The Purple Shamrock

Wood-sorrel is in the genus Oxalis. While it does grow in the woods, wood-sorrel also grows in gardens as weeds and tends to find its way to many other cracks and crevices. Many Oxalis have a spring loaded seedpod. When ripe the seedpod will fling its seeds in all directions at the slightest touch.

I was first introduced to this genus by my father. He taught me that biting into the shamrock shaped leaves will yield an acidic almost citric flavor. It is from this flavor that the genus gets it's name. The acidic bite is caused by oxalic acid.

Dad told me, that in the new American frontier, pioneers would use large amounts of Wood-sorrel in their cooking. Unfortunately, too much of the wood-sorrel caused health problems. I've always wondered exactly what happened. I decided to do some research and find out.

The Research Internet only . . .
Oxalic acid binds with calcium. Long-term consumption of large amounts of oxalic acid can cause kidney stones and calcium deficiencies.

Dietary sources of oxalic acid include rhubarb (which is why we don't eat rhubarb leaves), spinach, chocolate, and tea. Source.

Some of the more useful species in this genus are the Oca and Scurvy-grass sorrel. Oca produces an underground tuber that is edible and a staple in some regions of the world. Scurvy-grass sorrel is high in vitamin C, and was used by sailors to fend off scurvy.

In Summation
Care must be shone when using members from the genus Oxalis as food. Especially if you have digestive problems. And as with everything, moderation.

With that in mind:
My Purple Oxalis rocks! It is called a Purple Shamrock by some. This is one of the species with tubers or bulbs. I've seen it go through several 'resting states' only to revive looking just fine. It doesn't mind too much when I forget to water it; it always comes back to life. :)

Recipes

Tea
Wood-sorrel is quite good as tea. I have found the Purple Oxalis to make an excellent tea as well. I always use freshly cut leaves.

Boil a cup of water.
Cut three stems.
Rinse leaves and chop. Then put into mug.
Once water is ready, pour over leaves.
Let seep 30 seconds.

Add honey or green tea to taste.

Salad
The purple oxalis adds visual interest and taste to salads.

Start with a bagged salad of mixed baby greens.
Cut and rinse the oxalis leaves.
Separate the three leaflets and scatter over the salad.
Dress with Oil and Vinegar, Salt & Pepper.

A Substitute
When lemons are in short supply, wood-sorrel can make an interesting substitution. This recipe comes from wildfoodplants.com

Oxalis Cooler 1 quart water
1/2 cup Oxalis leaf/stem/flowers/seedpods
1 T agave nectar or honey
dash of salt

Mix all ingredients in a blender. If possible, let sit overnight in refrigerator and enjoy!
The only change I'd make is to filter out any pulp with a muslin cloth.

Pressed Plants
While tri-foliate leaves of wood-sorrel make an attractive pressed plant, my Purple Oxalis is truly vivid.

These pressings can be glued to paper and turned into bookmarks and stationary.

Give it a try!

Raspberry

Monday morning I watched the Sun come up will I drove into work. A beautiful sunrise. A sunrise made all the better by my breakfast. Raspberries. The Sensual Delight. The Raspberry is a feast for the senses. When ripe, raspberries have a glowing red hew. Their scent is distinctly sweet and floral. Their delicate flesh is followed by the rough crunch of seeds. They have an acidic bite with a lingering sweet taste, as though you had sucked the nectar from a rose. Were these ears able to catch the sound of raspberries growing, the brier taking nourishment from earth and sky, there could be no doubt of its dulcet tune. A Lesson in Mindfulness. I remember, growing up on my parent’s farm in the foothills of North Carolina, picking berries on the hillsides. My parents built their house on a brier patch and the berries emerged every year. To pick fruit from a thorned plant, is a challenge. To be sure, losing a bit of blood to them is a fair trade for the bounty you receive, but how to avoid the thorns? Using gloves wasn’t helpful. Any thick enough to block the thorns would be too thick to keep the fruit from being crushed. You have to become very observant of the position of your hand in relation to the plants. Your movements and the movements of the plants as they turn in the wind. Staying quite in mind and concentrating on the task at hand. The moment my mind wandered I’d get jabbed. The Feast. Many of those berries never made it into the collection basket. Yum! :) Those that did make it back to the house would wind-up in many tasty recipes. When cooking with berries simple recipes seem best.

Breakfast:

Head out to the berry patch and start picking. Breakfast is berries! If your not full after picking a basket full try making yogurt-fruit cups. When I have frozen raspberries I like to mash them with a little honey or splenda. Next pour plain yogurt on top. Then just mix everything together. This is usually as complex as I make it, but you could add granola, and a host of other yogurt toppings as well. This is an excellent replacement for the high-fructose corn syrup laden fruit yogurts found in grocery store cooler. Healthier, cheaper, and a good deal more fun. Frozen raspberries become quite bitter so some sort of sweetener is usually needed.

Lunch:

Make a fun twist on the peanut butter and jelly classic. Instead of jelly use fresh raspberries. Use a whole wheat bread, real peanut butter (or almond butter), and mash the raspberries on top. Works well with a variety of berries and fruits.

Dinner:

Salad! For salads I like to get the spring salad bagged mixes. They contain so many different things, every bite is an adventure. Put the salad on plates, add raspberries and cucumber cut into raspberry sized chunks. The raspberry/cucumber combination is very appealing. Add your dressing. Remember simple is better with berries. So a little oil and red wine vinegar. Salt & Pepper. You're done! Raspberry, Cucumber heaven.

Desert:

Berry Cobbler is an especial favorite. It works quite well with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and combinations there of.

Berry Cobbler 2 cups Berries 1 cup Flour ½ cup butter pinch salt

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.

Place berries in 8 inch oven dish

Mix together remaining ingredients (I like to use my hands for this, fun texture!) and crumble over berries.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes.

My mom made variations of this for desert. Thanks mom!

While already vegetarian this recipe is easily adapted to vegan and sugar free.

Snack or All of the above:

This is great for any meal or a snack! Take a banana and divide it along it's seam until you have three equal sections. If you've never done this before just try pushing into the tip, at a curve. The banana should fall into three sections. With the wedges pointed up, put the banana sections on a plate close together forming a plank. Spread on almond or peanut butter. Chop dried raspberries and sprinkle on top. Eat with a fork.

Wow! Vegan, Raw, Sugar-free, Dairy-free, and Delicious!

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Raspberries are in the genus Rubus. Making them a close relative of blackberries.

For more technical and botanical information on raspberries check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry.