Edible flowers aren’t just beautiful… they’re good for you too.

Add edible flowers to a meal and not only will you add a little color, but you’ll throw in some extra health benefits as well. Many edible flowers are full of valuable nutrients. Think of edible flowers as you would spices; they add taste to a meal but they’re also good for your health.

If you’re looking for flowers that are beautiful, tasty and nutritious, here are a few to choose from. Remember that just like with any wild plant, be sure you know exactly what you’re picking and where it comes from. Identification is key.

1. Borage

With a bright blue flower that tastes a bit like cucumber, all parts of the borage plant are used for medicinal purposes. The flower and leaves can be used for coughs and depression, and borage seed oil can be used for skin disorders like eczema. Borage is also high in essential fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid.

2. Dandelions

Most people think of dandelions as a weed, but the bright yellow plant is full of vitamin A, B, C and D. The flowers have antioxidant properties, and the leaves act as a diuretic, as well as stimulating the appetite and helping in digestion. And chances are, you probably already have some dandelion growing where you live, so no need to grow your own.

3. Chives

With a taste similar to garlic, chives are a common herb found in many an edible flower garden. But they’ve got a medicinal value as well, having long been used to lower blood pressure. Their purple blossoms are also full of vitamin C and iron, good for boosting your immune system.

4. Lavender

Beyond smelling fantastic, lavender contains vitamin A, calcium and iron. Often found in oil form, it is used for restlessness and insomnia, as well as a variety of digestive complaints. Thanks to polyphenols, it can even help reduce bad bacteria in your stomach, helping with bloating.

5. Sweet Violet

Often found growing in the wild, sweet violets offer a lot more than just their beautiful color. In fact, in Ancient Rome,the violet was believed to moderate anger, strengthen the heart, and promote sleep.  The leaves have antiseptic properties and the flowers possess slightly laxative properties.

6. Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum has long been used to make a calming tea in China, known to boost immunity and reduce high blood pressure. The bright flowers also may have anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties.

7. Scented geranium

With a slight citrus flavor, scented geraniums give a little twist to an otherwise boring summer salad, but the plant is also known for its relaxing properties. You can make a cup of tea to calm your stress levels or help you deal with a headache.

Related on EcoSalon

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A Guide to Foraging for Food: 20 Tasty Wild Plants

Image: Angela Marie Henriette

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If you don’t know who David Wolfe is yet, you’re in for a treat as he’s a guest on the Pete Holmes Show. (I had no idea who Pete was!) David gives the lowdown on edibles in the park and some enlightening nutritional information about superfoods and just how many coca leaves it takes to make cocaine (and why the plant is way safer than the illegal drug). We could do without the laugh track, but the clip is funny enough to make you chuckle and search your house for goji berries.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Foraging, whether in the city or country, always provides treasure.

In my neighbor’s garden there is an old apple tree. The tree and the garden is in need of care. It always hurts my heart when I see fruit of any kind fall to the ground before anyone even thinks of taking care of them. As nobody actually lives next door I thought it might be ok to go pick them. So I went over there to have a look.

The apples didn’t look that great and they would probably be terrible in most things, I thought. But when I took a bite, it was crisp  and the taste was sweet and sour at the same time – definitely a Granny Smith or at least something very close to it. Granny Smith may not be my absolute favorite but an apple like this is excellent in an apple tart or a nutty Manchego salad.

Apples in general are very useful in cooking, for both savory or sweet dishes. A chicken for example is really flavorful when roasted whole filled with apples and prunes. Different kinds of preserves such as apple compote, apple butter and apple chutney are fantastic treats that can be served with many different things, such as a sweet flavor in oatmeal, as a side to meat or together with cheese on bread. While growing up I remember having only apple compote with cold milk as an afternoon snack.

Then there are endless amazing cakes and pies that can be baked with apples. There is of course always the classic Tarte Tartine that was created by two sisters after a successful accident in the kitchen. A more unusual apple pie is the south Swedish version (Skånsk Äpplekaka) that is made with rye bread crumbs. It may sound strange but its absolutely delicious served with vanilla sauce.

If you have a lots of apples you should really consider making your own apple juice or cider. If my neighbor’s tree would give me more apples, I would definitively brew hard apple cider. Sandor Ellix Katz says, in his book Wild Fermentation, to brew apple cider is one of the simplest alcohol fermentations you can make. You just need a good-quality apple juice (preferably juiced by yourself), a jug, a cheese cloth and a rubber band. He calls it Spontaneous Cider.

Last year I got really inspired by Joanna at Zeb Bakes when she made apple cider vinegar with the scraps and pieces that were left over after making apple cake. I think it’s really clever to use something that normally would be thrown away. Joanna’s vinegar was inspired by Carl Legge‘s experiments which he describes very well in his post “Fermenting Revolution 2 – Apple cider vinegar.” The below recipe is pretty much the same as Carl’s formula (Sandor Katz suggests less sugar in his book).

I think my neighbor’s Granny Smith are perfect for this recipe. Here is what they will become:

Granny Smith Cider Vinegar

• ½ cup (about 120 ml) sugar (I use half regular sugar and half brown)
• 4 ¼ cup (one liter) water
• 6-12 small Granny Smith apples* (more or less if you are using scraps or whole apples)

Heat up the water together with the sugar. When the sugar has dissolved into the water take off the heat and let cool. This is important as hot liquid will not let the natural yeast start the process. During this time you can prepare the apples. I used whole apples, which I rinsed and cut into one inch (2-3 cm) pieces. But you can use leftover bits and pieces as well. Place the apples in a large glass jar or other suitable container. It’s good if the jar has a wide opening, (according to Sandor Katz) as a larger exposure to air helps the process.

When the sugar solution is cool enough (about room temperature) pour it over the apple pieces. Place a plate on top to weigh down the apples (I took a bowl and a mortar). Place the container in a warm place. To avoid fruit flies, cover with a cheesecloth or kitchen towel (fastened by a rubber band). Stir and taste the apples every day. (After about 3 days I could see small bubbles and the flavor was sweet and fizzy. This is a good sign, the fermenting process is doing what it should do).

After 7-10 days, the apples have done their job and you will need to strain them through a sieve. Pour back into the jar and let stand for another 7-14 days. Continue to taste your batch regularly. It will soon start to taste more like vinegar than cider. When you are happy with the flavor, strain the liquid again and pour the liquid into sterilized bottles and seal them properly. The film that will be created on top is called “Mother of Vinegar” that can be used as a starter for your next vinegar.

* You can of course use any other kind of apple in this recipe. You can also make vinegar with other kinds of fruit and berries. Sandor Katz mentions in his book that almost any fruit scraps and peels can be used for making vinegar. He suggests pineapple, grapes or even overripe bananas.

In this Autumn Foraging series see also Leaving Brooklyn in Search for Rose Hips with a recipe of Rose Hip Sherry.

Illustrations by Johanna Kindvall

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Never ever let the seasonal overabundance go to waste. 

If you have an active garden, or a prolific fruit tree, you know this point in the season. You have solidly transitioned from being proud of your few edibles, to being amazed by the abundance, to being overwhelmed by the many pounds of food awaiting your preservation.

My “burden” this year is too many tomatoes; six varieties of heirloom have loved taking over what used to be the back lawn. We’ve sauced, we’ve frozen, we’ve dehydrated. The summer has been full of cucumber salads and squash curries, chocolate zucchini bundt cake for breakfast and chard with dinner.

Outside of my own garden, I have enjoyed the abundance of local orchards thanks to volunteering with the Portland Fruit Tree Project. From any given harvest party, half of the food will go to an emergency food pantry, with the remainder shared across all volunteers and the tree owner. It’s a satisfying, tangibly-productive way to spend an evening, and it’s delightful to bicycle home with two panniers bursting with delicious, ripe, food.

Complication: your bags are not filled with the shiny, perfect apples and pears you see in the produce section of the local grocery store. You’re probably not carrying the charismatic-looking Best of Farmer’s Market winner. In reality, you have real, local fruit, full of imperfections; a fungus on the skin or a bruise here and there. It might have an insect visitor – past, present, both.

It is incredibly delicious. And it is fall-off-the-tree ripe right now.

And you have 27 pounds of it.

And you have a household of two.

If you are faced with a similar “oppression” of abundance, get overly ambitious at the farmer’s market, or just decide that you want to make all of your “sparkle season” gifts this year – we have you covered.

This is less of a recipe than a general approach to the problem of “too much right now.” I’ve tried this with many varieties of apples and pears, and once or twice with plums. My last batch, the current house favorite, was Asian pears; the resulting product is smooth, rich, and incredibly sweet, like pear that has been stewed with vanilla beans.

Harvest Season Fruit Butter (or sauce)

Ingredients:

• An abundance of fruit of your choice (e.g. apples, pears)
• Large pot / pot large enough to hold fruit
• Water

Other:

• Canning jars or other containers
• Spoon
• Spatula
• Patience
• Optional: crock pot, food mill

Directions:

Clean fruit – wash and remove everything you don’t readily identify as “food.” (Insects and blemishes leave, I’ll let you make the call on bruises.) If you don’t have a food mill, skin and core fruit. Cut fruit into quarters, place in large sauce pot with a small amount of water on the bottom, an inch or so. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally so fruit doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pot. (Part of this stirring may involve fruit-mashing. Go with it.)

Eventually, the fruit will soften into a somewhat chunky sauce. If using a food mill, run the sauce through, stopping to clear mill of skins/seeds on occasion. If you are feeling cavalier, or lack food mill, break up remaining chunks of fruit with a spoon until you’re happy with the consistency. (If you really like chunky applesauce, quit early.)

You can stop here and preserve the sauce (can, freeze, or eat quickly). I tend to prefer fruit butters over sauces, for the richer flavor and better adherence to toast (and spoons).

To make a fruit butter, cook more liquid out of the sauce. You can do this in an uncovered crock pot or sauce pot on the stove; stir patiently to make sure it doesn’t burn to the bottom. I prefer to spread the sauce in 9″x13″ casserole dishes, turn the oven on low (150-200F), and go to bed. In the morning, stir and preserve the fruit butter, saving some for your toast topping.

Want more food inspiration? Check out the rest of our Sunday Recipe series. 

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On my hikes through the mountains here in western North Carolina, I often pass all manner of trees and shrubs heavy with fruit and nuts, and wonder whether if I could be bringing home enough free local food to feed me and my husband for a week. Here, we have black raspberries, acorns and so many other things ripe for the picking. And whether you live in a rural area or in the middle of a big city, you do, too – the mulberry tree at the park, for example, or a neighbor’s ‘ornamental’ sour cherries.

The best way to forage for nuts and berries, whether in the woods or an urban environment, is simply to take a walk, armed with a good foraging guide relevant to your area. If you spot something tasty on a neighbor’s property, chances are, they’ll give you permission to take a bit for yourself.

The following six wild berries and nuts are easy to identify, commonly found all over the U.S. and easy to harvest. When picking edibles, whether wild or cultivated, avoid plants within 100 feet of a major road or highway and those that may have been sprayed with chemicals.

Fruit

Mulberries – They look sort of like raspberries or blackberries, but instead of growing on thorny canes, they grow on trees. Mulberry trees are often found in public areas including parks, and are known for making black squishy messes on sidewalks and cars, so why not harvest some and make some mulberry cobbler? Pick the darkest ones for best flavor.

Rose Hips – You know those little red berries that appear on rose bushes once the blooms have withered? Best harvested after a frost when they become soft and ripe, rose hips are full of vitamin C and have a slightly sour flavor that’s reminiscent of roses without being floral. They’re often used for syrup, jam and tea.

Neighborhood Fruit Trading – Perhaps your neighbor has an orange tree so full it’s arching toward the ground, or you spotted unharvested pears dropping in a nearby park. Fruit trees on private property often produce more than the owners can handle, so it’s always worthwhile to ask if you can take some off their hands. And if you’ve got fruit growing in your yard and want to trade some of it for other varieties, share the love and reap the bounty through trading websites like neighborhoodfruit.com.

Nuts & Seeds

Walnuts – When growing on the tree, walnuts resemble tennis balls. Once they drop, break open that green hull and you’ll find the familiar textured shell you’re used to seeing in store-bought walnuts. Wear gloves when handling them – the shells contain natural dye (which can be harvested as well). To sort out the bad ones, drop them all in a bucket of water and discard the ones that float. Let them dry out for a few weeks in their shells before cracking.

Hickory Nuts – These tasty nuts might be present all around your neighborhood, but they’re rarely on grocery shelves due to the difficulty of cracking the shell. Ready for harvesting in early autumn, hickory nuts are rich and sweet and their shells can be used to impart a smoky flavor on barbecued meats. See Mother Earth News for tips on cracking them.

Pine Nuts – While many of the pine trees in America produce nuts that are too small to bother with, the Southwest is particularly populated with fine pine nut-producing trees like Pinyon, Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Stone Pines. Harvesting pine nuts is really easy, and they’re delicious in salads and of course, as a crucial element of pesto.

Images: seph swain, mauroguanandi, ndrwfgg, andydr, chris breeze, tandemracer, babbagecabbage

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How to forage your own wild mushrooms.

Foraging for wild mushrooms is the ultimate in foodie fun, and each edible species has its own unique, earthy flavor, often making them highly sought-after delicacies prized by the world’s top chefs. The following six mushrooms are among the easiest to identify and the most delicious. Edible mushrooms can grow year-round in many regions, but the damp months of spring are particularly friendly to fungus.

Because eating a toxic mushroom can be fatal, it’s incredibly important to identify them with 100% accuracy. Make sure you take a good wild mushroom field guide – not with just photos or just text, but both – that applies to your geographical area. Second, if in doubt, throw it out (or rather, just leave it be). And finally, never eat wild mushrooms raw.

Chicken of the Woods

By far the easiest to recognize, ‘sulfur shelf’ or ‘chicken of the woods‘ is the best wild mushroom to start out with if you’re a beginner. It’s also one of the most substantial, and some say tastiest, of the edible wild mushrooms that grow in the U.S. It looks like layers of orange ruffles edged with yellow or white, and has a substantial meaty texture. Harvest the small, actively growing ‘edges’ of the mushroom and leave the large parts, which have grown too tough to eat. Avoid those growing on a conifer, eucalyptus or locust tree, as these mushrooms are a different species and can cause gastrointestinal upset.

Cook them with butter, eggs and cheese in an omelette, or with penne and wine in pasta primavera.

Morel

This prized springtime-fruiting fungus tastes better than it looks, with its spongy pitted cap. Its unique nutty flavor is hard to describe, and nothing brings it out better than butter and a little white wine. Look for morels in wooded areas, particularly at the base of dead or dying trees. Harvest just enough to eat by cutting them flush to the ground; choose firm fresh-looking caps. (A note on distinguishing from false morels, which can be toxic: true morels are hollow inside and range from yellow to light brown. False morels are dense, meaty, solid, and often have reddish or deep brown coloring. There is also a type of false morel with a skirt cap and a hollow stem; this, too, should be avoided.)

Cook them with a touch of garlic butter on the grill, or quickly sauteed with asparagus and herbs. Be sure to cook them thoroughly.

Giant Puffball

The giant puffball mushroom definitely lives up to its name: it can reach a foot in diameter, and when it’s fully mature, it bursts, sending a puff of spores into the air. Puffballs come in a number of other edible and nice-tasting species like the purple-spored puffball and the skull-shaped puffball, but the giant puffball is the most popular. Its texture is similar to that of the white button mushroom. Before the spores are produced, it’s solid white with a dense texture and a rich flavor. Look for specimens measuring at least four inches and cut into them to be sure they’re solid white with no gills.

Cook them like a pizza with sauce, cheese and toppings, or breaded and fried, eggplant parmesan-style.

Shaggy Mane

Often found growing in clusters in lawns or on the side of dirt roads, shaggy mane mushrooms are best when eaten at button stage, about three inches in height, when they are still mostly white or beige. As they age, these black-gilled mushrooms wither and drip black liquid that was once used as ink. The texture is oddly reminiscent of fish, but shaggy mane mushrooms have a delicate flavor.

Cook them with butter, scallions and chicken broth in soup or sauteed with onions and tossed with pasta and cream sauce.

Chanterelle

Tender yet firm, the chanterelle is prized for its bold, slightly spicy flavor and has a fruity apricot-like aroma when fresh. Found at the bases of trees and shrubs in temperate forests, chanterelles are golden and fleshy with wavy caps and shallow widely-spaced gills. These beloved mushrooms, in culinary use for centuries, are high in vitamins C and D as well as potassium.

Cook them with short-grain rice, parmesan and white wine in an earthy risotto.

Bear’s Head Tooth

It looks like something that should be growing under the sea, so it’s not too surprising that the bear’s head mushroom has a flavor that some liken to lobster. The shape is unmistakable, resembling a clump of translucent icicles hanging off a log, stump or tree trunk.

Cook them in butter over low heat to prevent them from getting too chewy.

Images: andriuxuk, vaprwere, damurphy, me’nthedogs, photogirl7.1, smlp.co.uk, shira golding

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Is the food industry’s foraging addiction fueling the destruction of forests and wetlands? That’s what the United Kingdom’s National Trust and Forestry Commission thinks.

With the support of local-centric chefs like Jamie Oliver, mushroom foraging has gone from simple pastime to foodie obsession, with many restaurants incorporating wild fungi into their menus. Despite putting an emphasis on wild and local food, The National Trust says that this trend is becoming detrimental to some of the UK’s most cherished natural spaces.

In a recent article on illegal mushroom hunting in Epping Forest, a vast stretch of ancient woodland just outside of London where mushroom hunting is not allowed, The Guardian cites celebrity chefs as one of the main ecological problems that the area faces. What was once an underground trend has slowly made its way into the mainstream, and in doing so, put the environment at risk.

Fortunately for fungi foodies, it’s not the small scale foraging that’s cause for concern. “If one or two people visit a place and pick a few, that’s probably not much of a problem. But if a couple of people go there repeatedly, visit the same place and collect as many as possible for commercial gain, that could be a problem,” said Matthew Oates of the National Trust.

The culinary community is split on the issue, but ultimately as forager Caroline Davey told the BBC, “it’s about foraging sustainably and sensibly.” That goes for both the commercial industry and individuals.

Even if you’re an individual forager that means knowing about the region your mushroom picking in and how to lower your impact when doing so. If you’re new to foraging, consider taking a class or going with a more experienced mushroom hunter. The last thing we want is a movement that, until now, been responsible for getting more people outside and in tune with what food nature has to offer to turn into an industry that is ultimately detrimental to local habitats.

Forage sensibly!

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground. Each week, Anna will be taking a look at something new and different that’s taking place in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to culinary avant garde.

Image: masonmasteka

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Every mother’s day for the past three years I have cooked for my sisters. You see, they are both mothers, I am not, and we no longer have a mother to honor. Plus they like my cooking and I like cooking for them.

We all look forward to the yearly event and just hanging out with one another. We don’t do anything special. Just sit around and eat and talk. Then we do a puzzle or play scrabble as the afternoon stretches on. Normally I make some sort of frittata dish. This year I branched out and made a leek tart from one of Marcella Hazan’s books. It was fabulous.

And now I can’t seem to get enough leeks. They’re just one of those expressions of spring that I treasure, even though they are available year-round.

Here’s a wonderful sounding recipe for leeks vinaigrette from Rachel Eats that I’d like to try.

When I was in Portland recently for IACP, I had the pleasure of meeting and dining with Kim Boyce, pastry chef and cookbook author. Her new book, Good to the Grain, about cooking with whole grain flours has been getting lots of attention because she’s some kind of genius at combining the special characteristics of the various whole grains with complementary and unusual flavors. This is thoughtful baking, not at all about health for the sake of health. I have yet to buy the book, but in the meantime, I can try this recipe for olive oil cake shared by The Wednesday Chef on her blog.

Sometimes I work at home and sometimes I work at the home of my colleague. Come lunchtime, we usually throw together something out of our combined leftovers paired with fresh bread, cheese, salad, or whatever we have. It’s always fun because we never know how the meal will play out and it’s almost always better than we think it will be.

One day, we had no salad greens so we foraged in her backyard for herbs to create an herb salad. Combining parsley, cilantro, chives, and mustard green flowers from domesticated mustard that had gone to seed, we created a salad whose sharp flavors awakened our palate and kept us fueled for the afternoon’s work.

Here’s a recipe for herb salad from the award-winning Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook blog.

Image: Muffet

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