Lift Your Spirits with a Bouquet of Edible Flowers
You see that beautiful plate of salad on this page? With the bright and festive colors, evoking images of sunny days and clear blue skies, you would think my day was filled with joy, happiness and lots of laughter. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case today.
On the contrary to what the salad looks like, it was a grey and wet day. It's been like this for awhile now. In fact, I'm really not a big fan of the long rainy season here in Tokyo. I tried to be positive about it and for the first week or so, I was.
The rain can be quite romantic and cozy, if you're with the right person and have the luxury of sleeping in all day. Without a care in the world, the rain would be all this and more! But when the rain continues for days on end, stretching out into weeks with no end in sight, it can get rather depressing.
Today was one of those days and no matter how hard I tried, my mood refused to cooperate. In times like this, forcing myself to do something out of the norm is always a good thing and although my mom would try and stop me if she were here, I decide to head outdoors to visit the local supermarket. Being obsessed with food, a visit to the market is always a good thing.
As I walked through the aisles of all the familiar ingredients, something catches my eye. A small container of bright and colorful flowers instantly cheers me up and I wonder what they'd taste like? Would they taste so horrible that I'd spit it out as soon as I take my first bite? Could they surprise me with a taste so unbelievably out-of-this world that I'd regret not trying them sooner? Obviously, the only way to find out was to try them out for myself.
Edible Flowers Can Brighten Up Your Day
Salads are the perfect dish for hot and humid rainy days like today and the colorful flower petals really help lift the spirits. The most difficult part of making this salad was the dressing. In fact it's so easy to make that saying that's difficult is like saying you're too lazy to think. It's really that easy!
The flowers were surprisingly subtle taste wise and other than the scent of a flower garden, it added an extra layer of kick to the otherwise familiar salad. The distinctive floral fragrance added to the olfactory experience, while the flowers themselves were a treat to the visual senses. The flowers really did add something special to the otherwise simple salad.
As I put the last forkful of fragrant petals into my mouth, I realized that my mood had completely lifted and the rain no longer bothered me as much.
Other Easy and Delicious Recipes
Don't forget to visit my other fabulous recipes here on Squidoo!
Ingredients
- 1 cup edible flowers
- 2 cups baby leaf greens
- 2 cups mizuna
- 1 tomato, sliced
- 1/2 cooked edamame, shelled ( optional )
- "Dressing"
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- Wash edible flowers, baby leaf greens and mizuna and dry well. Set aside.
- To make the dressing, whisk lemon juice slowly into olive oil in a small bowl.
- Add garlic, salt and pepper and mix until thoroughly blended.
- Arrange leaves, flowers, tomatoes and edamame on a plate.
- Pour dressing over the salad and serve.
