20 Beautiful Dishes with Edible Flowers

Winter in New York has been brutal! Around The Temple wherein The Goddess cooks, it has been a little chaotic. So imagine our unbounded joy: it is finally Spring!

Mind you, it’s April and we’ve had flurries a couple of times already. It’s just tiresome at this point. We’re tired. But it’s Spring! The air is electric with excitement and possibilities.

In the next few weeks, flowers and trees will begin blooming at large.

I want to explore bringing the joy of blooming flowers inside. Of course, all who can will bring inside beautiful flowers and make spectacular centerpieces. But what of using flowers for culinary purposes to make your plates spectacular centerpieces?

Bring Spring to your table with these great ideas:

1.    Flower Adorned Ice Cubes

2.    Herbal Ice Cubes

3.    Flowering Bee Balm

4.    Cucumber and Borage Canapés

5.    Edible Flowers Canapés

6.    Fried Dandelions

7.    Open Faced Salmon Sandwiches with Edible Flowers

8.    Garden of Eden Spring Rolls

9.    Daylily Fritters

10. Radish Soup with Yogurt and Edible Flowers

11. Pan-fried Squash Blossoms with Creamy Herbed Goat Cheese

12. Veggies with Mint and Pesto and Edible Flowers

13. Edible Flower and Microgreen Salad

14. Nasturtium Butter

15. Spring Flower Lollies

16. Edible Flower Cupcakes

17. Dark Chocolate Pot de Crème (Blender) with Blossoms

18. Strawberry Rose Sorbet

19. Gluten Free Lavender Yogurt Parfait

20. Growing Chives and a Couple of Ideas for the Blossoms

For a comprehensive list of edible flowers (with corresponding and complimentary flavors), bookmark this chart: http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowers.htm

You can also rely on this page (with photos, tastes and textures, and culinary uses) to plan your edible flower dishes: http://crackersonthecouch.blogspot.com/2014/06/flowers-for-breakfast.html

There are plenty more recipes online, but this simple list ought to get you started on ideas. Edible flowers can be bought online, in some specialty stores, and from farm and green markets. Play!