Purslane Pesto

In my cooking life, I've been feeling rather uninspired lately.  With a couple weeks off from work, friends in town to celebrate my upcoming role as a bride, and a whole lot of laziness, I've eaten in restaurants more than in my own home.  When I do eat at home, I've cobbled together "meals" of various snacks like nuts, raisins, and cheese.  I knew things had reached a bad point when, six weeks into my annual CSA share, I found myself throwing away more veggies than I was eating.  The truth is, I've been intimidated by the items that I don't know what to do with.  The scariest of them all? Purslane. 

According to wikipedia (the ultimate source of knowledge in my world, though my journalist groom-to-be would disagree),

"Although purslane is considered a weed in the United States, it can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. It has a slightly sour and salty taste . . . The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible."

Considered a weed, but can be eaten as a vegetable?  No wonder I didn't know what to do it. 

Luckily, our CSA has a newsletter, written by a wonderful woman who knows what to do with the most puzzling of produce.  She recently shared a recipe for purslane pesto, and since I've never met a pesto I didn't like, I decided to give it a try.

Oh, but I didn't own a food processor!  I know, I know--how could I NOT own one of these magical little machines?  Doesn't everyone?  Let's just say I've never made a priority--until now.  After one quick search, I found a Cuisinart mini food processor on Craigslist, and when I found out that that it was lime green, $25, and would be delivered to me by the seller, I couldn't believe my good luck.  One more thing to take off the wedding registry.

And so, here's what I put in that delightfully bright little guy:

1 cup of purslane (full disclosure:  I couldn't find my measuring cups easily, so I used my favorite soup mug)

1/2 soup mug of olive oil

1 clove of garlic (but it was a really big one)

the juice of 1/2 lemon

a handful of parmesan (you can also use feta)

a large handful of roasted almonds (cheaper than pine nuts)

a bit o' salt

Then, all I had to do was push "CHOP," and don't you know, it WORKED!  In what seemed like five seconds, I had a delicious pesto that I just wanted to eat by the spoonful.

I ended up adding a bit more parmesan and salt (gotta make up for all those years when I couldn't eat cheese), then spreading it on some eggs that I scrambled with baby onions (or are they leeks?) and tomatoes.

Baby onion or leek?  I think it's a baby onion because it has a "bulbous bottom" (mmm hmm--I know what you're thinking), but maybe someone out there knows better than I do.

I'm thinking I can use this pesto like a chimichurri, which means the man who's almost my husband will soon be eating vegetables . . . whether he knows/likes it or not.

Hopefully there will be more CSA adventures to come!  I'd love to hear ideas from anyone else who's made great things happen with veggies lately.

Summer Lovin',
Francie