foraged purslane summer salad with peach and avocado, a no-cook elimination-phase side

Most people pull purslane out of the garden and throw it on the compost pile without a second look. On AIP, learning to see it as food instead of a weed is its own small skill, one worth building when the grocery list keeps shrinking. Free. Growing wildest exactly when the summer heat has everything else in the garden wilting. Genuinely good to eat, thick juicy stems, a flavor somewhere between lemon and sweet pea.

Purslane is a source of ALA, the plant form of omega-3 fat, different from the EPA and DHA found in fish but doing its own quiet part in the body's ordinary work. Paired with avocado's own creamy fat and a ripe peach, this plate costs almost nothing and still tastes like abundance.

One real caution: purslane has a toxic lookalike, spurge, so be certain before you pick it, or buy it if you have any doubt at all. Once you know exactly what you are looking at, there is a real satisfaction in eating something you found yourself, still cool from the morning.

Ingredients

• 1 head Bibb lettuce
• 2 cups purslane leaves, thick stems removed
• 1 avocado
• 1 large peach
• Fresh chives

For the vinaigrette:

• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Method

Wash the purslane and pat it dry. With a paring knife, trim out the tender leaves and shoots and discard the thick, woody stems.

Arrange the Bibb lettuce, purslane, sliced avocado, and sliced peach on a platter, and scatter the chives over the top.

Whisk the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt together until they come together. Dress the salad just before serving so the greens stay crisp.

*Adapted from asquirrelinthekitchen.com*