It’s also high in fiber, which can promote regularity, increase feelings of fullness, and help stabilize blood sugar levels, and is rich in antioxidants.
The leaves are astringent, diuretic (increasing urination), laxative (softening the bowel), and cooling.
Juice of the leaf has also been applied topically for the treatment of itchy skin and for treatment of ringworm.
Sorrel does have oxalic acid in it, so be careful in consuming sorrel if you have rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity.
You can reduce the oxalic acid in the leaves by cooking them, or adding yoghurt to the dish.
Some studies have found that sorrel may block the growth and spread of certain types of cancer cells.
While other studies show that sorrel may improve several aspects of heart health.
All parts of sorrel are edible. The root can be cooked, and then dried and ground into a powder. The seeds can also be eaten raw or cooked, and also ground into a powder and mixed with other flours to make bread.
Cooking with Sorrel: Sorrel has a tart, lemony flavor that works well in a variety of recipes.
It’s especially popular in soups and stews and often paired with ingredients like potatoes, carrots, chicken, and sour cream.
You can also use sorrel greens to spice up salads or mix them into vinaigrette's for an extra burst of flavor.
Sorrel sauce is another popular recipe that uses these greens. It’s usually served alongside seafood dishes like salmon.
The tart taste of sorrel combines well with ingredients like chives, heavy cream, butter, and chervil or parsley.
To make a simple salad dressing: In a blender, add 1/2 cup of olive oil, 8 leaves of fresh sorrel, 1/2 tsp each of salt and black pepper, 3 TB apple cider vinegar, and 1/8 cup of other herb of your choosing (thyme, basil, oregano), blend until smooth and use over your salad or greens.
Growing Sorrel: Sorrel is one of those super easy herbs to grow! It is frost and drought hardy, prefers full sun but will tolerate part shade. The plant accumulates potassium, sodium, calcium and phosphorus so makes a great companion plant for fruit trees, preferably on the sunny side.
Chickens: Chickens LOVE sorrel, and because it grows well all year round, it's popular with our chickens over winter, when other greens are a bit scarce.
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