Our life living off the land in our log cabin, breathing fresh mountain air, and getting back to basics.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Squash Blossom Salad

Have you ever eaten squash blossoms?  They are delicious, with a very mild squash flavor.  They are a little crunchy, particularly at the end where the squash would form (if it was a female blossom and had been left on the plant) and as you get closer to the flower petals they have a smooth texture like lettuce.  Yesterday one of the things I mentioned was having a dinner salad with our red lettuce...but Johny surprised me with a handful of squash blossoms as well as the lettuce...topped with a drizzle of tangerine dark balsamic vinegar and blood orange olive oil, it was absolutely delightful!
This is a female squash bloom, and if you looked at the end of the base of the flower you will see a small bulb that will eventually become the fruit (if fertilized).
 ...and the male.
Only female fruits, and it must first be fertilized by the male bloom which usually is done by bees (you can hand pollinate, but I'll let nature do it's job).  The good thing about that is a long as you leave enough male blossoms on the plant for fertilization purposes, you can pick male blossoms for dining any time (there are typically more male blossoms than female). In addition to eating them raw, they can be stuffed and fried or baked, or used in dishes just like a leafy vegetable would be. 

Speaking of blossoms, my watermelon is blooming...yahoo!  I've never seen a watermelon blossom before!  And yes, there are male and female watermelon blossoms as well.

And isn't this vase of hydrangeas pretty?  I have been weed eating the yard, and my hydrangea have blooms that were too close to the ground to weed eat easily, so I decided to make a pretty centerpiece for the table...I like it!


Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

5 comments:

Powell River Books said...

That sounds wonderful. I've also heard they are good deep fried. But haven't tried them myself. It has been a few years since I've grown any squash. Maybe next summer. - Margy

Susie Swanson said...

Awe, never heard of eating these. I'll try them and thanks so much for the info. Love your flowers. Hugs.

Malcolm and Ciejay Burgess said...

Lise, here in Thailand we roll them in egg and tempura batter and deep fry , to kill for , Thai's eat a lot of flowers , fried or in salads , Ciejay will walk up toward the Mt. and come back with a hand-full of dinner lol . Love your pictures .

Dad/Pepere said...

I feel like I am at an on-line botanical class...thank you for the beautiful photos, technical information and salad ideas. Hugs!

Lise said...

Margy, squash is one thing we will keep growing because it does very well here...and we like all the edible options!

Thanks Susie, they are delicious!

That sounds delicious Malcolm! And thanks:)

Thanks and hugs back to you dad!