🤩BLOG TIME!!🤩
Today’s topic is…. ✨Edible Flowers✨🌿
Flowers aren’t just beautiful; some are also delicious and packed with many nutrients! From adding a burst of color to your dishes to providing a unique flavor, edible flowers have been used in cooking for centuries. Here are some popular edible flowers you can safely consume:
🌸Pansies: Pansies are mild-flavored flowers with a slight grassy taste. Their petals come in various colors and can brighten up salads, desserts, or even cocktails.
🌼Calendula: Often referred to as “marigolds,” calendulas have a mild, tangy flavor. The petals can be used in soups, stews, or as a colorful topping for cakes.
🪻Lavender: Lavender is known for its soothing fragrance, lavender has a slightly sweet and floral flavor. It’s perfect for infusing in syrups, desserts, and teas or even for savory dishes like roasted meats.
🪷Chamomile: Chamomile flowers are known for their calming properties. Their sweet, apple-like flavor makes them ideal for teas, desserts, or adding a subtle sweetness to baked goods.
🌼Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemums, commonly known as mums, are not just ornamental flowers but also edible. Different parts of the plant can be consumed, and they have a slightly peppery, earthy, or floral flavor depending on the variety. The petals of chrysanthemums are the most commonly consumed part. They have a mild, slightly bitter flavor with a hint of pepper mainly being used in salads and soups. The leaves of chrysanthemums can also be eaten, though they tend to be more bitter than the flowers. While not commonly consumed, chrysanthemum roots are used in some traditional herbal remedies and might be included in certain medicinal or health-related recipes. However, they are not commonly eaten in regular cooking.
🪻Violets: These small, fragrant flowers have a sweet and slightly grassy taste. They can be used to decorate cakes or infused into syrups, or you can even crystallize them for a candy-like treat.
🌸Peonies: Peonies have a delicate, slightly sweet taste, though not all varieties are edible, so it’s important to ensure you’re consuming a safe one! The petals can be eaten raw and added to salads for a pop of color or used as a garnish on cakes, pastries, or cocktails.
🌺Hibiscus: Hibiscus flowers are popular for their tangy, tart flavor and are often used in beverages and dishes such as jams, jellies, sauce, and salsa.
🌻Sunflowers: Sunflowers are not only beautiful but also versatile in the kitchen! The petals have a slightly bitter taste but can be used as a colorful garnish in salads, sandwiches, or smoothies.
Sunflower seeds, the most common edible part, can be eaten raw, roasted, or sprinkled on salads, yogurt, or cereal. The young buds can be steamed or boiled, similar to artichokes, offering a mild, nutty flavor.
🪷Elderflower: Elderflowers have a sweet, fragrant flavor that is often used in syrups, teas, and other beverages.
💐Snapdragon: Snapdragon flowers have a mild, slightly bitter flavor, and though they’re often used as ornamental flowers, they can be added to a variety of dishes. The petals can be used raw as a colorful garnish for salads, cakes, and cocktails. They add a mild taste and vibrant color.
🌼Dandelion: Dandelions are incredibly versatile, and almost every part of the plant is edible! The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw in salads or used in smoothies. They have a slightly bitter, peppery flavor. The flowers can be eaten raw, added to salads, or used as a garnish. You can also make dandelion flower syrup or jelly, similar to elderflower syrup. The roots can be roasted and ground into a coffee substitute or used in herbal teas.
🌸Dahlia: Dahlia petals have a mild, sweet, and slightly spicy flavor, making them a lovely addition to various dishes such as salads and garnishes. The bulbs of dahlias are edible and have a texture similar to that of potatoes, with a slightly nutty flavor. You can boil or roast dahlia tubers, similar to how you would prepare potatoes. They can be sliced and added to soups, stews, or served as a side dish. You can even slice the tubers thinly and fry them for a crispy snack, similar to making homemade chips.
🌹Rose Petals: Rose petals have a sweet, floral flavor and come in various varieties. They’re commonly used in making rose water, jams, and jellies, or added to desserts for a fragrant twist.
🦋Butterfly Pea Flower: is a stunning blue flower known for its vibrant color and mild, earthy flavor. It’s commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine and has gained popularity for its natural colorant properties and health benefits. You can use butterfly pea flower extract as a natural color dye. The vibrant color of butterfly pea flowers can also be used in smoothies and desserts. You can even infuse the flowers into syrups and use them to make colorful jellies, cakes, or ice creams.
⭐️And of course, all the above are all used in many ways to create infused TEA 🥰🫖 (You can find many in Naturally Holistic’s blends!!)⭐️
‼️Before consuming any flowers, make sure they are pesticide-free and properly identified. Stick to flowers that are commonly known to be safe, and always consult a reliable source or expert if you’re unsure. Always ensure you’re consuming the correct flower variety. Not all flowers are safe to eat, so it’s important to properly identify them before consumption.‼️