimilate the calcium from that food.   Researchers note that it only binds the calcium from that food and does not interfere with absorption of the calcium contained in other food.

Some cultivated plants are also high in oxalic acid:  spinach, Swiss chard, chives, parsley and amaranth.  As long as you don’t make these items staples of your diet you should have no problem absorbing enough calcium.