Does it get any prettier? I have seen the occasional recipe that called for purslane over the years, but was never inclined to try any. Quite honestly, I wasn’t very familiar with what it was. But I have begun growing it on my patio in huge pots. It is so hardy and has such lovely blooms! The entire plant is edible, leaves and flowers! I decided I was going to finally taste it today. To me, the flavor of all three parts of the plant (flower, leaf and stem) I would liken to a lemony bib lettuce. Purslane is a powerhouse of nutrition! I no longer live at the house with the ginormous pots of multi-colored Purslane, so I include a photo of my current small pot of yellow purslane below: http://www.naturalhealth-solutions.net/healthy-eating/powerhouse-of-nutrition-purslane.
To harvest purslane, just pinch off individual stems from the mother plant, grab the end of the stem with one hand, and in one quick motion with your other hand’s thumb and index finger, strip the leaves off the stems like you would strip rosemary leaves off the stems. Place the leaves (and blooms,, if using) into a colander or sieve. Rinse under cold water to remove any dirt or insects hiding there. Purslane wilts fast in dressing, so wait and prepare and dress your salad right before serving. Below is a pic of what edible purslane looks like growing:
CAUTION: If you find and gather what looks like wild growing purslane, be sure to snap the stem. If it oozes a white, milky-looking substance, BEWARE! What you have found IS NOT edible purslane!! The plant that oozes the white milky substance when pinched is an inedible impersonator known as spurge that just happens to look like purslane! Its blooms are tiny and barely visible. The edible purslane, when a stem is snapped has clear fluid in it. Another difference, is the leaves are ‘alternate’ along the stem on the edible purslane. Leaves are ‘opposite’ along the stem of wild spurge. If eaten by mistake, wild spurge will make you very sick! It’s leaves are also less thick and fleshy than the leaves of edible purslane. Edible purslane has a clear fluid when squeezed. Toxic wild spurge has a milky white liquid and is shown photo right: 
The inspiration for this recipe is a Middle Eastern salad I’m familiar with known as Fattoush. It has toasted torn pita bread pieces in it. Well, I decided to just omit the bread because I sure don’t need to be eating bread in my salads. But you could break up toasted low-carb bread into this salad if you like.
INGREDIENTS:
1 c. purslane shoots and leaves, stripped off stems (I only use the very tips of the stems)
2 c. romaine lettuce, broken into pieces
1/4 c. fresh mint, coarsely chopped
½ c. cucumber, peeled and diced
6 grape tomatoes (I cut mine into halves)
½ oz. red onion, slivered as thinly as possible
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. sumac (optional, but traditional in Fattoush)
Dash each salt and black pepper
Couple purslane blooms (also edible)
OPTIONAL: Toasted, broken up bits of 1 slice of low-carb bread
DIRECTIONS: Harvest the purslane leaves and rinse under cold water and pat dry with paper toweling. Add the torn lettuce, mint, cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes and salt/pepper. In a small dish mix the measure out and stir the oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic and sumac. Drizzle over the salad greens and toss. Serve at once.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 3 servings, each contains:
101 calories
9 g fat
4.66 g carbs, 1.43 g fiber, 3.23 g NET CARBS
1.1 g protein
61 mg sodium
258 mg potassium
16% RDA Vitamin A, 25% C, 10% E, 16% iron, 11% manganese
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 