You can harvest sorrel on your next walk. We’ll show you what to look out for and how to prepare a delicious sorrel salad with strawberries.
How to harvest sorrel for your salad
You will find sorrel, a wild herb belonging to the knotweed family, in many meadows. Just take a closer look the next time you go out into nature. The main harvest time is from spring to July.
You can recognize sorrel by its elongated, lanceolate leaves. These grow out of the ground in a rosette shape. In the flowering period, between May and June, you can easily recognize the sorrel. During this time, long panicles with inconspicuous, reddish flowers push up to a meter high from the ground.
If the meadows are public, you can harvest some leaves for your salad. Only pick as much as you need. This allows the plants to grow back in peace. Of course, you shouldn’t harvest the main ingredient for your delicious summer salad from private property.
If the leaves of the sorrel are still very small, it is better to let them grow a little longer. You can harvest the leaves from a diameter of about ten centimeters. Sorrel has a bitter taste. You can balance this out in your vegan salad with the sweetness of the strawberries and the dressing.
By the way: The earlier in the year, the lower the risk that the leaves of the sorrel will taste too bitter or sour.
Recipe for vegan sorrel salad with strawberries
Strawberries are in peak season in early summer. Combine the sorrel harvest with a trip to the strawberry field. If possible, also pay attention to organic quality with the strawberries. In this way you support agriculture that does not use chemical-synthetic pesticides and thus protects the environment and health.
This is how you prepare a delicious summer salad from your self-harvested ingredients.
Ingredients:
200 g sorrel
50 g lettuce
400 g strawberries
1spring onion
0.5 red onions
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon nectar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sunflower oil
0.5 clove(s) garlic
1 pinch(s) of salt
1 pinch(s) of pepper
Some chives
Directions:
Prepare your sorrel and lettuce leaves. Wash them and then dry them.
Wash and dry the strawberries as well. Then cut them in half lengthways and put them in a bowl with the salad.
Cut the onions into small pieces and add them to the rest of the salad together with the sunflower seeds.
Now you prepare the dressing. To do this, first mix agave syrup, mustard, apple cider vinegar and sunflower oil.
Using a garlic press, press the garlic into the dressing. Alternatively, you can chop it finely.
Season the dressing with salt and pepper. When you’re satisfied, spread it over your sorrel salad.
Finally, garnish your salad with chopped chives.
Sorrel is so healthy
This refreshing and light salad is ideal for warmer days. The strawberries add a great pop of color.
The recipe is not only regional and seasonal, but also healthy. With its high vitamin C content, sorrel has health-promoting effects in store for you. It is said to help with gastrointestinal complaints, reduce fever and have a diuretic effect. Sorrel gives a sluggish digestion a boost. The bitter substances in sorrel are also very healthy.
If you still have sorrel left over from your harvest, you can use the rest to prepare a delicious sorrel soup.
