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Post by lola on May 30, 2014 15:37:47 GMT
Out harvesting strawberries this morning from our little patch -- and the peak of a good year seems to be today -- I renew my intention to make use of the sorrel and purslane starting to get a good foothold out there. Wood sorrel, the tart oxalis one that looks like shamrocks, with little yellow flowers:  and Purslane, the succulent one that quickly matures, goes to seed, and spreads:  I'm sure they're both bursting with good nutrition. It will be difficult to get more than a cup or so of packed sorrel now, so I could just add it to salads. Purslane, more abundant, could also be tossed into a salad. I'm thinking something like Potato and Purslane Soup, that I might have to invent. Does anyone have favorite use? |
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 16:37:05 GMT
I had no idea that wood sorrel was in the oxalis family.
Nor, have I seen oxalis with a yellow bloom. The cursed invasive oxalis that grows here has a pinkish lavender bloom.
I don't know if it is edible.
I have had purslane in a salad together with arugula and it's quite tasty.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 16:40:33 GMT
Sorrel (oseille) is very well known in France but not eaten so much as a vegetable anymore. Instead, it is the prime component of a cream sauce that is often served with fish, notably saumon à l'oseille.
Oseille is also an old slang word for money.
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Post by lola on May 30, 2014 16:45:09 GMT
Sauce for salmon sounds perfect for the amount I could gather. Thanks, K.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 17:26:46 GMT
I have sheep sorrel growing on our property, I've munched on it, but it really seems too laborious to gather enough for a salad. It's invasive, though, and I'm always pulling it out of the garden. I planted oseille just the other day. As I do, I mockingly carried it very sheepishly to the counter of the nursery because my husband is always complaining about the (small) number of plants I buy. "What's that?", he said. I said, "Sorrel. Makes a fabulous sauce for fish". He took it out of my hands and plonked it on the counter. The man is crazy for food with sauce.
Lola, be careful with the amount of wood sorrel you consume at one time. The oxalic acid is very high in that particular strain and can cause problems.
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Post by lola on May 30, 2014 18:10:55 GMT
Thanks, Lizzy, for the reminder. Probably gets deposited renally? Since toxic dose is not known maybe shouldn't mess with it beyond the occasional nibble.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 31, 2014 18:54:41 GMT
Casimira, it seems to me I have tried the evil pink-flowered oxalis that grows in your area & it did have the trademark sorrel sourness. I imagine that sour flavor was valuable for a fish sauce in a region or season with no lemons.
I've eaten quite a bit of purslane. It can really grow on you (as well as your flower garden, your vegetable garden, the adjacent field .....). It has a nice texture & a hint of sourness -- good in salads as well as steamed. Try incorporating it in smoothies, even sweet ones, for the excellent nutritional value.
Many "roadside herbs" are commonly sold here. Some, such as lambs quarters (Chenopodium album) and purslane were a regular part of the diet in Europe, Canada, & the US up into the 20th century. Those are the only two I can reliably identify, as many of the other weeds sold for eating are indigenous to Mexico. The lambs quarters are usually sold in a mixed bag of other weeds. Another greens not usually found on a European or N. American menu, but very common here are the leaves, stems, & curly tendrils of the squash plant.
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Post by lola on May 31, 2014 23:16:12 GMT
Casimira, I missed your post above. I don't think I've seen the purple-flowered kind around here.
Does sheep sorrel taste like wood sorrel, then? What about osielle?
Thanks, Bixa. Smoothie sounds brilliant. I've eaten lamb's quarters, the tender tops anyway, but don't see a lot of them in my garden except when I bring in chicken manure from elsewhere. Do people used the mixed bag of weeds for cooked greens then?
Tonight we'll have the cole slaw I made with purslane, 1:3 cabbage ratio and all the other things I toss in. It's very good.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2014 0:25:05 GMT
Yep. Sheep sorrel, garden sorrel, wood sorrel. All defined by the oxalic acid taste, which Swiss chard also shares in a much milder form. Sheep sorrel:  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2014 0:54:11 GMT
I've seen that little weed, but couldn't have identified it. While trying to find a list of the plants usually found in a bag of mixed greens here, I came across this fascinating article: www.eattheweeds.com/edible-wild-flowers/Who knew you could eat some of that stuff?! Most interesting, although I don't see myself pickling magnolia petals anytime soon. Lola, your slaw sounds wonderful! I feel healthier just since deciding to steal your idea. |
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Post by lola on Jun 1, 2014 17:48:08 GMT
I"ve never noticed sheep sorrel in Missouri. I might still try a little wood sorrel, jut enough to flavor a salmon sauce.
Wow, great article, Bixa. Fun to learn that coumadin/warfarin was discovered through moldy clover. Not to mention other fun tips like eating chicory and evening primrose blossoms.
The baddest aggressive thug weed in my garden, that I love but have been wrestling with half this morning, is edible: violets. The first tender spring leaves anyway, and especially the flowers in salads. Henbit flowers add an interesting flavor to salads, too. Redbud flowers, and the tender pods. Sometimes we get poke, but it never seems worth the repeated cooking water discards. I don 't see how there could be many vitamins left after all that.
I will have to try the squash tendril thing. I've deep fried squash blossoms, daylilies, and elderflowers, but I seldom deep fry anything anymore due to the hassle.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 3, 2014 14:23:30 GMT
Lola, I have eaten oxalis (clover) as a child just because it tasted 'funny' but only sort of recognise your photo of purslane. As for another weed eaten as a child because our nanny used to wander around the rough edges of the garden and pick it, is Blackjack leaves. Pinching the four or so top bunch of leaves off each plant. Naturally during this time we got well and truly covered in the needle-like blackjacks clinging to our socks and clothing. In the kitchen she would boild the leaves and pour off the brown liquid. Mixed with onion and tomato or potato, we ate the strange bitter concoction. These are a few blackjacks in my succulents garden, competing heavily with masses of gooseberries. Sorry such awful photos taken with my iphone.    |
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Post by lola on Jun 9, 2014 20:01:19 GMT
Your photos are lots better than mine, tod, because mine were swiped from the internet. I need to remember to admit that each time.
I don't know blackjacks at all. Are they the ones with the rose looking leaves? Your garden has an autumn look there, especially the blackjack seeds, that look like something I see in the woods here and need to ID.
I gathered a pint of wood sorrel in the garden, not as easy as I thought to get that much, and plan to use in a sauce over broiled salmon tonight. I think the few mouthfuls each will be a safe oxalic acid dose for us with known medical history.
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Post by lola on Jun 10, 2014 0:36:14 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 10, 2014 4:18:05 GMT
The salmon in sorrel sauce must have been divine!  There's some kind of Physalis in that picture, too. Is it edible? I don't recognize the blackjack at all. Was it supposed to be good for you, Tod? It doesn't sound very yummy. As I was leaving the market yesterday I passed a man selling nice big bunches of purslane, so of course got some. So far it's been chopped into a very loose interpretation of German potato salad & into a rice & fruit salad. Tomorrow it will go into a potato & broccoli soup I'm planning. |
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Post by tod2 on Jun 16, 2014 15:27:44 GMT
I need to get some better pics of the Blackjacks on their own. My photos were taken down near my compost heap and are a mixture of Four O'Clocks ( little black seeds in photo), the white and yellow flowers and the black spikey bunches are Blackjacks, and the other leaves (and a pod or two) are gooseberries. The last photo is looking directly overhead at blackjack leaves ready for plucking.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 20, 2014 19:01:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2014 19:08:00 GMT
You just post this sort of thing to taunt those of us who have no yard of any sort!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 20, 2014 21:18:59 GMT
Yes, those of you who live in nameless backwaters with nothing to see, nothing to do, no markets, restaurants, or interesting ethnic groups. Poor, poor you!
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Post by lola on Aug 5, 2014 1:01:31 GMT
One does pity K his lack of backyard, bixa, doesn't one? It wouldn't hurt to know about that sort of thing, though, just in case while traveling you get cast away in some immense backyard.
That book looks excellent, bixa. Thank you. Because of your eattheweeds article above I now pick and nibble chicory flowers that grow by the Metro stop on my way to work. The chicory blue lends me inner peace. I read that purslane was one of M. Gandhi's favorite foods, and that Thoreau ate it at Walden.
I made basil pesto today, and added purslane and a little wood sorrel, maybe 4:1 by volume basil to foraged greens. Turned out nice.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 11:31:30 GMT
I have fond memories of going out in the fields with my grandmother and cutting young dandelion plants for salad. That is probably something that I could easily do in Paris if I manage spot an area with lots of dandelions AND remember to return there in the spring when they are just beginning to sprout. It's that second part that I can never remember.
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