Healthy summer dishes with edible flowers

Edible flowers: The „Icing on the cake“ for many dishes

07/11/2013

Edible flowers are delicious and healthy and give many dishes a variety of flavor and spice variations a very special touch. However, not everything that looks beautiful is also suitable for consumption - so you should look carefully at the selection of flowers, because some garden flowers are inedible or even toxic. In addition, there are many petals that are true delicacies and can be used for great summer dishes.

Beware of red foxglove, lily of the valley and hemlock
Thus, according to Heike Kreutz of „aid info service“ The red foxglove, lily of the valley and hemlock are by no means consumed because of their toxicity, in addition, the plants are likely „not be sprayed so that ornamental plants from the trade are usually not suitable“, so the expert in a current press release of the „aid“. Instead, flowers such as nasturtium, violets, roses, forget-me-nots, marigolds, chives and sage would be ideal for salads, but the dressing should be given at the very end, „because the delicate flowers quickly become unsightly“, recommends Heike Kreutz on.

Delicious recipe idea: Wild herbs salad with goat cheese dressing
For the use of flowers and a delicious wild herbs salad with goat cheese dressing is recommended - this can be prepared quickly and easily and brings not only vitamins on the table, but also a summery flair.

Required for 4 persons:
1 bag / bowl of wild herb salad mix with flowers
50 ml of olive oil
1 tbsp Balsamico Bianco
40 ml apple juice
50 ml white wine
2 tablespoons mustard
70 g goat herbal pie
3-4 tablespoons of agave syrup
1 bunch of radishes
1-3 EL p.P. Pine nuts (quantity as you like)
vegetable stock
salt and pepper

To prepare the dressing, first puree oil, vinegar, apple juice, white wine, mustard, goat's cheese and agave syrup with a blender and season with vegetable stock and pepper. In the next step, the radishes are quartered, sautéed in a pan with little oil and a little salted. Then place them on a kitchen towel to drain the oil, then roast the pine nuts in a pan without oil until golden brown. The salad mixture is now served with the radishes on a plate, coated with the dressing and garnished with the roasted pine nuts.

„flower jam“ cook from violet flowers quickly and easily
For desserts are the expert of „aid“ Roses, violets and pansies are particularly good - for example, it is possible to use candied rose petals to decorate cakes or to make a spread from violet leaves. According to Kreutz, it would be necessary to boil water, lemon juice and powdered sugar for this, then add the stalked violets and cook for about 30 minutes at low temperature - for so long, „until a thickened broth arises“. Then fill the finished spread in the glass and you have a delicious „flower jam“, which also wonderful as a small gift for the next barbecue party can take.

Important: Pay attention to the right time for the harvest
Anyone who wants to use flowers in the kitchen should, according to the expert, but pay attention to the right time for the harvest, because flowers have faded flowers have hardly any flavor. So be „Ideal for most types of the morning, when the flowers have just opened“, writes Kreutz. If the flowers are then quickly placed in a bowl of cold water, they would stay fresh for a few hours - but before stalks and green sepals should be removed and dust or hidden insects are eliminated by gently rinsing the flowers. (No)