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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Purslane, Avocado, and Cucumber Salad

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Purslane, avocado, and cucumber salad with cilantro recipeIt’s verdolagas / purslane season here, and that means I’m eating it every day, sometimes for two meals a day, mostly in cold salads like this one. I like purslane cooked, but most of the time in the summer when I eat it, I just want to wash it, chop it, and call it a day.

This simple salad is a good example of something I’ll make after weeding some from the garden. The ingredients might change a bit here and there, but the basic proportions are the same. about 1:1:1 purslane and other ingredients by volume. For this one I was feeling the green and white colors, and cool flavors, but you could easily throw a few tomatoes or something else in there to add juice to the natural dressing, along with some acid.

Foraged purslane, cucumber, and avocado salad with cilantro

Note how everything is about the same size, and can fit on a spoon.

Keep everything about the same size

Whatever you do, one of the keys for just tossing together little slaws and salads like this out of random things in the fridge is trying to keep everything around the same size. You want everything to be able to fit on a spoon, so the guest can taste all of the flavors you’ve put into the salad. For this, the purslane was nice and tender so I cut it into about 1 inch pieces, but it could be cut finer if you like. 1 or 1/2 inch pieces are pretty nice though, as they allow you to keep as many of the purslane leaves whole as possible, while being able to just slice them up quickly and not spend time picking tiny clusters of leaves apart, which can be a little putsy.

Purslane or Portulaca oleracea, a delicious edible garden weed

Lots of food happens when the garden gets weeded for purslane.

Purslane, or verdolagas are loved in Latin America, so this salad with it’s avocado, lime and cilantro (or your favorite herb) reflects that, but you certainly steer it in another direction, probably Mediterranean first, nixing the avocado, and adding some sliced red onion, olives, feta, and mint or basil. Once you get the hang of throwing some chopped purslane in a bowl with a few other things and seasoning it up,  you’ll come up with all sorts of ideas.

Purslane, avocado, and cucumber salad with cilantro recipe

Purslane, avocado, and cucumber salad with cilantro recipe
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Purslane, Cucumber, and Avocado Salad

Latin American inspired purslane salad with avocado, cucumber, fresh cilantro and lime
Prep Time15 mins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Purslane, Salad
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 3 oz washed and dried purslane about 1.5 cups, cut into 1 inch pieces, any larger tough stems removed *see note*
  • ½ a large cucumber
  • 1 large avocado
  • Small handful of fresh sliced cilantro dill, or mint, to taste
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Fresh lime or lemon juice to taste
  • Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cut the cucumber into ¼’s the long way and remove the seeds with a knife, then cut the quarters in half, and cut into 1 inch segments.
  • Dice the avocado into ½ inch cubes.
  • Combine all ingredients, season to taste.
  • Taste the seasoning and correct as needed for citrus, herbs, and salt, then serve cold.
  • The salad will start to wilt after about 15 minutes.

Notes

Tough Purslane 
If your purslane is larger or seems a little tough, blanch it for a few seconds to tenderize it, then refresh in cold water, drain very well or spin dry and go from there. There will be a color change, but it's worth it if the purslane is tough. 

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
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Alan Bergo
Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water by hand with Sam Thayer and @danielvitalis for @wild.fed 

Daniel and Sam were the apex predators, but I got a few. 

Without a net catching crayfish by hand is definitely a wax-on wax-off sort of skill. Clears your mind. 

They’re going into gumbo with porcini, sausage and milkweed pods today. 

#crayfish #ninjareflexes #waxonwaxoff #normalthings #onset🎥🎬
Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizo Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizomes and blueberries for this weeks shoot with @wildfed 

Been a few years since I worked with these. Thankfully Sam Thayer dropped a couple off for me to work with. They’re tender, crisp and delicious. 

Sam mentioned their mild flavor and texture could be because they don’t have to worry about predators eating them, since they grow in the muck of cattail marshes. 

I think they could use a pet name. Pond tusk? Swamp spears? Help me out here. 😂

Nature makes the coolest things. 

#itcamefromthepond #cattail #rhizomes #foraging #typhalatifolia
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine caps on hardwood sawdust from my lumberjack buddy.

Next up blewits. Spawn from @northsporemushrooms

#winecaps #strophariaaeruginosa #allthemushroomtags
It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from my favorite spot tomorrow a.m. and have room for a couple helpers. It’s at an event on a farm just south of St. Cloud. 

If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll raffle off the spots. Plenty of cherries to go around. I’ll be leading a short plant walk around the farm too. 

#chokecherries #foraging #prunusvirginiana #summervibes
Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking Special thanks to the beach in Ashland for hooking it up with on-site garnishes. Beach pea flowers taste strong and leguminous, similar to vetch, or like a rich tasting pea shoot. 

#lathyrusjaponicus #beachpeas #peaflower #foraging #northshore #bts
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