Today we will talk about flowers: beautiful, fragrant, healthy and … delicious. Besides the fact that they help us to share emotions, color life and the surrounding space, heal certain ailments, flowers are also very tasty, if you know how and what to cook from them.
A bit unusual email today, isn't it? In fact, it is a kind of therapy. For our psychological state, it is very necessary to talk about pleasant things, experience positive emotions, relax a little and why not try something new.
I don't think there is anything new for you when I say that we can eat flowers. This has been known for a long time, and now famous chefs use various representatives of the flora to prepare special and exquisite dishes.
You probably already know how I cook. In one of my previous articles, I told you about my culinary experiences. To be honest, I'm far from being a good cook. But I love trying new things, experimenting, and I can tell you that you don't need to be a guru in the kitchen to cook something floral. The main thing is to choose the right plant.
Lily soup with asparagus
There are more than a hundred varieties of these flowers, of which tiger, Madonna and curly lilies are considered edible. These lilies contain a lot of protein, iron, and magnesium. They are also rich in beneficial carotene and vitamin P. The buds, bulbs and petals are commonly used for cooking. It is customary to soak buds and petals before cooking, but bulbs are added to dishes in a fried form.
Let's try to make a hearty lily soup – a great option for lunch!
Ingredients: four or five pieces of asparagus, one lily bulb, one shallot, two cloves of garlic, different herbs and spices to your taste, and two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
How to cook:
- Wash the asparagus, onion and lily bulb; chop the asparagus, onion and garlic; break the lily bulb into pieces.
- Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic in it, add water and let it boil.
- Add asparagus and lily bulb and leave for about seven minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with finely chopped herbs before serving.
Rose for dessert
Roses are sweet flowers. They give the dish a captivating aroma. Syrups made from this plant become the highlight of any dessert. Let's make the syrup at home.
For this you need to:
- collect plants, it is best to do this in the morning;
- check the rose for bitterness. The lower petals usually taste unpleasant. You need to get rid of them;
- arrange the petals in layers in a glass dish. Crush each one a little and sprinkle with sugar;
- place the bowl in a cool, dark place.
By the end of the day, the petals will release juice – the aromatic syrup is ready. It can be added to compotes, jam and ice cream.
Daisy candies
Daisy leaves are rich in vitamin C. They can be added to a salad, giving it a unique taste. From the flowers you can make candies.
Ingredients: two handfuls of daisies, 300 grams of sugar, half a glass of water, a couple of drops of lemon juice and a drop of fruit aromatic edible oil.
Recipe: Mix the sugar, lemon juice and water well. Boil the syrup over low heat. Add the scented oil and pour the liquid into the molds with a daisy in each mold.
Lavender cookies
Lavender has a spicy tart taste, pleasantly bitter and exudes a bright aroma.
Ingredients: 50 grams of cottage cheese, 100 grams of butter, six tablespoons of honey, one egg, one tablespoon of orange peel, 200 grams of flour, ¼ teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, lavender flowers – three tablespoons.
How to cook:
- In one bowl, mix two tablespoons of flowers, four tablespoons of honey, an egg, zest and spices, and in the other – cottage cheese with butter. Add flour and mixture from the first plate to the curd mass and knead the dough.
- Roll out the dough one centimeter thick. Using a glass, cut out circles from the sheet and sprinkle them with the remaining flowers and brush with honey.
- Cover a baking sheet with baking paper and put the blanks on it, send the cookies to the oven for twenty minutes. Bake at 180 degrees.
When experimenting in the kitchen, keep the sense of proportion in mind. Plants cause allergies, so add them wisely. For cooking, it is better to take flowers grown on your own.
Let yourself be plunged into the beauty and taste of summer flowers!