poke salad

Yummy Goodness!

Young tender poke salad plant:


It's poke salad time of the year. Yes I do eat poke salad, about 3 messes(as my mother in law would say), each spring. I only pick the small tender leaves, about 1/2 of a brown grocery sack full. I wash them and boil them,about 15 mins. Then I drain the liquid and cover with water again and boil one more time and drain again. I put 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet, add 1 medium onion , diced and cook until translucent. I add the drained poke salad greens and season with salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes over medium high heat. I whisk 4 eggs(farm fresh of course) in a bowl, push the greens to one side of skillet, drop a couple tbls. of butter on open side and scramble eggs until almost done, them mix it altogether and cook for about 5 more minutes. Enjoy! They say poke salad is poisonous, so eat at your own risk. My mother in law said you had to boil it 3 times to get the poison out, I only boil twice and never have a problem(but I only pick the very small tender leaves). She also said never eat it after it starts to make poke berries.