Anyone have any experience with Poke Salad?

My wife cooks it. Her grandmother, God rest her soul, taught her how. This was before the tragic gator accident. Anyway, despite the fact that her father was incarcerated and everybody pitied her, she was able to overcome her unfortunate childhood and lead a successful life. All thanks to polk salad.

In some stores you can buy it canned. Takes the risk factor out of the equation.

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In some stores you can buy it canned. Takes the risk factor out of the equation.

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Really? Someone actually cans that? I was actually thinking more along the lines of everything going to shite in society and we have to fend for ouraelves. I think I've got pine nuts and cat tails figured out, and maybe I can pull off some trapping, but as much of that stuff as we have available it would be useful to at least know hoe to actually cook it, even if I were just in a survival mode thingy lost in the middle of nowhere and had to eat something growing wild.

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Really? Someone actually cans that?

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Source was Ron Wilson. He has a syndicated radio talk show out of Ohio. It's about gardening. He also has a website..
LINK

Edit: I've got all kinds of wild mushrooms growing on my land but I'm not about to eat any of them.

As strange as it sounds, I know all about Poke Salad.

We have it two or three times at our house each year in the spring or early summer. The back of our property is full of it. I eat it because I like it, but it is classic poor country folks food.

Photo

Excuse the rambling:

Don't eat it when the stems start turning red or purple. It is always a little toxic, but more so when the stems start turning red. The toxic components are why you wash it and drain cooking water twice.

Harvest the leaves and wash well to get rid of bugs. Chop in 1/2 inch pieces if you like. Boil in very lightly salted water for 2-3 minutes, then drain rinse and boil again, then drain and boil again, the third time continue boiling until it begins to get tender. Maybe 10 minutes.

Transfer to skillet with a little oil, some chopped onions and saute until onions get tender. add a litle salt to taste.

The picture I posted has a little chopped cooked bacon, which tastes great and provides the oil (1 tablespoon). The bacon may make it salty enough without adding extra salt, so be careful or you can add too much salt. When the Polk Salad is done and onions are tender, scramble an egg in it and enjoy. Best with purple hull peas and cornbread, and a fried porkchop but that's just my opinion.

It doesn't really taste like turnips or collards or spinich, but sort of like those dark green leafy veggies - maybe more like Kale.

We like it a lot.

It's old-timey food. The Polk Salad you see in the woods this time of the year is all stems and seed pods. Go out and harvest some seed and drop them on the ground in a partly shady place. They will come up in the spring.

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My wife cooks it. Her grandmother, God rest her soul, taught her how. This was before the tragic gator accident. Anyway, despite the fact that her father was incarcerated and everybody pitied her, she was able to overcome her unfortunate childhood and lead a successful life. All thanks to polk salad.

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