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.

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.

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

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

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.

We all love here in Eastern KY. So in spring we gather it put in the freezer so when we want it in the winter we have it so we eat it year around. It is great anytime!

I am from South Carolina and I have cooked poke sallet for years. I parboil it 4 times - then cook just as I would cook turnip greens. I put onion - salt - pepper - sugar and chicken broth (instead of bacon grease). Eat it just like turnip greens with a little hot pepper vinegar just like all 84 year old southerns eat their greens. I ate so much poke sallet today that I had to take a nap. Ya'll need to try some!

Never heard of ANYONE getting sick from eating polk that had been boiled until tender in ONE water. Would be the same if you used hay from the barn as a filler because there would be no taste left in the polk. Grocery stores started putting in newspapers around 75 years ago that polk was poison so people would not eat free polk and buy greens at the store. Boy did it work. I also think that anyone that claims to be an expert and says polk is poison if boiled until tender in one water is in the pocket of large grocery store chains. For well over 100 years my family has been eating polk boiled only once and feeding it to anyone that may be around when it is on the table. For many, it was the first time to eat it and no one ever got sick.

If you get constipated, you can boil poke and drink about 2oz of the light green tea. It will loosen you up quite well. The first time I tried it, I drank about 6 oz. I won't make that mistake again...

I am 70 and I have ate poke all my life. My Mom never boiled it two or three times. It is just cooked until tender. I always just get young chutes. I was told once it gets berries it is poison. Before the stalks turn red they are delicious rolled in flour and meal and fried.

I'm not much into greens, so I gave it only 3 stars. My grandmother didn't specify how many times to boil the greens, she just said it had to be "parboiled", which usually means changing the water until it is clear. My grandmother liked to have poke salad exactly one time each year in the spring. We would pick enough tender greens to fill one large paper grocery sack that was what my grandmother considered "a mess" of poke salad.

Ate poke all my life. Wash thoroughly then boil it once. My favorite is to mix with mustard greens and a little salt. The two greens really complement each other. After boiling once I put in an iron skillet with a little bacon grease and wilted mustard greens and cook well.

We freeze the poke after boiling so we can enjoy year round. A pone of cornbread and just wonderful. Problem is I cannot decide if I like it best as freshly cooked or as a leftover.

Pokeberry Shoots (poke) cooked

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 84 kJ (20 kcal)

Carbohydrates 3.1 g
Sugars 1.6 g
Dietary fiber 1.5 g

Fat 0.4 g

Protein 2.3 g

Vitamins Quantity %DV
Vitamin A equiv. 54% 435 μg
beta-Carotene, 48% 5200 μg
lutein zeaxanthin 1747 μg
Thiamine (B1) 6% 0.07 mg
Riboflavin (B2) 21% 0.25 mg
Niacin (B3) 7% 1.1 mg
Vitamin B6 9% 0.111 mg
Vitamin C 99% 82 mg
Vitamin K 103% 108 μg

Minerals Quantity %DV
Calcium 5% 53 mg
Iron 9% 1.2 mg
Magnesium 4% 14 mg
Manganese 16% 0.336 mg
Phosphorus 5% 33 mg
Potassium 4% 184 mg
Sodium 1% 18 mg

The young tender leaves and stems are good to eat. You can boil or cook them like you are cooking spinach, with some bacon grease until they are wilted. The larger leaves and stems are bitter and tend to be tough.
NEVER eat the berries! While they have no good flavor of their own, the seeds are poisonous.
The berries, once ripened to a deep purple, are good to dye fabrics... and your fingers :-)

I have a lot of memories of poke. Growing up on a ranch in the Arkansas Ozarks, we ate a lot of poke. In the late summer, early fall we would put on white tee shirts and have pokeberry fights. Didn't exactly thrill Mom...
We also have eaten the berries by the handful, they don't taste very good, but I don't believe they are poisonous. It's just a wives tale.
You can also blanch the stalks when small, peel off the skin, roll in cornmeal and fry, tastes great, just like okra.
Calvin is right on how to prepare the poke.