A New Heartsease...

Foraging for Sheep Sorrel

 

Lemony, wild, and free! Sheep sorrel makes a tangy sauce for eggs, fish, or chicken!

 

    When I lived in my Folk Victorian Farmhouse - Heartsease Cottage - I grew garden-domestic French sorrel. 

    Now, living in a condo (Heartsease Haven) in Northern Idaho, I forage for the same tangy, lemony flavor, but in its wild versions of sheep sorrel and wood sorrel.

 

    

From left to right...French sorrel, sheep sorrel, and the clover-like wood sorrel.

 

    All three of these "sorrels" have the same lemony flavor and make a delicious sauce. While I no longer grow French sorrel - it doesn't seem to like growing in a pot on my balcony - I now forage for both sheep and wood sorrel.

 

Sheep sorrel leaves, stems removed, and washed, are ready to use. The small, heart-shaped clover-like leaves of wood sorrel are similarly removed from their stalks.

 

Saute one cup sorrel, one teaspoon minced shallot, in one or two teaspoons of butter in a small skillet until the sorrel changes from bright green to dark green,"melting" into the butter/shallot mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

    Sorrel, regardless of variety, reduces significantly when cooked. So gather four times, or more, than you'll end up with after cooked.

    After cooking this simple mixture, I freeze it in small containers for use throughout the winter.

 

I freeze many of these small containers of sauteed sorrel. Each one contains about two servings...more when mixed with cream.

 

    To use the stored, frozen sorrel, I thaw it out and add a splash of cream and stir it in. The sauce is ready to serve alongside fish, omelets, or chicken.

    Of course the sauce may used without adding cream for a more tangy version.

 

There are many wonderful, free, and delicious foods to be found in Nature!

 

Sheep sorrel is usually found in semi-shaded areas growing near the base of trees and logs in early to mid-summer. 

 

    Both French and sheep sorrels tend to die out as Summer's heat comes on. Wood sorrel persists and can be gathered until Fall.

 

Look for clusters of three heart-shaped leaves - as in the photo above - and a lemony taste, otherwise you might be "saucing" up several varieties of oxalis minus the lemon flavor! Yuck!

 

    Nature's free and delicious bounty is part of the Natural Abundance Lifestyle. 

    Always be sure that what you're collecting is safe to eat!!!

    For wonderful tutorials on foraging visit Learn Your Land on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcbf8wnyVJl631LAmAbo7nw

 

Bon appetit!

* * * * *

 

Natural Abundance is realizing, utilizing, and being grateful for the beauty and bounty that surrounds us. 

Fiesta Bowl - Healthy, One Bowl Meal For Vegans, Vegetarians, and Everyone Else!

 

A savory blend of quinoa, roasted yam, pinto beans, with scrambled tofu (or egg), cooling guacamole, alfalfa sprouts, and a drizzel of hot sauce...

 

    Here, an intersection of Mex-Asian ingredients marry in mutual, munificence! And it's vegan/vegetarian and oh, sooo tasty!

    While the yam bakes in the oven and the quinoa cooks stove top, open a can of whole pinto beans and whip up a cool guacamole. You'll also want to lightly pan-toast some sesame seeds!

    If you don't have alfalfa sprouts, you can use fresh micro-greens, shredded lettuce, cabbage, mild radishes, or chopped cilantro. 

Recipe: Fiesta Bowl (serves two or more)

1 to 2 TBS olive, peanut, or coconut oil

One medium yam or sweet potato, baked, skin removed, and diced

1/2 cake of firm tofu, crumbled or mashed (or one raw egg to be scrambled)

Soy sauce

tumeric

1/4 cup Soyriso

1 cup cooked or canned, whole pinto beans rinsed and drained

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (save any remaining for another dish or freeze).

One quarter each of a red and green bell pepper, sliced thinly lengthwise

1/2 tsp smoked paprika, or one or two drops Liquid Smoke plus regular paprika

1 tsp dry-pan toasted sesame seeds to garnish

alfalfa spouts or other fresh options (shredded lettuce, cabbage, radish,etc.)

Siracha, Tapatio, or Cholula hot sauces for garnishing (I like Siracha because it squeezes out in a thin ribbon).

One large, or two small avocados

1 Tbs lime or lemon juice

1 to 2 TBS nut milk

Pinch of salt 

    Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

    While the yam bakes you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.

    One large yam - skin on - baked until tender, about 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel away the skin and dice the yam.

 Quinoa

    Rinse 1/2 cup quinoa under running water for 30 seconds until foaming stops. Cook the quinoa in 1 cup boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork and set aside. You'll need 1/2 cup of the cooked quinoa for this recipe. You can reserve any leftover for another recipe or freeze it for later. Cooked quinoa freezes well.

Creamy Avocado Guacamole

    Peel and thoroughly mash the avocado. Stir in the lemon juice and nut or soy milk until you have a smooth, creamy sauce. Stir in the pinch of salt and set aside.

Scrambled Tofu (or Egg)

    In a skillet (you'll use the same skillet throughout).

    Place a teaspoon of oil into a skillet and heat. Add the Soyriso and heat through. Add the crumbled tofu and a dash or two of soysauce, and two or three shakes of turmeric. Cook through and set aside.

    If using an egg, whisk the egg with a 1/2 tsp water and a shake of salt. Saute the Soyriso until heated through and add the egg. Stir/scramble the egg and set aside in a bowl.

    Place a tablespoon of oil into the same skillet, and heat. When heated, add the pepper slices and saute until nearly tender. Add the smoked paprika (or regular paprika and one or two drops Liquid Smoke. Stir until the peppers are coated. Add the cooked quinoa, pinto beans, and diced yam. Add a bit of salt to taste.

To Assemble:

    In one half of a medium-size bowl, add a generous serving of the yam/quinoa mixture. Fill in the other half of the bowl with the savory scrambled tofu, or egg mixture.

    Add a generous spoonful of guacamole, a garnish of alfalfa spouts, a sprinkle of toasted sasame seeds, and a zigzagging ribbon of Siracha sauce. Siracha or preferred hotsauce may also be served on the side for those less enthusiastic about heat.

    This dish is healthy and tasty. It's vegan (or vegetarian if egg is used). It's a little Asian, and a lot"fiesta".

    There's a nice smoky back taste for savor, and a bit of heat, too, thanks to the Siracha.

    Initially, the dish requires a bit of prep. However, if you double or triple the servings, you can store the left overs in the fridge. Then, it's so easy to simply scoop all the pre-made ingredients into a bowl and have an instant meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The dish may be served hot, room temperature, or cold from the fridge.

    The yam/quinoa mixture can be made ahead and frozen in containers. The remaining ingredients don't freeze well.

    This dish arises out of the vegatarin Buddha Bowl tradition which is a healthy mix of protein of some kind, some type of grain, fresh ingredients, and a tasty sauce to add savor and bind the disparate ingredients into a delicious one bowl meal!

 Notes:

    Soyriso is a soy product that looks, tastes, and smells as yummy as choriso without the snouts and anal rings, and other "unsavories" from which choriso is traditionally made.   

 

 

 

 

NATURE - Simple Grace In the Age of Covid-19

 

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,

but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.

~Author unknown,

 but commonly attributed to 

Martin Luther~

* * * * *

    Even in times of tribulation, such as we are now undergoing, God's wild places can soothe the troubled soul and lighten the heart's sorrow. 

    If we can seek out a quiet garden, park, or natural place, we can distance from the clamor, chaos, and cringe-worthy news cycles. 

    In these spaces of quiet and repose we come face to face with God's grace and can then return to our lives refreshed in body, mind, and soul.

 

    Note: The photo above is of Cyrpidium montanum, Mountain Lady Slippers of Northern Idaho, and was taken with my cell phone on an early June forest-walk.