Sorrel Chicken and Supreme Summer Salad

A vegetable whose storyline has so little to do with its rather demure cover that when you crunch into it for the first time, the result will surely involve joyous exclamations, backflips, and at the very least, a smile. The miraculous vegetable about which I speak is sorrel, a leafy green which has the flavor of slightly under ripe, tart blackberries. It is around sorrel that I have planned this meal, and hopefully the meal will make you smile as much as the first explosive taste of the magical berry leaf! (Serves about 5)

Supreme Summer Salad, starring Sorrel and Purslane
1 bunch Purslane
a little Salad Mix
1/2 bunch Sorrel
1/2 medium Red Onion
1 Red Carmen Pepper
a handful Slivered Almonds
1 Carrot
a handful Green Beans
2 cloves Garlic
1 medium Cucumber

Dressing:
1 whole Lemon
a few glugs Olive Oil
a few splashes Balsamic Vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
Carrot and Sage Quinoa Pilaf
1 medium/large White onion
3-4 medium Mixed Color
Carrots
1 bunch Sage
2 C Red Quinoa
4 C Vegetable Stock
Some Olive Oil
Salt

Sorrel Citrus Roasted Chicken,witha Corn and Mint Salsa

1 whole 3 lb. Chicken
   (Homestead Artisan
   Enterprises [Porter])
For the marinade:
1 C Olive Oil
11/2 Lemon
1/2 bunch Sorrel
3 good-sized Cloves
   Garlic
1 smallish nub Ginger
1 Tbsp Fennel Powder
about 1 Tbsp. Rosemary
about 1 Tbsp. Sage
a few splashes Apple
   Cider Vinegar
1 large Plastic Freezer Bag

For the salsa

2 ears Corn
1/2 medium Red Onion
1/2 bunch Fresh Mint
1/2-1 Lemon

Here we go:

We're going to start by making the marinade for the chicken. Marinade for at least an hour. Finely chop the sorrel, rosemary and sage, and finely mince the ginger, and place all in the freezer bag. Add the fennel and liquid ingredients and put aside.

Next, cut up your chicken until you are left with ten parts to prepare, and leftovers (remaining bones and cavity, etc...) for stock. Put chicken pieces in the Ziploc, seal and shake, mixing all the ingredients well and coating all pieces. Place in refrigerator.

While the chicken marinades, preheat the oven to 350° and start the quinoa pilaf by cutting up the onion and putting in a large pot with heated olive oil on medium heat. While the onion cooks, chop the sage. When onions are just cooked, add sage, stirring it into onions. After 30 seconds, stir in quinoa and let cook for a few minutes, until it has been lightly toasted. At this point, add vegetable stock and cover. Will take about 30 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, finely chop your carrots, preferably a mixture of orange, yellow and purple, which gives the dish a beautiful array of colors. Mix the carrots into the quinoa just before it is done cooking, so that they are cooked, but retain an interior crunch when served.

After you cut your carrots, but before you add them (there should be plenty of time), you can make the corn salsa, which is very simple. Cut the corn off your two cobs, put in a bowl (you can even cut it off in the bowl). Chop the mint. Finely dice the red onion - as fine as you can, because the finer it is cut, the more subtly the rich, spicy flavor will come through. Add both to the bowl. Squeeze the lemon over top and mix. Place in fridge.

Put a large skillet on the stove, and heat on high. Take the marinated chicken and place in hot pan, a few pieces at a time. There is no need to add oil because there is so much oil in the marinade. You are searing the outsides to get a delectable crispy edge on the pieces before roasting. When the first side is browned, flip. When other side is browned, place in a roasting pan. Repeat for all pieces. In the roasting pan, you can add all of the solid goodies among the chicken, for extra flavor. Place in oven. They will take about 40 minutes to cook, but keep a keen eye on them and use your judgment.

While the chicken is roasting and quinoa cooking, you can concentrate on the cold salad, which is pretty much choppin' and tossin'. Add the following ingredients in the following ways. Purslane, rinse it and then chop all but the lowest, largest stem area. Put in bowl. Sorrel, coarsely chopped, to almost Mesclun sized pieces. Garlic, raw, minced. Salad mix, as much as you'd like. Carrot, chopped. Red pepper, finely sliced. Almonds, as you'd like. Finally, roughly chop the cucumber and green beans and add to the bowl. Finally, do not add the dressing until just before serving, otherwise the salad will get soggy, but when you are ready, you can just add the dressing ingredients overtop of the salad and mix everything together. If you prefer, you can mix the dressing in a separate vessel and then pour overtop, but with this simple dressing I didn't find it necessary.

When the chicken is done, remove pieces from roasting pan and place on a drying rack, to drain excess fat and delicious juice from cooking (and maximize crispiness). Now, serve and enjoy!