Western Garden Centers

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Recipes

Edible Flowers

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Edible flowers are a fun addition to a summer salad, are gorgeous when candied, and make beverages more beautiful.  They are easy to use and add a special flare to your dish!

Edible Flowers

Some of the flowers on our list may surprise you.  You might already have them growing in your yard without even realizing the culinary excitement that awaits!  There are a few things to remember when cooking with flowers:

  • use flowers that are grown organically
  • make sure the flowers you want to eat are edible, as some flowers can make you sick
  • eat flowers in moderation, they can cause digestive or allergy problems if overusededible flower anatomy
  • if you know you are allergic to a certain plant, avoid eating its flower
  • eat the edible parts (usually just the petals) of edible flowers–remove pistils and stamens
  • Do not use non-edible flowers as a garnish, guests may reasonably assume that if a flower is in their food, they can eat it

 Top Ten Edible Flower Picks

Borage is an annual herb (also known as starflower).  Borage flowers are usually blue, but can also appear pink or white.  They have a faint cucumber taste and are well-suited to salads, beverages and desserts.

Chrysanthemums have a mild flavor.  Sprinkle the petals over a salad for a beautiful presentation.

Daylilies are slightly sweet with a mild vegetable flavor and work well for garnishes, desserts, or even deep frying!  Use only the orange daylily.

Lavender has a sweet floral flavor and lends itself well to both sweet and savory dishes.  Use it in desserts or stews, or simply use it as a beautiful garnish.

Nasturtiums are one of the most commonly used edible flowers.  They have a sweet, peppery flavor.  Beautiful as a garnish, in a salad, or even on an open-faced sandwich.

Pansies can be eaten whole (including violas and johnny-jump-ups).  They have a sweet flavor and are good for use in salads, drinks and desserts.

Dianthus has a clove-like flavor and adds lovely color to a salad.  Beautiful in an ice ring for a party, or freeze petals in individual ice cubes.

Roses are a staple in many yards, and perhaps soon in many kitchens!  All varieties are edible.  The flavor varies between types and colors, but they are generally fruity, with deep colors having a more pronounced flavor.  Great for salads, garnishes, beverages, and many other culinary uses.

Scented Geraniums are ideal in desserts, drinks, and even frozen in ice.  Flavor generally corresponds with variety.  The Citronelle variety may not be edible.

Squash is possibly the most surprising member of our list.  They can be eaten raw, sauteed in butter, or even deep fried!  This is a great way to prevent waste if your plants produce more than you (and all of your neighbors!) can use.

*Please note: this list is not exhaustive.  Many flowers are edible.  This list contains our ten favorites.  If you want to eat a flower that does not appear on this list, make sure to reference a reputable source to ensure its safety.  Some flowers can make you sick.

We are developing recipes for flowers and will begin posting when they are in season.  If you have a favorite flower recipe or idea that you would like to share, leave it in a comment!  We just might feature you in an upcoming post!

Avocado & Slow-Roasted Tomato Toast

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Roasting is one of my favorite ways to cook veggies, as I mentioned in my post about roasted asparagus.  Tomatoes are another reason why.  Slow roasting concentrates their flavors, making even so-so tomatoes wonderfully delicious and tender…similar to how a slow-cooker can turn a tough cut of meat into a tender and juicy dish. If garden-fresh tomatoes aren’t in season but you need a fix, this is a perfect way to prepare them to get maximum flavor from a less-than-flavorful store bought tomato!

slow roasted tomato toast 3 pin

The flavors of roasted vegetables are deep and rich.  The tomatoes come out juicy and soft and the garlic will spread right into the toast.  slow roasted tomato avocado toast collage

Slow-Roasted Tomato & Avocado Toast

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium tomatoes, halved
  • 8 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 2-3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
  • dried Italian seasoning (or 2 sprigs fresh herbs)
  • freshly ground sea salt & black pepper
  • 2 avocados
  • 1-2 tsp lime juice
  • 8 toasted french bread slices
  • balsamic reduction*

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Place the garlic cloves and tomatoes, cut-side up, in a baking dish.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt & pepper.
  2. Roast for about 1 hour & 45 minutes (up to two hours). Tomatoes should be slightly reduced in size and skins should be puckered.
  3. Check the garlic after about 1 hour 15 minutes.  They might be done before the tomatoes.  Remove if done, continue roasting if not.
  4. Tomatoes can be served right away, or refrigerated for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
  5. To assemble the toast, begin by toasting 8 slices of french bread.
  6. Peel and pit the avocado and mash with lime juice.
  7. Remove the peel from a clove of roasted garlic and spread it over a slice of toast.  Spread avocado mixture over the garlic.  Top the avocado with a roasted tomato, and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

slow roasted tomato toast 6 square*To reduce balsamic vinegar, add 1 cup to a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir frequently for about 10 minutes, or until balsamic is reduced to desired consistency.  It will thicken as it cools, so remove it from the heat before it looks completely done.

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Cowboy Caviar

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If you are looking for something a little different, really simple, and super quick, look no further!  It’s a fabulous appetizer served with chips, or as part of a main meal…like a taco bar topping.  Whether your ingredients are straight from the garden, or came from the produce section, you will impress your guests with this flavorful treat!

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (15.25 oz) supersweet yellow corn
  • 1 can (15.25 oz) white corn, drained
  • 2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed & drained
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix (dry)
  • 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and gently combine.  Delicious right away, but even better once the flavors have had a chance to mingle.  Serve with chips, or in a taco bar.

Cowboy Caviar square

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Becky

  

~Becky

Creamy Potato Soup

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If you’re not quite ready to give up soup season, give this creamy potato soup a try. It’s my most requested soup recipe! And unlike most creamy soups, it is NOT made with cream! Which means you won’t have to worry about calories. Or you can eat more. I always opt for eating more!

Creamy Potato Soup WGC

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

  • 8 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 5 cups milk
  • 6 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 6 Tbsp flour
  • 2 Tbsp parsley
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. In a large saucepan, bring potatoes, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, chicken broth and salt to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until potatoes are just tender.  Do not drain; mash slightly.  Stir in milk.
  3. In a small bowl, blend butter, flour, parsley and pepper; stir into potato mixture.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
  4. Remove from heat; add cheese and stir until cheese is almost melted.  Let soup stand for 5 minutes.
  5. Serve hot.

Creamy Potato Soup Square

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Becky

 

~Becky

St. Patrick’s Day Mini Fruit Skewers

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If you are looking for a new idea, try these fun and festive (and healthy!) fruit skewers for St. Patrick’s Day!

Fruit Skewers Collage

St. Patrick’s Day Mini Fruit Skewers

Ingredients:

  • 1 kiwi
  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 green apple
  • 1 d’anjou pear

Directions:

  1. Cut fruit and cucumber into bite-sized pieces.  Using a party toothpick (with a green tip), skewer the fruit.  Serve immediately.
  2. Green grapes (cut in half) would be a great option too!

Happy Spring, it’s almost here!!

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Becky

 

 

~ Becky

Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

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If you love avocado, cilantro and lime as much as I do, this dressing is a must!  It’s creamy and fresh and adds just a little kick!  Thin it down a little to pour onto your salad, or leave it thick and spread it on your sandwich in place of mayo.  Either way it is highly addicting!

avocado cilantro lime dressing
Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

Ingredients:

  • 1 clove garlic
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 ripe avocado
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, stems removed
  • 1/2 tsp agave
  • 1/8 tsp cumin
  • dash cayenne pepper
  • freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp plain greek yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp milk

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to blender jar.  Process until dressing is smooth and creamy.
  2. If dressing is too thick, add more milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing Square

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Becky

 

~Becky

Priming Your Utah Garden Rake!

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Necessity is the mother of invention!  I believe it!  Check out this fun idea of how to utilize your garden rake while you are waiting for the leaves to fall!  We suggest a leaf rake without painted tines.  Of course, you will want to begin with a clean sterilized rake; you know how to do that.  Gather your ingredients.  Get your fire-pit going with just the right coals.  Now you are ready to assemble, roast, and enjoy your s’mores.  Follow the photo – a picture is worth a 1000 words!

Call your local Western Gardens store to check on current stock of these rakes; these are a most popular garden tool, now for several purposes!  Happy s’moriing while you wait for the raking to begin!

Fall store hours – 10am-6pm

 

Leaf Rake Smores

Grilled Caprese Sandwich (aka the best thing you’ve ever tasted!)

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Our oldest had a birthday, and for his birthday dinner he wanted grilled cheese.  We eat far too much grilled cheese anyway (because the kids will actually eat it without crying about how gross dinner is), but you can’t say no to a birthday dinner request.  I wanted something slightly more exotic, so I ran out to the garden to grab a tomato.  Then I saw the basil, which reminded me that I had mozzarella in my fridge and balsamic vinegar in my cupboard.  Rejoice!  As I was making my beautiful sandwich, my darling husband looked on.  Very skeptically.  He watched me take the first bite, and when I liked it, he took my sandwich to taste it.  (That’s how it works at our house.)  After one bite, he wanted his own.  And I’ve been making them almost nonstop since.  This is so simple, but the flavor will just about knock your socks off!  Everyone that has tried this sandwich has asked for seconds.  Every. Single. One.  It’s that good!!

Grilled Caprese Sandwich

makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices bread (I made bread because, hey, this was for a birthday dinner!) Otherwise use italian, french, or sourdough bread.
4 slices mozzarella cheese
1-2 tomatoes, sliced
10 basil leaves
garlic salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
balsamic vinegar to taste
melted butter

Using half of the ingredients for each sandwich, lay out the 4 slices of bread. Place the mozzarella and tomatoes on two of the slices of bread. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over the tomatoes, and top with basil leaves. Lightly drizzle balsamic vinegar on the other two slices of bread, and place vinegar-side down over the basil. Brush melted butter on top of each sandwich, and place butter-side down on a hot griddle. Brush remaining unbuttered side with butter. Cook each side 2-3 minutes, or until golden and gooey.

Serve your unbelievably delicious sandwich with this incredible roasted red pepper and tomato basil soup.  Everyone who eats it will have undying admiration and love for you.

Tomato and Basil. Such a perfect combination of colors and flavors!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

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Grilled cheese is serious business at our house. It’s one of the few meals that every member of our family will eat (without crying and complaining about how gross dinner is and asking what the kids get to eat and then crying harder when I tell them they don’t get a different dinner). Anyway. The adults in our house also love tomato soup.  We’re dippers and sippers.  We usually have our soup in a mug.  We dip our sandwiches, and when they’re gone we finish off the soup like a drink.  It’s total comfort food…I grew up on it.  Well, with the wagon full of tomatoes we picked the other day, I’ve been trying to get creative to use them.  I plan on freezing as many as I can, but I also want to eat as many I can while I can.  Because there isn’t much that compares to a fresh tomato, ripe off the vine.  Now that some of the days are getting a little chilly, it’s officially soup season at our house!  (I love soup season.  A lot.)  Enter: Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Basil Soup

3 roasted red peppers, rough chopped (click HERE to see how to roast your own.  don’t be scared, it’s easy.)

5 large tomatoes, skins removed, rough chopped

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

1/2 tsp thyme

2 tsp paprika

garlic salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

generous pinch cayenne pepper

generous dash of your favorite hot sauce

10 leaves of fresh basil, torn into thirds

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

Saute onion and garlic over medium heat in a stock pot until fragrant.  Add the tomatoes and peppers.  Cook until the juices are slightly reduced.  Add the thyme, paprika, garlic salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and basil.  Using an immersion blender, or blending in batches (mine actually fit in one batch), process until smooth (or leave it a little chunky if you like.  I don’t.  Not for tomato soup.)  Add back to the stock pot if necessary and add the veg or chicken broth.  Melt the butter in a small bowl and stir in the flour.  Add to the soup and thoroughly combine.  Let simmer for about 25 minutes.  Makes about 8 servings.

Serve with a grilled caprese sandwich (aka the best grilled sandwich known to man).

*To remove tomato skins, lightly score an X into the bottom of the tomato.  Gently drop into boiling water, remove after 30-60 seconds.  Place directly into an ice bath until tomato is cool.  The skins will slide right off.

*I have to say it.  This is the best tomato soup I’ve ever had, including canned, boxed, restaurant, semi-homemade, etc.  This is also the best caprese sandwich I’ve ever had, including the one I had at a restaurant that’s been highlighted on at least one food show I like to watch.  Waaaaay better.  So much better.  I wish I could make this for everyone I meet.  It’s so fabulous.  I’ve made it for a number of family members and friends, and the look on their faces after that first bite…it says, “I knew you said this was going to be a good sandwich, but it’s way better than I thought it would be.  It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted.  Start making another one now.  Right now.  MOVE!”

Enjoy!

How to Roast Red Peppers

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Red peppers are one of the best reasons to grow a garden.  They’re flavorful, delicious, great for snacking and cooking, and they’re so versatile.  You can put them in sandwiches, salads, burgers, or on eggs or pizza, or even use them in hummus.  I love roasted red peppers!  I bought a jar once at Costco, but after they stopped carrying them, I decided I would learn how to make my own.  It’s so EASY!  There are several methods, but this is the way I like to do it, because I think it’s the easiest!

You need a foiled-lined rimmed cookie sheet, an oil sprayer or non-stick spray (this is optional), and your beautiful peppers.

Preheat your broiler.  Mine has a high and low setting, I use high.  Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stem, membrane and seeds.

Give the foil a light spray of oil or non-stick spray and place them cut-side down.  Then give the peppers a light spray of oil.  I use my handy dandy oil sprayer because it’s cheaper than buying can after can of non-stick spray, and then it doesn’t have all the additives.

You don’t have to use oil, but I’ve done it both ways and the skins seem to peel off more easily if I give them a light spray.  Try it both ways.  If you don’t need the oil, then save some calories and don’t use it!

Look how pretty they are…just waiting to be charred!

Put them in your oven and wait for them to turn black!  I set my timer for 5 minutes, and then just watch them carefully after that.  These are just starting to char.

They don’t always char evenly, so I usually have to pull them out and rearrange them.  The peppers in the middle tend to take a little longer in my oven.  You want them nice and charred…these went back in the oven for some more black!

(You can also do this with whole peppers, and you can do them on the grill or over a gas burner, but this is the easiest way for me.  And I always like to follow the path of least resisitance.)

Once they come out of the oven, put them directly into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, or into a ziploc or brown paper bag.  They need to finish steaming so you can easily peel them.  Let them sit for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes the skin should easily peel off and you should be left with beautiful, delicious roasted peppers!

Then do something fun with them, like roasted red pepper hummus!

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