Farm Focus: Nasturtium
The Power of Flowers
They’re not just pretty – edible flowers pack a nutritional punch that’ll liven up up your sandwiches and salads and more. Nasturtium flowers have a mild peppery flavor with a slightly mustard-like aroma. Add the flowers to salads, after the vinaigrette, so as to preserve their beautiful color and shape. Treat the flavorful leaves like arugula and put them in salads, chop them into egg salad, and top them on pizza. Nasturtiums are extremely nutritious and contain vitamin C and iron. Here on the farm, we use the larger, more mature leaves as as a stand-in for grape leaves using them for “dolma,” the Turkish rice dish. The broad, flavorful leaves of the nasturtium, just like our collards, are a delicious substitute for tortillas creating delicious wraps that hold up well to stuffing and rolling.
Nasturtium Pesto
This pesto is great on sandwiches, baked potatoes and pasta.
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients
4 cups packed nasturtium leaves
2 cups packed nasturtium flowers
1 1/2 cups olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 to 1 1/2 cups walnuts
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Place leaves, flowers, walnuts, garlic, and oil in the jar of a blender; blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and fold in cheese.
‘Just wanted to tell you how great the Nasturtium Pesto is! Can’t wait for more recipes.’-Rosy Tomorrows Heritage Farm customer
Pat Richardson
December 5, 2015 (5:26 pm)
Where can I buy nasturtium plants in Fort Myers?