Recognise this garden weed? It's called purslane and grows everywhere. I usually find it growing wild in disturbed soil and in the garden. It's one wild plant that I don't pull out but encourage to grow. It's a great succulent ground cover and is not a weed!
According to a Canadian Living article, nutritionally, purslane is a powerhouse. It has more than double the omega-3s that kale has and, as much as any other leafy green. It has over four times the vitamin E of turnip leaves which is more than most leafy greens. It has glutathione and other antioxidants and about as much iron as spinach. It also has reasonable amounts of other nutrients as well as phytochemicals, like all these leafy greens.
I like it because it is a succulent, so it doesn't wilt and will stay fresh for a long time with just a little water.
I recently began researching the weeds growing everywhere on our property (more in an attempt to get rid of them than anything else.) What I found is that many of them are not only edible but very high in vitamins and desirable phytochemicals!
Another so called "weed" that I have growing everywhere is wild mallow. The leaves and seed pods are good in salad and cooked in soups and stews. Mallows have a lot of vitamin A in their leaves too! The seeds are very high in protein, making them an excellent part of your chicken feed, as well.
The wild mallow that I have everywhere is malva sylvestris but I also grow malva moschata in the flowerbed, another mallow and close relative. It has the same vitamin content as it's cousin, the wild mallow. The leaves of both mallows are great in salad and cooked in spaghetti and lasagna if short on spinach. We eat them all the time.
Violet leaves also make a mild, healthy addition to salad.
This research into the "weeds" growing here has been the start of an herb seed business for me. I have been blessed with many herbs growing in the fields. I have an abundance of evening primrose, heal-all, St. John's wort, motherwort, burdock, chicory, yarrow, feverfew, celandine, clover, bladder campion, plantago and many more. Many of these have been transplanted to an "herb" garden or an area where they are protected. Some, such as burdock, are edible in salads and cooking.
So the next time you see something you consider a "weed", look it up and do some research. You might find your next healty salad green growing wild in your garden! Leave it alone and let it spread, transplant it to a better place or pick and add to your salad along with violet and mallow leaves.
This year I have decided to give my inlaws muffins for Christmas. They are elderly and it's just the two of them so she doesn't bake much anymore. They still enjoy baked goods, especially muffins, so I am giving them nine muffins from each of my very best muffin recipes. I baked them all just this week so they would be fresh. I frose them as soon as they were cool to keep them fresh. I took them out of the freezer this morning and they will get them tomorrow so they will be well thawed.
I made carrot/raisin, sour cream blueberry, banana and squash/pumpkin. The recipes are below. They refreeze well. None of these muffins are low-cal and all are made with real food, real butter, milk, eggs and sugar. (One loaf of white Wonderbread lasts for three weeks in the cupboard at room temp without molding! At first I said "Great!". Now I say, "Wait a minute. Is that real food?". Uh, no.)
I baked carrot-raisin-sunflower seeds (pictures here). This is the most delicious, moist, dense carrot muffin I have ever eaten. It's delicious and has a lot of texture and carrot in it.
Here are the recipes:
Carrot Raisin Muffins
3 cups grated carrot
4 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups oil
1 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds or nuts
Directions: Preheat oven to 300F. You will need 3 large bowls for this recipe.
Bowl #1: Mix grated carrot, seeds and raisins
Bowl #2: Mix flour, soda, salt and cinnamon
Bowl #3: Mix sugar and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each one. Add flour mixture to this and stir only until well blended. Add carrot mix and fold in gently. Fill greased muffin tin or papers 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 mins for very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.
Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teasppon baking powder
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries
Directions: Beat eggs, gradually add sugar. While beating, slowly add oil and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add alternately with sour cream to the egg. Gently fold in blueberries. Bake in preheated oven at 400F for 18-20 mins in muffins papers or greased pan for very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.
Banana Muffins
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
2 cups mashed bananas, very ripe (4-5 lg bananas)
1 cup mayonnaise
Directions: Mix first 4 ingredients together well. Fold in bananas and mayonnaise. Bake at 350F for 12-14 mins in muffins papers or greased pan for very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.
Pumpkin Muffins
1 cup cooked squash or pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup corn syrup
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon mace
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil and corn syrup in large bowl. Stir until well mixed. Stir all other dry ingredients together in another bowl. Add dry ingredients to squash mixture. Fill greased tins or papers to the top. Bake in preheated oven for 20-15 minutes until tightly brown on top very large muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one to test for doneness. If it comes out dry and clean, the muffins are done.
