Put purslane back on the plate

The lettuce at Sunshine Farm has gone by for the season, but that doesn't mean I go without greens when we arrive for an early autumn visit. Instead I enjoy the taste, texture and amazing nutritional profile of purslane. Too often overlooked as a common weed, purslane is a superfood packed with omega-3s and antioxidants.

This peppery plant has a rich culinary history in countries such as Greece, China, Mexico and India, its original home. Here in America, purslane was standard fare in Colonial kitchen gardens before it declined into obscurity.

Due to its wild pluckiness, purslane isn't something my parents need to cultivate in their organic gardens. Instead, the low-growing succulent reseeds itself between the rows. In the photo above, you can see some of it growing in my dad's garden, with the strawberry patch, the Honeymoon Cottage and the Middle Cottage in the background.

Purslane is so tenacious, it even grows between the sidewalk bricks in downtown Portland.

During our most recent time at the farm, I paired fresh purslane with my long-time, go-to veggie burgers. It's an easy to prepare meal that goes well with a range of toppings, including superfoods masquerading as weeds. Pick some, you'll see.

Chick-n-Rice Burgers

16 oz. cooked chickpeas
3 cups cooked brown rice
12 0z. tomato paste
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. xanthan gum
salt & pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mash chickpeas with a potato ricer. Add rice, tomato paste, onions and spices. Blend together with a wooden spoon. Form mixture into patties and cook on an oiled skillet over medium heat. Cook until brown on both sides. Serve with burger toppings - especially purslane!. Makes 10 burgers.

Make Ahead: The burgers hold together on the grill much better after being refrigerated, so if you have the time this is the way to go. Form a handful of the mixture into a patty and place it on top of a square of waxed paper inside a food storage container. Place a piece of waxed paper on top and then add another burger and another piece of paper. Repeat until mixture is gone.

Vegetable Hash: If you're not in the mood for burgers, you can saute the burger mixture in a skillet like you would a hash. Serve it browned and crispy as a breakfast dish or rolled inside a warm tortilla with your favorite Tex-Mex toppings.

Wild red clover harvest

Yesterday I was talking with Sarah Richards - Portland's go-to herbalist who runs Homegrown Herb & Tea - and learned that we're in the midst of a worldwide shortage of dried red clover. Sarah says it will be months before she can get another shipment.

Good thing Maine is blessed with an abundance of this useful plant growing wild in fields and ditches.

I snapped these photos while I was up at Sunshine Farm for the Fourth of July weekend. After most of the guests left, I helped my mother gather a basket of red clover blossoms from where they grow wild on the front lawn. The pretty blooms can be used to top salads, but we were interested in drying them for storage.

Long grown as an agricultural crop, this nonnative legume has naturalized itself in North America. Farmers prize the crop for its ability to add nitrogen to the soil without using chemical fertilizers. It's harvested for both hay and silage.

My mother placed the freshly picked blooms on a cloth-lined basket to dry. She harvests and dries them throughout the summer and gathers enough to last her until the following spring.

Mixed as a tea, most often with other herbs, the dried blooms are used to treat a variety of problems, including respiratory issues, prostate problems, menopausal symptoms, PMS, high cholesterol, cancer and inflammation. Used topically, red clover soothes skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. The blooms contain high levels of isoflavones (plant estrogens), and as a result are best avoided by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Dried red clover also contains significant amounts of calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine and vitamin C and is often used as a dietary supplement and a tasty way to ward off osteoporosis.

Not bad for a plant often mowed down as a weed.

Stalking the wild ginger

When I was a kid, I gave this patch of wild ginger a wide berth. I feared snakes and spiders and ever other creepy-crawly waiting beneath those heart-shaped leaves. I didn't care to expose my bare ankles to such unknown depths. No way.

I never once walked through it.

Which is probably a good thing. Today wild ginger is listed as threatened by the state of Maine. This patch was much smaller 25 years ago and has slowly swelled to its present size. Unlike dandelions or plantain, wild ginger doesn't just fling its seeds around everywhere. So when it's wiped out by construction or human activity, it won't show up elsewhere in the neighborhood.

My mother washed a plant and a bit of root after I picked it for dinner Saturday night. Adam and I were up at Sunshine Farm for a Father's Day weekend visit, before traveling to Adam's parent's home the following day for more celebrations. Our Saturday dinner included a wild salad, and my mother took us on a tour around the property looking for edibles.

I couldn't resist grabbing a few of these late-season dandelions growing in a shady spot (see the moss?), where they never bloomed. I picked the still tender, less jagged leaves.


This bright green clump of lamb's quarters self-seeded itself (as in does every year) in one of my mother's gardens. A common plant often found in disturbed soil, it is a sweet, delicate and delicious addition to salads and stir fries. My mother harvested some of these baby lamb's quarters the night before, so we only took a pinch.

We added in a few chives and red clover blossoms and had quite the garnish for our salad. I took the mixed greens, the micro greens and the dill I bought at that morning's farmers' market and topped it with these wild treats and a few sunflower seeds.

When I made my red wine vinaigrette, I added a few pieces of finely chopped wild ginger root, which gave it an added zing.

Meal for mothers

I whipped up a seasonal vegan dinner for my mother and Adam's mother in honor of yesterday's Mother's Day festivities. This ensured that neither of them had to do any work, and instead they could kick back with a glass of wine (Kungfu Girl riesling), while Adam and I made sure they were well fed. (It also proved a great excuse to get out the rarely used China.)
Dinner started with a simple and always crowd pleasing bruschcetta, made from Backyard Beauty tomatoes, Olivia's Garden basil, Maine-grown garlic and Maine sea salt. I spooned the mix over toasted baguette slices and they disappeared quickly.
My mother brought a jar filled with dandelion greens down from Sunshine Farm, and I chopped them up and dressed them with the most simple of vinaigrettes (organic olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and a touch of apple cider vinegar, plus just a hint of sea salt). Unlike the 1 to 4 vinegar to oil ratio of a traditional vinaigrette, I went heavier on the vinegar because I find the acidity is the perfect balance for the astringent bite of dandelion greens. I sprinkled a bit more sea salt on top and it was the ultimate spring tonic.
In keeping with the wild food theme, I also served fiddleheads from Windy Hill Farm in Windham. I sautéed them with olive oil, thinly sliced garlic and soy sauce. Here they are partially obscured by steam.
Lentil cakes served as the meal's main course. To make these I used my go-to mujaddara recipe, substituting a short-grain brown rice that tends to be much stickier than the long grain varieties. I formed them into patties and lightly browned them in a cast iron skillet. Thai chili sauce gave the cakes an added kick of spice. Olive and garlic rolls from Whole Foods rounded out the plate.
Finally, we concluded the meal with chocolate mousse pie. To make it all you need is two packages of firm tofu (I prefer organic Mori-Nu Silken tofu), a bag of vegan dark chocolate chips, vanilla extract, grapeseed oil, Maine maple syrup and a pre-made graham cracker pie crust. Pour about a 1/4 cup of oil in a blender and then add the tofu and 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract. Puree. As it begins to turn to the consistency of pudding, add the maple syrup until it is sweetened to your taste. I probably use about a 1/2 cup. Meanwhile, place the chocolate chips in a double boiler and allow to melt. Once it's melted, pour it into the blender and blend until well mixed. Pour this into the pre-made crust and top with crushed walnuts or fruit. Chill for 2-3 hours before serving. Few will ever guess this is made from tofu.

Fiddleheads!

I scored some of the first fiddleheads of the season from K. Horton's in the Public Market House today. At $5.99 a pound these fresh picked delicacies were quite the bargain. According to Kay, the fiddleheads come from Corinna, ME and the guy who harvests them predicts a longer than usual season (due to the heavy snow pack).

Monument Square was full of farmers today (the official start of the market season). They were selling tons of flowers and tempting seedlings, such as strawberries and tomatoes. This Saturday marks the first day of the farmers' market in Deering Oaks Park, from 7 am-noon.