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Posted by Susan Morris Aug 23, 2008 |
Oral traditions have passed on the know how about eating edible flowers in salads. As a child I tucked into marigold flowers with round lettuce and cucumber without question because it looked pretty and it was served by my mother.
Today there are many salad leaves to eat and grow at home including romaine or cos, endive, lollo rosso and plain round. Whatever your choice of salad leaf there are edible flowers to suit preferences and local availability. If you have zucchini flowers this summer, try eating them in batter.
Simone Seekers in her book Celebrations (National Trust 1995) suggests "nasturtium, marigold, borage, small pansies, chives, rose petals." for her 'Festive Summer Salad'. These are good suggestions and can bring yellow, orange, red and blue to green and red salad leaves.
Adding herbs such as basil, chives, tarragon, flat leaf parsley and chervil to your summer salad can accent your choice of color for edible flowers plus provide a herbal base for the simplest of salad dressing - freshly ground black or white pepper and olive oil.