Purslane & Picnics

A miraculous thing happened this past Saturday. The sun came out!! Luckily it’s out today too. You see, if you don’t live in San Francisco, you may not realize that there’s this odd city that doesn’t have a summer. As an east-coaster, I had no idea this existed. The central valley heats up, sucks the fog over the city, and hunkers down for three months solid. Three cold months that should be hot makes a whiner out of many people, including me. But Saturday I felt warm (I had to remove my scarf and sweater if you can believe it!), at least for a few hours, and it was awesome. It also inspired me to grab some light, bright flavors at the market and plan a picnic for lunch.

I grabbed purslane, a delicate green with omega-3s and a lemony flavor, since I had been intrigued to try after my friend @summertomato mentioned it a few weeks ago. 

Ain’t it purty? I tore off the leaves and small stems, leaving only the thick stems behind.

All the tender leaves went into my lovely picnic-ware and then I sprinkled with some roasted marcona almonds. I tossed in a few pinches of sea salt too.

Next I needed something sweet, but equally as delicate as the purslane. Cantaloupe! The melons this summer have been extraordinary. Do you not see this and just smell it? I had it glued to my nose once I grabbed it at the market. 

I sliced that bad boy up. 

And then I sliced it again. To match the delicate texture of the purslane, the cantaloupe was cut into thin, small slices. Since we were packing the picnic, I stored the melon separately to avoid a soggy salad.

This wasn’t the simplest picnic food I could pack, but damnit I was determined to have purslane at my picnic! So I packed up the rest of my salad components that would be pulled together once we reached the park. Next up I added a little chevre. I love Cow Girl Creamery because I can buy cheese in bulk. I abhor throwing REALLY GOOD cheese out because it’s been abandoned in my cheese drawer. I picked up just as much chevre as I needed for the salad. 

I snagged this bottle of extra virgin olive oil during a visit to Preston Vineyards; apparently people who know how to grow grapes, know how to grow other oval fruit - like olives! Super small batch runs of their olive oil, and it’s stunning. I only break this bottle out for salads and other dishes where no cooking is involved and the characteristics of the olive oil can be enjoyed. 

I also knew I’d need a small splash of white wine vinegar, so I grabbed my Sauv Blanc White Wine Vinegar from Katz and finally I had every part to my salad!

We walked up to Alamo Square Park, which looks down on the Painted Ladies. Typically as a local, you avoid the touristy parts of town, but Rob and I really enjoy this spot. It’s not too touristy, usually sunny, got a great view, and dogs can roam free. We hear all the foreign languages, which reminds us how far some people have traveled to this spot, and how lucky we are that it’s right in our very own neighborhood.

Once we settled onto our blanket, I mixed in the cantaloupe, chevre, extra virgin olive oil, and white wine vinegar. 

I’ve made many a salads, some good, some lame, this one rocked. We both agreed it was up there on the top 5 salads list. Not too shabby.

It was so good we ate every. last. leaf. Even the itty bitty ones.

Then we polished off the remainder of the cantaloupe for dessert. 

Although Bentley didn’t eat any - not a slice. He’s not much of a fruit mutt, as much as we’ve tried to convince him. He sticks with his favorite food snack categories of bacon and cheese. 

I’m not typically a recipe person for salads. I just eye-ball the proportions of stuff, taste, add, remove, add, add, taste, & eat. If you want to recreate, it’s super, super simple and delicious. 

  1. emilyolson posted this