A while back, cooks were cautioned never to make beans in the pressure cooker, but times have changed and technology has changed with them.
Good eating hasn't. It used to be a lot harder to make this meal, but no longer.
Step one:
I put a cup of clean pinto beans in the bowl of the multicooker along with enough water to fill the bowl half full and set the timer for ten minutes. This is my substitute for soaking the beans overnight.
Step Two:
A while later, after the pressure has dropped, I open the cooker and add a chunk of meat. Pork loin or shoulder is fine, or if you like the beans vegetarian, just leave the meat out.
Step Three
Next, stir and add more water if needed, so that all of the beans are covered. Then cook another 30 minutes and when the pressure comes down the second time add chopped fresh purslane (also known as verdolagas) as shown:
Then cook for an additional 10 minutes. When the pressure comes down again, these are ready to eat. Additional seasonings may now be added or the beans can be enjoyed as is.
Here is what the purslane looked when it was still in the salad bar:
When it is still small like this we eat it raw in salads, but as the plant gets larger, and it does get very big, I cut it completely back and after saving a handful of cuttings to root to make new plants, cut it up to cook. Until recently the search engines turned up very little about purslane and less about verdolagas, but recently recipes and even photos of the plant have started to appear.
If you are interested in growing this plant, I recommend starting with the Golden Purslane seeds. I have seen recipes that say you should wash the purslane and cut off and discard the red stems, but when you grow your own indoors this is not necessary. The stems are quite delicious cooked up in beans as long as you slice them first, as shown my photo above.
Finally, yes, purslane is the same "weed" that is invasive in gardens everywhere and often seen forcing its way up through the cracks in a dry sidewalk, and if you have some in your garden that is free from insecticides and other hazards, it can be eaten, too, but it is not nearly as tasty as the domesticated varieties that are now available, from which I have grown single leaves up to 3" long and an inch wide:
NOTE: To see another recipe and photos of the salad greens I grew to make it, look here: Bitter Greens from my Garden.
I also planted a few of the dry beans we had on hand, pintos, anasazi, and others and put them in hydroponic planters on our porch.
