Lentils and flowers combo

Another salad with lentils (you can find one here too). The beauty of using flowers is that you can add colour to brown lentil salads, and all other salads. Even just washing the salad leaves and other vegetables from the garden gives me more joy if I can add some petals!

500 g brown lentils

1 leaf bay

water and salt for boiling

extra virgin olive oil

white balsamic vinegar

salt to taste

mixed salad leaves

sliced radishes

tomatoes (cherry or cubed)

fresh herbs (like basil, parsley)

edible flowers

Soak the lentil overnight, then rinse well, add plenty of water, a bay leaf and a pinch of salt. Cook until 'al dente', or as soft as you like (but not mushy). Drain and briefly rinse under cold water. Place in a mixing bowl with the radishes and tomatoes, add extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar (to taste, but make sure that the ratio oil to vinegar is 2 to1), and some salt to taste. Line a serving plate or large shallow bowl with mixed salad leaves (leave a few small ones for the top), spoon the lentils on top, then sprinkle with the remaining salad leaves, herbs and petals (I used verbena, dianthus, and cornflowers).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Salsa verde with petals

I usually make this when I have some stale bread and lots of parsley. Also when I have some leftover vinegar from a pickle jar. Waste not waste not!!

Soak the bread with the vinegar (if you don't have vinegar from a pickle jar use white wine vinegar - do not use dark vinegar!). Add one hard boiled egg, a few capers, and all the parsley you can find (stalks good too!). Blend. Add more vinegar if too thick, and also a little extra virgin olive oil. Add salt to taste and blend until smooth. Add a few more capers (whole) and petals and stir. I used Friarielli flowers (cime di rapa), nasturtium and borage flowers here. Leave some on top for decoration.

In Italy salsa verde is usually served with boiled meat, but as I don't eat meat I like it with boiled eggs, and also with bread, or as a dip.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fried paneer with turmeric and cornflowers

My family love paneer, most of our curries have it, and if they don't I often fry some on the side to add to warm roti or chapati breads. For this recipe I added some spices, including a little turmeric, so the blue cornflower petals looked stunning!

Cut the paneer in slices. Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet or frying pan, add a few coriander seeds and a few cumin seeds and then, when the oil is hot, the paneer slices. Fry for 2-3 minutes on one side, then turn, add a pinch of salt and a little turmeric powder and fry on the other side for 1-2 minutes. Turn one last time so the paneer slices are completely coated with turmeric and then turn the element off.  Sprinkle with cornflower petals and serve immediately.

And now some flowers from the garden and from the home for Pinterest

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Drying edible flowers for winter

Summer is almost over and for the past few weeks I have been collecting seeds and drying herbs and flowers for winter. Every time I collect veggies and fruit form the garden I also collect flowers, for the home, and to eat (immediately, or to store).

I dry the flowers in the sun, keep the seeds in jars and the petals in little containers and bottles with cork tops.

I have orange, yellow and reds

Plus a jar with just cornflowers (they dry quickly, don't leave them too long in the sun or they will loose colour and turn white) and a jar with multicolour petals.

I have been also drying flowers by pressing them, so I can keep their shapes (to decorate desserts, for example). For this you just need to make a 'flower press', with cardboard and clean paper (I use a strap to keep it together).  I will have to show you the results in a little while, plus some other methods for preserving flowers (pickled, sugared, frozen...) in another post!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

How to forage and cook bamboo shoots

Nothing like freshly foraged bamboo!

I live in the Waitakere Ranges and there is quite a bit of bamboo here, mostly considered a weed, but as you know I eat quite a few weeds, and this is no exception. I have some in my driveway too, but I tend to walk down to the neighbour, who has some really big clumps of big bamboo! Or it brings it to me, since he sees when new bamboo shoots up... you have to be quick picking the shoot, once they are out of the ground they grow very quickly! The image below is the maximum length allowed.

I started cooking bamboo shoots when I was living in Japan, they were different kind, much 'fatter' but these are good too, better than buying canned bamboo! Peel off the outer green layers, then cut into slices (I also like to cut the tips into two to see the layers), rinse and place in a pot or salted boiling water. Cook for about 15 minutes, then discard the water, rinse, and place in another pot with salted boiling water for few more minutes until soft enough to be cut with a knife (but still a little crunchy. I do this to take away the bitterness.

Store in this second brine solution until time to use it. 

The tips (the best part) can be served as a side dish for a Japanese dinner, the round bits are good in stews and stir fries, but I tend to cut off and discard the nodes, which are harder (I do this after cooking the bamboo shoots). 

For this stir fry I used bamboo shoots (previously cooked as above), oyster mushrooms, and carrots. Heat a little vegetable oil with a few drops of sesame oil, add a tsp of mince ginger and then the chopped vegetables. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, then add a tbsp of lemon juice and 2 tbsp of Japanese soy sauce, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 6-7 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add chopped coriander at the end (optional). Serve with rice. 

Happy weekend!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Spaghetti with poppies - flowers for eating and flowers for posies

This should be with tagliatelle really, but I didn't have tagliatelle and I was home eating alone, so I didn't feel like making some either. And so I used spaghetti, which is strange for me as I never have spaghetti with butter. But it was quick and delicious, and the poppies in the garden were calling me...  I have planted a few (from seeds) in different post all around the house to have splashes of red, but petals don't last long, and I didn't want to raid all the poppy flowers in the garden for a full family meal.  Next year though I will plant many more, to eat both the spring leaves and the flowers.

For one:

Collect petals from a few poppies, about 8-10, and clean well with moist tissue paper. Cook the spaghetti (or tagliatelle) al dente, drain and add salted butter to taste, plus half a tsp of culinary poppy seeds (you can buy these in the herb section of the supermarket), and most of the petals, keeping aside a couple to top the dish. Stir and serve immediately, decorated with the remaining poppy petals.

I almost forgot to take a photo, so the plate looks a bit messy (I was already eating), and it was really yum!

And now some photos of other flowers from the garden, and posies, for Pinterest :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Flowers for Pinterest

I have been loving my garden this summer, and all the flowers I can bring into the house! 

Photos  by Alessandra Zecchini ©