Roasted Veggie and Edible Flower Salad
We started our garden about a month late – our moving date was not well timed with the Farmer’s Almanac this year. So now, we are harvesting veggies that everyone else in our area harvested 4-6 weeks ago. In some ways it makes us feel really behind in our gardening, but in another way it is actually good – having a second harvest! The first time around we bought these goodies from the farmer’s market – second time around from our garden!
Less than two weeks ago we got our biggest harvest yet – 5 beets, 10 carrots, fresh herbs and lots of beautiful edible flowers – nasturtium and borage.
FLOWER POWER!
Nasturtium flowers and leaves are edible and have a wonderful peppery flavor. Even the seeds can be pickled – they apparently taste like capers. The flowers are high in vitamin C, and have been used to treat colds. It can also be used topically for bacterial and fungal infections because of its mustard-oil content.
Borage flowers are perhaps one of the only truly found in nature blue foods, beyond blueberries. They have a very sweet taste. The flowers are also rich in minerals, most notably potassium. Medicinally the leaves are often used as support to the adrenal glands and for inflammation. Probably the most well-known use for borage is borage oil. Borage oil is very high in gamma-linolenic acid, GLA. GLA is an essential fatty acid, omega-6 oil. Borage oil supplements are most beneficial for arthritis and chronic dry skin, such as eczema.
We really planted both of these flowers in accordance with companion planting – plants that keep bugs and disease, as well as other garden pests away from the plants you are growing for food. So these plants have a dual purpose. Plus they are very pretty as an edible garnish. My stepdaughter Gwen had never had an edible flower until we served this salad for dinner recently. At first she didn’t want to try them, but after some coaxing, she did, and she really liked them!
I love roasting beets for salads, and pairing them with goat cheese. There is something so good , and not to mention aesthetically beautiful about the combination of goat cheese and beets. So I decided to roast the whole lot, and arrange them on top of fresh greens from the garden, also. As we have been harvesting plenty of those for months now.
This is a perfect dinner salad on a hot summer night, when your family is looking for something light. This would also be a wonderful first course to a summer harvest dinner. It is colorful, delicious and healthy on so many levels!
INGREDIENTS:
5 small beets, cut in half
10 baby carrots
2 TBS fresh rosemary
1 TBS fresh thyme
salt & pepper
olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
5 cups fresh greens – arugala, red leaf and green leaf lettuces, nasturtium leaves
olive oil to toss the greens in
salt & pepper to season greens
¼ cup goat cheese, crumbled
nasturtium flowers, as garnish
borage flowers, as garnish
METHOD:
Stir the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper and herbs until well coated. Roast in a preheated 400 F oven for about 45 minutes, turning once halfway through.
In the same bowl, add mustard and maple, dump the roasted veggies in and stir to coat. Then toss the greens with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Crumble the goat cheese on top, arrange the roasted veggies and the edible flowers. Serves 4 as a main dish.
Pam - August 25, 2010 at 6:00 pm
OMG!….so yummy and beautiful! Enjoy!
Elle - August 25, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Not only are the flowers beautiful, but your beets and carrots are gorgeous! Like jewels.
Jessica @ How Sweet - August 25, 2010 at 6:04 pm
That salad is gorgeous!
Stella - August 25, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Whoa, your beets are beautiful, Jenn. That’s so nice. You know, it’s really hard to grow beets in Georgia, so I’m jealous (smile). Oh, and a second harvest is just fine. My Mom’s trying to get a second harvest on some of her stuff right now…
I’m going to find out if I can plant borage too. It’s so medicinal-good info.
Judy - August 25, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Beautiful! it was so fun the first time I made a salad and added flowers to it! The girls thought I was crazy! I love the ombination of beets and goat cheese too!
nina - August 25, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Don’t worry about your late harvest,,,,next year you will be on time……as for the edible flowers. I love using them in salads, it add so much color and taste. Nasturtium leaves are great to chew on if you have a sore throat!
crankycheryl - August 25, 2010 at 11:26 pm
If I could grow just one plant, it would be nasturtiums! Can’t wait to see your fresh crop.
Amy @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free - August 25, 2010 at 11:37 pm
I am so impressed with your gardening talent…I was thinking about you the other day as I was gazing out at my sorry looking veggies and wishing I was up learning how to garden from you.
Kristina Johnson - August 25, 2010 at 11:47 pm
OMG, those beets are beautiful! I’ve had NO luck in growing them from seed so I am jealous. That salad sounds fantastic.
5 Star Foodie - August 26, 2010 at 12:05 am
The salad looks incredible, so very pretty with flowers in it, and so delicious with the addition of goat cheese too!
Rosa - August 26, 2010 at 1:38 am
A gorgeous salad! It must have a refined flavor. What beautiful beets!
Cheers,
Rosa
CurryLeaf - August 26, 2010 at 2:07 am
Wow.Awesome salad.Never ‘tasted’ nastutium or borage. Nice to see the veggies from garden.You are settling down perfectly in the new place
Peter G @ Souvlaki For The Soul - August 26, 2010 at 9:34 am
Love those beets Jenn…and it def looks like one pretty salad! Bring on more harvests!
Rebecka - August 26, 2010 at 9:41 am
Jenn,
Your salad reminds me of my mother’s cooking when I was a child. She used edible flowers in all sorts of dishes. I especially like Borage flowers…YUM, and nasturtiums are fab! Mom also made deep fried squash blossoms…she was way ahead of her time when it came to cooking with unusual foods!!
I wish I could grow a garden here in the mountains…it’s much to high in elevation, so most things just never make it to full harvest.
Yours is a beautiful bounty and lovely eats!
City Share - August 26, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Yum, roasted veggies are one of our favorite things. Great to learn about all of those edible flowers. Thanks.
Alta - August 26, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Wow, how gorgeous and delicious! I think I just might plant some edible flowers next year! And roasting beets? Yes – my favorite way to enjoy them!!
ValleyWriter - August 26, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Looks like you’re having a beautiful harvest so far! The tomato plants you sent me home with are just starting to produce ripe fruit – looking forward to some yummy tomato creations soon!
Lisa - August 27, 2010 at 3:16 am
Roasted beets and goat cheese are one of my all time favorite combos.
Jen - August 27, 2010 at 4:55 pm
These look lovely, Jenn. I love nasturtiums, but haven’t tried borage flowers. I have a great recipe for beet “pesto” (really a dip) that I’ll send you – it’s heavenly.
Arlene - August 29, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Looks to good to eat. Those are some big beets. Didn’t know they came in different colors. Cool!