Herb and Flower Salad

Here is a lovely salad inspired by an empty fridge and a garden that’s offering more for me to eat with each passing day.

Herb and Flower Salad

With the exception of the dried blueberries and the sunflower seeds, everything in this herb and flower salad was homegrown (or in the case of the red clovers, wild).

one of the many organic lettuces I'm growing

nasturtiums are lovely edible flowers that are grown as annuals

gentian sage is a perennial with gorgeous blue edible flowers

I don’t grow red clover on purpose, but it is all over my property, and this is more than fine with me. Red clovers are quite edible and they are very good for you. They have a sweet and mild flavor, and as far as red clover nutrition goes, the blossoms contain protein, vitamins and minerals, and are said to be great for boosting fertility and the immune system.

red clover blossoms are very nutritious

When I am making a salad like this for myself, I bring a bowl outside and walk around grabbing handfuls of everything I want until it looks like enough. Then I go inside, rinse everything, and chop, chop, chop. If you’d like to make this salad for a group, just scale everything up.

If you don’t have some of the ingredients, no worries. Just add more handfuls of what you you do have!

Herb and Flower Salad

Ingredients:
Several handfuls of mixed greens (I used a combination of red and green leaf lettuces as well as lacinato kale leaves)
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of cilantro
1 handful of basil
1 handful of lemon balm
1 handful of mint
1-2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1-2 small handfuls of edible flowers/leaves (I used nasturtiums, red clovers, and gentian sage flowers)
1 handful of fresh or dried blueberries (preferably without added sugar; you can also use raisins or another dried fruit, or leave this out)
1 handful of raw toasted, or sprouted nuts or seeds (optional- I used Go Raw sprouted sunflower seeds)
Himalayan or sea salt to taste
Fresh lemon juice
Olive oil

Directions:
Chop all ingredients together so everything is bite-sized. Sprinkle with salt and mix. Dress with a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a generous drizzle of olive oil.

Since this recipe is heavy on the herbs, I’m submitting it as my very first Weekend Herb Blogging entry. This event is managed by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once, and this week’s host is Cheryl from Gluten Free Goodness.