Purslane is a new vegetable for the CSA this year, and I suspect I was not alone in being unsure how to handle it. Google to the rescue!! Unabashedly pulled from Epicurious.com, this salad tasted entirely of summer. We made a few modifications, of course. Our recipe:
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 whole finely chopped shallot
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1.5 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- some salt
- 1 tablespoon cup extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for brushing zucchini
- some black pepper
- half a bunch (1/2 cup?) chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 pound zucchini
- 1 shares-worth Purslane
- half a pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 10 ounces chicken breast
We don’t have a grill, so the zucchini was sliced in half and cooked under the broiler (ok, not so summer-friendly) until well-colored, flipping halfway through. Chicken was sprinkled with salt, pepper, cayenne and paprika (though almost any seasoning combination would be good) and broiled on each side until cooked through.
Dressing was made by blending lemon zest and juice, garlic, mustard and oil –
NEAT TRICK ALERT! Use a blender to make a dressing!
Start with a blender and a Ball jar
Unscrew the base of the blender pitcher, being careful not to let the blade fall out on your foot
Fill your jar with the ingredients to be blended (not shown) and invert the blade/gasket over the jar
Screw the base over the blade, securing the blade inside the jar
The blade/jar apparatus now fits on the blender base! Blend and enjoy!
Toss the purslane (remove the big stems), parsley, shallot, tomatoes, zucchini and chicken together with the dressing. Summer in my mouth.
The CSA’s in-house chef, Chris, made this for me this week, and it was mighty excellent. With more escarole on the way this week, give it a shot (and ignore the weather, who says soup doesn’t go with 95 degrees?!)
Ingredients:
1 Leek
3 Carrots
1 head escarole
1 qt chicken stock
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
Rosemary and oregano to taste
grated romano or Parmesan cheese
Finely chop one big leek, 3 small carrots. Cook in a splash of olive oil in a soup pot. Add a head of escarole, hacked up. Cook until it wilts a bit. Add a quart or so of chicken stock, and one can of the white beans of your choice, rinsed/drained. Bring to a simmer, add a little rosemary and oregano. Hit it with a stick blender (or pour into a blender) to decimate some of the beans and boost overall creamy texture. Add second can of beans. Adjust spices. Eat it sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan, and a slice of bread to dunk.
I will add that this would in no way be damaged by the addition of some bacon.
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