| Flowers, so bright and cheerful, raise your vibe | | | | bright flowers scattered over to delight the eye |
| without even trying. Edible flowers take that | | | | and bring an element of fun to your table. |
| energy into the centre of your being, especially | | | | Recipe for a Nasturtium Salad |
| when they also have medicinal properties like the | | | | 1 lettuce - iceberg, butter or cossmall bunch of |
| gorgeous nasturtium. Their flowers are bright | | | | nasturtiums - leaves and flowersripe red |
| trumpets, heralding sunny days. As children we | | | | tomatoes |
| used to pick the nasturtium flowers, bite off the | | | | 1 tablespoon capersfeta cheese |
| point at the back of the flower and suck out the | | | | Decide quantities to your own taste. The |
| nectar, the merest fairy sized sip of sweetness. | | | | nasturtium leaves are peppery and the more you |
| The plants grow easily and prolifically from seed, | | | | put in the hotter the salad gets. Wash and dry |
| tumbling out of planters with abandon, flowering all | | | | the lettuce and tear into the size pieces you |
| shades of fire colours from vermilion to ochre. All | | | | prefer. Rinse the nasturtium leaves, and tear or |
| they need is moisture and not too rich a soil and | | | | chop into rough strips. If you're using baby |
| you're guaranteed a harvest. Anyone with a herb | | | | tomatoes halve them, chop bigger ones into |
| garden can find a space for a few seeds, though | | | | cubes. Cube the feta cheese and sprinkle over |
| if space is limited confine them to a container or | | | | the salad with the capers. Top with the whole |
| they will happily tumble over all your other herbs. | | | | flowers and maybe one or two whole leaves. This |
| Nasturtium flowers make cheerful posies as a | | | | peppery, bright salad is just right to accompany |
| centrepiece for a lunch table, especially if you | | | | pizza, cold meats or as a starter on its own. |
| have planted a mixture of colours, ranging from | | | | The round leaves are a potent medicinal weapon |
| gold through bright orange to deep fiery red. | | | | against sore throats. At the first sign of a sore |
| Arrange them with a few sprigs of other herbs | | | | throat, chew on a nasturtium leaf every two |
| such as rosemary and fennel to add some | | | | hours. This can sometimes get rid of the sore |
| texture, lavender flowers for contrast and you | | | | throat altogether, at others it just prevents it |
| have an edible, scented bouquet, perfect to take | | | | getting too bad. The leaves have natural |
| as a gift when you visit friends. | | | | anti-bacterial properties and are rich in vitamin C. |
| The nasturtium's best kept secret though is that | | | | They can also be made into a tea by infusing a |
| both the leaves and flowers are edible. Their | | | | few leaves in a cup of boiling water for five |
| sharp peppery tang lends a bite of interest to | | | | minutes and sipped either straight or with the |
| salads and can be a real boon to a jaded palate | | | | addition of a teaspoon of honey. |
| when the shops only offer bland varieties of | | | | In ancient times in its native Peru the nasturtium |
| lettuce. A few of the round green nasturtium | | | | was used as a wound disinfectant and taken onto |
| leaves, that look like they could be parasols for | | | | battle fields to be used as a poultice and a |
| mice or fairies, will lift a bland iceberg or butter | | | | disinfectant wash. Not bad for a pretty garden |
| lettuce into the realms of designer cooking, their | | | | flower! |