What's so bad about a little poison anyway?

Sorrel is one of those greens that I’ve always known about but couldn’t tell you what it looked like or how it tasted. I probably read about it in a book. (I thought maybe it was the irresistible veg that Rapunzel’s father stole from the witch’s garden in the middle of the night for Rapunzel’s mum.  But no, it was lamb’s lettuce that sent him over the wall…heaven only knows where I’d pick up some of that!)

I wanted to broaden my horizons and become more familiar with different greens; partly because it’s good to know and partly because I wanted something interesting to plant in my winter garden. I have no idea if sorrel even grows in a winter garden but when I saw it at the farmer’s market I thought I’d give it a try. I bought some Italian chard at the same time and thought I would cook them together for a lovely dark green stir fry. The Italian chard cooked up beautifully: bright green, held its shape, very delicious. The sorrel, however, went gray-green, turned to mush and was so intense in its lemony flavor that we couldn’t eat it. This clearly is a green that needs to be eaten in small doses. And maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t eat it all: apparently it has high levels of oxalic acid (a posion) and if eaten in large quantities is lethal! Hmmmm.  (Found out there are a lot of veggies high in oxalic acid, spinach being one.) Should I give up on sorrel or give it another try? Sure, I’ll give it another try! Why not?

I searched my collection of cookbooks for a recipe. Found a winner. Fields of Greens by Annie Somerville is the cookbook from the Greens Restaurant in San Francisco. The restaurant serves organic vegetarian fare. I’d wanted to eat there forever and finally got the chance last June. The meal was absolutely delicious. Also expensive. I won’t be able to go back any time soon but the cookbook provides a lot of great inspiration. The recipe I found: Tomato, White Bean, and Sorrel Soup. The broth is made from fresh tomatoes that are peeled, seeded and pureed. Added to the broth: onions, garlic, carrots, sherry, thyme, white beans and, of course, chopped sorrel leaves that add the perfect piquant lemony flavor. With a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese, it was sublime. 

As wonderful as the soup was, I don't think I'm going to plant sorrel in my yard. It has limited uses and let's face it: I need a lot of bang for my gardening buck. I've got some kale and bok choy planted and they're doing well. Let's just hope they aren't poisonous.