The Benefits of Beauty on Your Plate

As we await the bounty of our gardens beyond the tasty and healthy greens that so enliven our meals this time of year, here are some ideas to add color, flavor and bits of nutrients that most of you probably have ignored until now—Edible Flowers!

Our bounty tends to come all at once in the Great North East and we tend to grow impatient as we await the first pea, bean, zucchini or tomato to ripen on the vine in our little patches. Well here is a way to brighten any plate whether it be as humble as the nightly meal or extravagant as a major birthday celebration.

Edible flowers such as lilies, morning glories, nasturtiums, flax or bee balm can be used just beautify the plate or cocktail the way that restaurateurs have used kale and parsley for years or they can be made into part of the meal itself. Here’s a quick break down of culinary uses for flowers –but feel free to use the whole flower as garnish as well. We can never have too much beauty in our lives!

• Chop up marigolds (calendula) and /or nasturtiums for a peppery flavor that adds color as well as flavor to your meal.
• Use the flowers from any of the alum family--leeks, chives, garlic, garlic chives—to add their flavor and beauty to your creations. The entire plant of ths species is edible.
• Use the flowers from bee balm to compliment any meal or side dish that has mint as a flavoring.
• Clover flowers are sweet with a hint of licorice.
• We all by now know that I am crazy about dandelions—please comment on this post and I'll post an entire barrage of recipes in which you can use all parts of the dandelion—a food available for FREE all over the planet!
• If you have purchased impatiens for your window boxes or garden, the flowers are not exciting as far as taste, but are edible and attractive on a plate.
• Day lilies and gladiolas may be used in the same way squash flowers  are--batter dippped and fried or stuffed and batter dipped and fried. Don't eat these too often!
• Violets and Johnny JUmp Ups make beautiful tasty additions to your plate.
• Morning glories make a pectacular cocktail garnish; float one on a frozen Margarita or daiquiri.

There are relatively few flowers that can't be used--the smell will give you a clue. Obviously don't use any flower if you don't know what it is and if you do but don't know what it will taste like or if it should be eaten or not, drop me a line. I'll let you know!