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Such delicious nasturtium

Nasturtium can top the list of favorite plants for a huge number of gardeners, but not all of them use it as a food ingredient. And in vain, because in cooking this plant has found application for a very long time, earning the fame of a tasty, original and healthy component. In nasturtium, all parts of the plant are edible, except for the roots, fresh leaves and stems of nasturtium, flowers, hard flower buds and unripe seeds are used for food.

Nasturtium is an original spice, since all its parts have a special smell and a pleasant, slightly pungent taste. In collections of culinary recipes for real gourmets, you can find a large number of recipes for a variety of dishes with the participation of this plant - nasturtium is added to salads, mashed potatoes and minced meat, marinades, seasonings for meat, soups and hodgepodge, as well as various drinks are prepared from it. In the collections of ancient monastic dishes, you can find the recipe for the famous "cardinal salad", which in the old days was carefully kept secret by the monks, because this dish was considered an invaluable source of youth and health. Modern dietetics confirms long-standing knowledge - dishes with nasturtium have pronounced dietary and medicinal properties. Nasturtium contains phytoncides and vitamins C, B1, B2, iodine and potassium, iron and phosphorus salts.

Fresh leaves, flowers, hard flower buds and unripe green seeds of the plant are used as a seasoning for boiled meat and fish dishes, as well as an ingredient for salads. In salads, nasturtium leaves go well with potatoes, boiled eggs, green peas, nettles, horseradish. Flower buds and green fruits are pickled with dill and vinegar.

The petals, ground with garlic to a paste, combined with salt and mayonnaise, can be used as an original sandwich paste. Fresh, whole flowers are the perfect decoration for a wide variety of cold snacks, mixed vegetables and fruit casseroles. Homemade wines are flavored with dried flowers, and original aromatic tea is prepared from them. Vinegar is infused on its flowers, they are frozen in ice cubes for drinks.

Dried, peeled and ground nasturtium seeds, which have a bright pleasant peppery taste, are used as a seasoning for a wide variety of dishes, in some cases replacing allspice.

As a food raw material, the leaves of this plant can be harvested from spring to late autumn, they can also be dried. Leaves, flower buds and young nasturtium fruits are suitable for pickling and pickling. For pickling, only green fruits are suitable, which set soon after the flowers fell off, until they became tough. They are great for pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, Brussels sprouts, etc. Unripe green seeds and unpainted buds are also marinated in a mixture with other vegetables or on their own.

Because of its outstanding culinary merits, elegant nasturtium got the name of colored salad.

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