Sorrel revisited

Thursday, April 24, 2008

There are a few things that over-wintered in the garden and are now going all crazy: the garlic, French sorrel, and chives.  Only the sorrel was a surprise.  And what a nice surprise it was! 

Sorrel sort of looks like spinach, but there’s no mistaking the flavor - it’s tart and lemony.  And it’s good for you!  Sorrel is high in vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, and fiber.

I tend to use sorrel more like a garnish, cut into chiffonade and used in sandwiches and with beets.  However, since I’ve got such an early and large supply of it, I’m looking into some other uses.  One interesting idea I came across is a sorrel pesto sauce for pasta.  Another really tempting idea is sorrel and goat cheese quiche.

Radishes will be one of the first crops we get when the CSA’s start shipping, and I found a recipe for butter-braised radishes with sorrel  The combination of spicy and tart sounds delicious!

Here are some other ideas for using sorrel:

• Sorrel vichyssoise
• Sorrel, pea, and leek soup
• Halibut with tomato-sorrel sauce
• Smoked salmon benedict with sorrel sauce
• Sorrel dal

It’s definitely not too late to plant some sorrel in your own garden - as I discovered, it’s a perennial…so it will give you many years of lemony goodness!