5 Ways to use (and eat) Nasturtium leaves and flowers
“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.”
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Every season there is some vegetable or flower that goes crazy in our garden and we are forced to find creative ways to use it. My son always loves to tell the story of the year zucchini was that plant and for one of my not so creative meals, we had zucchini stuffed with zucchini(among other things- I like to remind him)
This spring that plant is nasturtiums. The truth is, I didn’t even plant them, they are volunteers from last summer. I must have planted the seeds too late last year because they hardly grew at all. The few seeds that did make it popped up in the middle of winter and I was delighted. I had no idea that these plants would take over an entire garden bed….but, like I said, I was delighted and I decided to let them go crazy. Here are some cool things about nasturtiums and some of the creative ways we are using our nasturtium bumper crop.
The leaves and flowers have a wonderful peppery taste when raw and are packed with Vitamin C and other essential elements like potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, manganese, copper, zinc and iron. They are impressively high in the antioxidant Lutein which is associated with protection against free radical damage and support for eye and skin health.
They are also full of pungent mustard oils which have antifungal, antibiotic antibacterial and antiviral properties. Wow, right? Honestly, the more I learn about these beauties the more I love them. Let’s get into how to use them.
Gorgeous and delicious just as they are!
1. Some simple ways to use them are adding them raw to salads or use as a garnish to a veggie bowl. You can cook the leaves like spinach or throw them into a soup.
2. We made a nasturtium pesto – which uses the leaves and flowers. We don’t typically eat dairy so I omitted the parmesan in the following recipe, but you do you. I added some mint and nettle just because I had them on hand. It turned out amazing. We had so much leftover, I put it into ice cube trays and froze them for later.
3. We got a little more creative and made a version of the Greek dolmades by using nasturtium leaves and stuffing with brown rice and other goodies- including the flowers. They turned out delicious. I loosely followed this recipe.
Some of the yummy filling.
right before the broth and baking
4. The flowers make a stunning infused vinegar that will last indefinitely! All you do is pack a jar with as many flowers as you can pick and pour a nice white vinegar over them and wait 1-3 weeks. Strain off the flowers when you’re ready and enjoy the vinegar in salad dressings or as a marinade. Remember all those health benefits?? Tasty and nutritious.
pour in a high quality white vinegar
5. The last thing I’d like to try is pickled nasturtium seeds. They are supposed to taste a lot like capers. I will need to wait until the plant goes to seed. Here’s the recipe I’m going to use.
I’m pretty sure I’ll never go a year without nasturtiums again. If this year is any indication, I’ll really have no choice. This has been a wonderful plant to go crazy in the garden….just be conservative when adding leaves to your smoothie, unless you REALLY love the taste of a mustardy smoothie. I can’t wait to see what will go crazy this summer! Stay tuned.