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Discover Edible Blossoms Far From The Flower Garden For Your Gourmet Salad

The artichoke, pictured above, is also the flower of the plant. Watch for the flowering shoots on artichokes and experiment with the flavor to create a gourmet salad that is both delicious and colorful.

Discover Edible Blossoms Far From The Flower Garden For Your Gourmet Salad

Edible flowerWhen looking for ways to turn an ordinary salad into a gourmet treat, many people have turned to edible flowers. But you don’t have to make a beeline for your flower garden to find flowers.

Instead, you may want to take a second look at your vegetable garden, herb garden, and even your lawn. Perhaps the blossoms you see there are more than just pretty, maybe they are delicious, too.

Edible Blooms in the Vegetable Patch
Yes, many edible flowers are not actually found in your flower garden, but are actually staring right at you from the vegetable garden.

Some of these ‘edible blooms’ you actually know quite well, even if you haven’t thought of them as the flowering part of your vegetables.

The broccoli and cauliflower, we are familiar with, are both actually flowers, just as the artichoke is also the flower of the plant.

Not only are you eating a flower when you eat a head of cauliflower or broccoli, but you can also allow the flower to flower, so to speak, and enjoy that treat as well. The pretty yellow flower of the broccoli can be picked, cleaned, and enjoyed, sprinkled on top of a bed of lettuce, tossed in a light vinaigrette.

Watch for the flowering shoots on cauliflower and artichokes, too, and experiment with the flavors to create a gourmet salad that is both delicious and colorful.

Edible flower 2Some of our favorite vegetables sport lovely blossoms that we watch disappear as the vegetable forms. Zucchini, for instance, has a brilliant yellow blossom that is absolutely beautiful to look at.

Other squash varieties share this gift, as well. But, squash blossoms have a surprise in store for us; they are also delicious.

There are a number of ways to prepare squash blossoms, but one favorite is to pick the blossoms when they are still small and closed, then wash and prepare by dipping in a light batter and frying, quickly, in a hot skillet.

This makes a delicious somewhat sweet surprise on top of a mixed green or fresh spinach salad. Another favorite is to scatter the blossoms raw around the plate. No matter what, squash blossoms will turn any salad into a gourmet salad.

Courtesy of The Art of Catering

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