Watermelon and Black Olive Salad with Edible Flowers
Living in a flat with a postage stamp garden filled with uncontrollable shrubs is not the best place to find edible flowers. However, my mum’s garden is full of borage, phlox, cornflowers and pansies and knowing that some of these are edible I thought some flowers would be a beautiful addition to a summer salad. My favourite by far were the nasturtiums – they have a very peppery taste and I was so taken with them I might try and see if I can get this lovely little plant to flourish chez moi.
Ingredients – Serves 4
2 handfuls of rocket
2 handfuls of watercress
2 handfuls of spinach
100g black olives
200-300g watermelon (or however much you want to add)
Flowers
I added nasturtiums, only one in the picture as I ate the others – ooops! Cornflowers are a little spicy, small purple and yellow violas – these were divine and it’s hard to describe the taste; they have a wintergreen flavour going on though. The small delicate blue flowers are borage, if you like cucumber then you’ll love the taste of these.
Nutritional Benefits
Did you know that rocket (sometimes called arugula) is called rocket for its rocket-like growth? It’s easy to grow and is rich in Vitamin C – eat it raw to get the maximum amount of Vitamin C and chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is also referred to as ‘liquid sunshine’ as it cleanses your blood and boosts oxygen. It is a superfood which is also high in potassium, a mineral known to improve cardiovascular health. My next fun fact is that watermelon is actually classed as a vegetable, it’s rich in lycopene, helps prevent heart attacks and is good for the libido! You should go and get some watermelon right away! If you think about it there was no need for Baby (of Dirty Dancing fame) to be embarrassed carrying a watermelon, if she and Johnny had consumed some watermelon they might have got it ‘on’ a little bit sooner! Or maybe that would have spoiled the pace of the film. Nevermind. This is probably the loveliest salad I have ever created and I hope you enjoy it too.
With love,
Deliciously Miss V*
*An aspiring novelist who lives in London and turned vegan earlier this year
