Poke poison, if that's the case I should have been dead many years ago. I love poke, always have. Only boiled it once, it's one of the healthiest foods you will ever eat. As for the one who committed about hang it out to dry and smoke you, you must be related to me some how, cause a lot of my family members say the same thing. Don't think I would ever smoke it though. It's made to eat in my book.

Just for the record, it's spelled poke salaT, not salaD. Look it up.

Been a poke picker every spring for over 50 years. When the Poke emerges, find plants that are ALL green, stem included. Any sign of red, flowers or berries... leave it ALONE. Harvest (cut) from six inches off the ground. Remember when picking, that Poke cooks down... so what looks like a lot in your bag, becomes about a tenth of that volume in the pot. Clean. Roiling boil leaves for ten minutes, drain, repeat, drain, repeat. The third boiling is ready and can be handled just like spinach, with a pad of butter added at the table. The GREEN stalks can be cooked the same or steamed and eaten like asparagus. I like to fry onions in a little oil, add the greens, all little brewed soy sauce or Vietnamese fish sauce & then scramble eggs in it. Very good with a side of Jasmine rice. If you are not confident in picking... find someone who has experience and go with them a few times. It freezes well for summer and winter meals & I know folks who also can it. Enjoy

Polk salad has high levels of vitamin A. Long-term use of large amounts of vitamin A might cause serious side effects including fatigue, irritability, mental changes, anorexia, stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, mild fever, excessive sweating, and many other side effects. In women who have passed menopause, taking too much vitamin A can increase the risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture. IN OTHER WORDS, DON'T EAT IT ALL THE TIME.

I have eaten Polk salad all my life. My Dad and I used to cut it off the side of the road in the spring. The recipe above is pretty much what we did, but I've never boiled it 3 times like they say. My Dad only cut small plants with smaller leaves. He said if you ate it when the berries started, it became poisonous. We also scrambled the eggs in with the greens. That was good too.

I love this recipe. My mother always cooked poke salad in the spring. She said it kills parasites and fungus inside us. I am 71 and I still cook it using the above recipe.

Could you please post your recipe for Poke Salad. Thank you!

I remember, as a child, stopping on the roadside if we saw polk salad (that's what we called it 'cause we said what we heard' as kids). Anyway, we always picked it from what was growing wild at the side of the road, but only from the small plants and they didn't have any berries. We just boiled em and seasoned em like spinach and ate em and we never got sick.

Sounds awesome!

I remember growing up eating Poke Salad. Nothing nearly quite as fancy as the recipe listed, it was just served as greens. I think it was just part of growing up relatively poor, as they were really inexpensive compared to other vegetables.

I harvest small pokeweed leaves (no bigger than my hand length) from spring until first frost kills the plant. I cut back as I pick so I always have new off shoots growing. I always would boil 3 times...then two (no one got sick) and now once...and we are all alive and kicking. :)

I am 62 years old and this the first time I ate poke stock. My sister in law and husband had always ate them. They cut the stock and floured them and fried them and they taste just like mushrooms. I loved them!

The person that said hogs died from eating poke greens is sadly mistaken. I was raised on a small ranch & farm. I have seen hogs eat dead rotten animals that a buzzard may turn his nose up at. Never remember feeding poke to hogs, but have seen Horses and Cows eat it in the pasture.(uncooked) In fact you will never find it if they can get to it. The hogs died from something other than the poke greens.

I have a LOT of poke growing on my land and am very curious about cooking some up. But I'm a Yankee and I'm scared. Is it really not poisonous? You all aren't just pulling our Yankee legs?

I also only boil once, we have fried the stalks, peeled and breaded like okra, the juice off the polk is good for constipation, a couple of tablespoons will clean you out. So it all parts of the polk are good. From Alabama.

I've eaten polk my entire life and my mother only ever boiled it once then pan-fried it. If you don't boil it enough it will make the roof of your mouth itchy.