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Welcome to the
May issue of “Making the Healthy Choice the Easy
Choice.”
Here you will
find information you can use on a timely topic, healthy
eating, recipes and more! I welcome your feedback and
questions. Please send them to
Janet@nourishyourlife.com Thank you!
April
showers bring May flowers.
Did April
showers bring May flowers where you live? Here in
Michigan, we had more snow than we did showers! Our
lilac bush is barely sprouting green leaves and the
neighboring pussy willow tree has just shed its “furry
blossoms.” While pondering over the lack of May flowers,
our daughter, Jill, reminded me of edible flowers. What
a perfect topic for this month. Thanks Jill!
Have you
experienced edible flowers? They are often served in
upscale restaurants to garnish salads and desserts. The
question often comes up, “do we actually eat the
flowers???” The answer is YES! When served with food,
the chosen flower/flowers are edible (that is the law).
If you have any hesitation, please ask your server at
the restaurant…
Why not dress
up your salads and desserts at home also? Edible flowers
can be purchased at specialty stores, or you can grow
them yourself. Please remember-NOT ALL FLOWERS ARE
EDIBLE. Some are actually poisonous. So, let’s take a
closer look at edible flowers.
Quote for the
month:
“A bloom a day,
keeps the gloom away” Carolyn Swicegood
Healthy
eating in May
Edible flowers
are 95% water and contain almost no calories at all!
They are, however, rich in vitamins and minerals. Roses,
for example, are high in vitamin C (rose hips), while
dandelion blossoms are rich in vitamins C and A. The
leaves of the dandelion are loaded with iron, calcium
and phosphorus.
I came across a great article on edible flowers, which I
wish to pass along to you.
The web site
for this article is:
www.heartlandhealing.com
Health
benefits
APRIL
SHOWERS BRING... LUNCH!
One caution
most sources give is that some flower blossoms, like
some plants, can contain powerful allergens or even be
poisonous. So it doesn't hurt to do a little
investigating before you start tossing tansy with your
turnips.
Here's a list
of some of the flowers that are often considered to
enhance a meal, usually in salad or as garnish but also
in other ways too. From various sources, we've listed
some common flowers that are used as edibles. We
included some description and also information from
Jonathan Lust's The Herb Book as far as some of the
healing properties these flowers have.
-
Borage (Borago
officinalis) - - McGranaghan: "We serve these a lot.
It's a star-shaped blue blossom. Easy to grow." It
has a light cucumber flavor. Lust: Flowers are
medicinal, anti-fever, restores vitality in
recuperation, diaphoretic, antidotal, calmative
properties. Good for pleurisy and
anti-inflammatory... - shouldn't be used for long
periods.
-
Calendula
(Calendula officinalis) Actually the marigold, but
the ornamental variety is not the best for eating.
Choose hybrids grown for such. Tastes a little like
saffron, spicy, tangy, peppery, adds a golden hue to
the plate. Lust: Anti-spasmodic, flowers good for
colitis, cramps, ulcers; for fever and anti-nausea.
-
Chamomile (Chamaemelum
nobile) Has a faint apple flavor, good as a tea
also. Lust: medicinal properties soothe asthma, help
against insomnia, decoctions ameliorate toothache.
-
Chicory (Cichorium
intybus) Earthy, eat either the petals or the buds.
Lust: digestive aid, good for spleen problems,
jaundice, excellent appetizer as it stimulates
appetite.
-
Dandelion This
dandy lion is the king of the nutrition jungle.
Flowers are excellent tasting, leaves are wonderful
in salads and sources tout the powerful blood
purifying properties of the plant. Don't eat the
ones out of your yard if Chem-Lawn has you on their
route!
-
Hollyhock (Alcea
rosea) Very bland tasting flavor. Lust: Used to
soothe sore throat, can heal mouth inflammation.
-
Lavender (Lavendula
species) Floral, slightly perfumey flavor. Lust:
Soothes migraine headache, flatulence, dizziness.
Note: This is one of the blooms that some sources
say may be harmful in large amounts.
-
Lilac (Syringa
vulgaris) My Omaha favorite. Has a distinct lemony
taste with floral, pungent overtones. Great in
salads.
-
Common Mallow (Malva
sylrestris) Has a sweet, delicate taste like - -
guess what? -- Yep, marshmallow. Chew the thick twig
stem or use the blossoms. At certain times of the
year when the twig stem is moist, you'll swear
you're eating a marshmallow. Blossoms are sweet.
-
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum
majus) This is a McFoster's regular. A delicate
trumpet-shaped bloom. Buds are often pickled and
used like capers. The blossom petals have a sweet,
mildly pungent, peppery flavor. Tom Foster: "You can
eat the stems like a stick of candy. They have a
sweet but spicy streak to them." You can serve the
whole blossom as a salad garnish. Lust: Excellent
chopped and blended with cream cheese or butter.
Medicinal qualities include antiseptic, expectorant,
good for chest cold, promotes formation of new blood
cells.
-
Rose (Rosa
rugosa or R. gallica officinalis) Rose petals have a
sweet, aromatic flavor. The stronger the fragrance,
the stronger the flavor. The lower (whitish) part of
the petal is bitter. Rose hips are also edible. Note
that rosehips are often included in supplemental
vitamins as a premium ingredient. Lust: Remedy for
headache, dizziness. Excellent blood purifier. Good
source of Vitamin C and other anti-oxidants.
-
Violets Hardly
a shrinking addition to salads or floating gently in
a bowl of soup. Sweet and subtle, the small blossoms
are crunchy if served fresh.
There are a
number of commonsense thoughts that should guide your
diet regardless of its direction and the same holds true
of eating flowers.
Some parts of
blossoms have more allergens than the petals. You may
want to avoid the internal workings such as the pistils
and stamens where the pollen is formed and stored.
Eat in
conservative amounts so that you know which flowers
agree with you if you've never enjoyed trying them
before.
Some flowers
are just plain considered poisonous. Some of those are
azalea, crocus, daffodil, foxglove, oleander,
rhododendron, jack-in-the-pulpit, lily of the valley,
poinsettia and wisteria.
Eat flowers
from a proper source. You wouldn't eat a hamburger you
found lying by the side of the road. Don't presume it's
ok to pick the flowers there either.
Happy spring.
My challenge
for you this month is to eat some edible flowers!
Try a variety Need a recipe for edible flowers?? Of
course, we have one for quinoa and edible flowers.
Quinoa
Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
12 squash
blossoms 1 cup quinoa 2 cups water
1 sweet red pepper, finely chopped 1 sweet bell pepper,
finely chopped
1 tablespoon walnut or olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh snipped marigolds
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Rinse quinoa
to remove the coating of a bitter substance called
saponins.
2. Bring 2 cups water to a boil
3. Stir in quinoa, cover, reduce heat and simmer for
10-15 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
4. Remove the pistils and stamens from the squash
blossoms and rinse well.
5. Sauté the peppers and cooked quinoa in walnut or
olive oil over medium heat for 1 minute, stirring
constantly.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the snipped
marigolds.
7. Stir the quinoa and add salt and pepper (if desired).
8. Stuff the blossoms with some of the quinoa. Spread
the remaining quinoa on a serving plate; place stuffed
blossoms on the bed of quinoa.
Nutrition
facts: 140 cal; 21gm carbs; 4gm pro; 4gm fat
For more great
recipes with edible flowers, check out this web site
http://www.herbnwisdom.com/pages/edible_flowers/recipes.html
Do you know of someone who would benefit from this
information?
We welcome you to pass it on.
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