Each season has its blessings, but spring and summer bring us some extraordinary and unique gifts - wild edible flowers. Depending on where you live, fragrant wild roses are abundant. They are perfect additions to salads and deserts, and if you like canning and preserving, they make wonderful jellies and can also be candied. If your booty is large enough you may want to try my rose petal pesto recipe. It is absolutely divine!
Ingredients:
- 2 large beets
- 1/2 cup fresh rose petals (packed)
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (packed)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1/4 cup pistachios
- freshly pressed juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup virgin olive oil
- pinch pink Himalayan salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
- Thoroughly wash and pat dry the rose petals. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife, cut off the white part at the end of each petal.
- Toss rose petals, basil leaves, garlic clove into a bowl of a food processor and whiz for a few seconds. Add pistachios and whiz again. Add lemon juice and process again. Slowly pour in the olive oil while the blender blades are moving. Add salt and pepper and adjust the taste to your personal liking. Rose petals and lemon juice give this pesto refreshingly acidic taste.
- Wash and peel the beets. Using spiralizer or a julienne vegetable peeler, make beet noodles. In a large bowl gently mix the beet noodles with one third of the pesto. Portion out the noodles and top each portion with a generous amount of pesto.
- Garnish with rose petals and fresh basil leaves. Serve right away and enjoy in good company!
Tip: I used incredibly fragrant wild roses that I foraged. You may want to use a garden or farm variety provided the blooms are organic and have never been sprayed with deadly pesticides.
Rose petals are not only delicious, they are also healthy. Besides volatile essential oils they contain vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, B, C, E and K, and minerals such as potassium and iron. Rose petals have been used for health and beauty since antiquity. They are believed to be anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, and cleansing. They also increase production of the bile and may stimulate digestion.
Dominique Allmon©2016
*Information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose or cure a disease.