Add Nutrients to Your Diet With Edible Flowers

By Amjath K  

Edible Flowers

Flowers have made a bold and tasty statement on the dining table and on the food platter since the Roman times. The royals and the elite class took pride in decorating their sumptuous feasts with petals of rose. The Violets, Gladiolus bulbs, Nasturtiums and Marigold have been a part of the English salads since the Victorian age. Edible flowers can be candied and are commonly used in preparing jellies, drinks, essence and soups.

Not all Flowers are Edible

Before you make way to your garden and started hunting and plucking out all the flowers for dinner tonight, it would be wise to keep some important notes in mind. Not all flowers that you see are good for consumption. There are many which are toxic and some can even poison one to death. Buying edible flowers from farmer's markets and supermarkets is a much safer option. Then again, look out for the organic fresh flowers which do not contain pesticides. Also, some of you may be allergic to pollen, so best remove them before eating.

Popular Flowers

The flowers which are used in kitchens worldwide for their amazing flavors, are storehouses many precious nutrients. Here goes a list of some of the most popular edible flowers:

o Daisies
o Pansies
o Day lilies
o Sunflower
o Achillea
o Lotus
o Borage
o Dandelion
o Artichoke
o Banana Blossoms
o Chamomile
o Carnations
o Chicory
o Yucca

Medicinal flowers

Edible flowers not only make a dish look more appetizing but also add a distinct flavor to it. But then this is not all about these flowers. Most of these flowers also have medicinal properties and are extensively used in medicinal drugs for curing various diseases and disorders. In many cases, if the petals of a flower are used in cooking or decorating food, the stem or the pollen of the same flower may find use in preparing medicines.

Some of the examples are:

o Achillea
o Rose
o Lotus
o Angelica

For more information visit http://www.freshorigins.com/edible-flowers.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Amjath_K/365697

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Survival Gardening--Could Edible Flowers Be An Undiscovered Food Source in Your Garden?   

by John Wesley Smith

I focus most of my gardening efforts on vegetables because that's what I'm better at growing. For some odd reason, I've never been that good with flowers. If you are, you might already be growing edible flowers and not even know it. They could be an undiscovered food source in your survival garden.

My first exposure to edible flowers was some years ago in a Master Gardening class, when one of the participants gave a presentation on her experience with edible flowers. As part of her demonstration, she brought in little cheesecake cups with an edible gem marigold or a nasturtium in each one. I remember tasting a citrusy flavor.

You may already know you can eat fried squash and pumpkin blossoms. Did you know you can eat apple blossoms? Of course, you want to be sure the trees haven't been sprayed or are near trees that were sprayed. The little flowers of your green bean plants are edible as well. As you might expect, they have a "beany" taste. Many herbs have edible flowers, such as lavender and borage.

You can eat petals and buds from a number of flowers you might not think were edible. If you've tried rose hips for tea, you might also try the petals. Petals or buds from several flowers make a nice addition to salads, soups or even pancakes.

Bulbs of some flowers are edible, too. Indian hyacinths or Camasia produce small bulbs which the Indians of this country used to bake slowly. A variety of canna known as Canna edulus is a hard to find variety whose bulbs are edible.

Most of us tend to think vegetables are the food plants, and flowers are poisonous or only for exhibiting beauty. While you'll want to be on the lookout for possible allergic reactions to the flowers of some plants, don't be afraid to experiment.

Of course, flowers can indeed show off their beauty, and that beauty can visually enhance what's on the plate, salad bowl or dessert cup. You don't have to be a gourmet to enhance recipes with edible flowers. You'll no doubt pique the curiosity of family and guests when they see the colorful additions to the dishes you serve.

In case you're wondering, yes, there are books about edible flowers. One such book is a little paperback entitled The Edible Flower Garden, by well known gardening author Rosalind Creasy. She has written on various facets of edible gardening.

Break out of the traditional gardening mold and make use of edible flowers. Remember, when it comes to survival gardening, you really do have to think survival and explore all kinds of possibilities. A food source may be where you least expect it, and you don't want to overlook it.

http://goarticles.com/article/Survival-Gardening-Could-Edible-Flowers-Be-An-Undiscovered-Food-Source-in-Your-Garden/1735670/