One Way to Get Your Greens

I'll bet you didn't know those weeds that grow on the side of the road are not only edible, but also delicious.  I'm referring to verdolaga or common purslane (portulaca oleracea), which can be the bane of the gardener or a treasure for the discerning cook.

What's more, this succulent weed is incredibly healthy. Verdolaga contains high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids and is a great source of Vitamin C and some B-complex vitamins. Here in central Mexico where I often travel, verdolaga is everywhere: on the side of the road, growing lushly (albeit wildly) in clay pots, and in the market.

The best part of eating verdolaga is that you can't beat the price. In my case, it's free because it grows abundantly next to a lime tree in a large pot. No complaints from me about the wayward growth of tangled verdolaga, ready for my kitchen and my palate!

Verdolagas a.k.a. Purslane

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Recipe Type: salad

Author: Gilda Valdez Carbonaro

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups of washed, chopped verdolaga


• 1 or 2 firm, but ripe tomatoes, cut in wedges or strips


• ½ red onion, cut into thin slices


• 1 avocado cut into strips


• 2 limes


• ½ cup chopped cilantro


• ½ olive oil


• Rock salt to taste

Instructions

1. Mix the verdolaga, tomatoes, onion, and cilantro in a salad bowl.


2. Arrange the avocado.


3. Sprinkle rock salt.


4. Drizzle olive oil.


5. Squeeze the juice of both limes and serve.

Notes

You may prefer to thoroughly mix the oil, salt, and lime juice before arranging the avocado slices so that all the leaves of the verdolaga are smeared with the dressing.

Nothing Beets Olive Oil

The first time I tasted extra-virgin olive oil, I couldn't believe I had lived without it (Well, ahem, sort of.  See video.) for so many years. Now I hoard it like people hoard bottled water in fear of some catastrophic emergency. And, as insane as it may sound given today's travel restrictions, I even bring it back from Italy upon my frequent trips to Florence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwf9Q9nPgwA

So...it's true. I have said in a previous post that I don't like to mix my cuisines, that is, my Italian and my Mexican, but there are Mexican dishes that can only be improved with olive oil.

Vegetables, in general, are always perfectly enhanced with the flavor of a good quality extra-virgin olive oil drizzled over them.  Beets (betabeles), in particular, are a side dish my mother always served.  She prepared them in a simple way: boiled and salted.  In Laredo, at this time of the year our citrus trees were loaded with oranges, tangerines, limes, and grapefruit.  Here is a recipe that combines the beets—roasted, not boiled—with the citrus of the season, along with the very Mexican flavor of cilantro and the unmistakable mediterranean flavor of good olive oil.

Roasted Beets with Blood Orange Slices

Ingredients:
Approximately  1½ lbs beets
4 blood oranges (or regular oranges)
½ cup walnuts
½ cup chopped cilantro
½ cup water for the bottom of baking pan
½ cup extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
sea salt

Preparation:

Remove the greens and wash the beets thoroughly. Place them on a baking dish in which they all fit snugly.  Pour the water into the pan so that it covers about ¼ inch of the bottom of the pan. Drizzle the vegetables with the oil. Sprinkle with salt to taste and cover with aluminum foil. Cook at 350 degrees for approximately 45 to 60 minutes until you can pierce the beets with a fork all the way through.

While the beets are cooking, remove the peel from the oranges with a sharp paring knife. Cut in slices, starting from the end of the orange. Put aside.

Remove the beets from the oven and peel them. Quarter them and arrange them in a serving dish.  Add the orange slices, cilantro, and walnuts.  Taste again for salt, toss carefully, and drizzle with more oil if needed.

For further reading about olive oil, see this informative post by David Lebovitz.