Flowered salads

In the combination of different lettuce leaves, herbs and flowers, there are special subtleties that are important to consider. In cooking, as in all other fields, not everything goes with everything, and arbitrary combinations never give good results. In order to achieve success, first of all, attention should be paid to the color scheme of the future dish. You can play on shades and midtones of the same color, or resort to contrast and add to a bouquet of green leaves – composed, for example, of arugula, mung bean salad and spinach sprouts – a reddish chard leaf, a green beet leaf with red veins or a mustard shoot with brown patches. You can also get a contrasting color by adding bright yellow, sunny orange or brilliant red cherry tomatoes, bright purple or pearl-pearl rings of young onions, azure-blue borage flowers or candy-pink begonia petals.

Before combining one with the other, you should try leaves, herbs, sprouted grains and flowers, feel the extraordinary range of these tastes: sweetish, sour, bitter, spicy, peppery … It is very important that inventing such compositions gives us pleasure, includes an element of play.

Flowers for adding to salads can also be picked in your garden, provided that the plants have not been chemically treated. They can be stored in the refrigerator for several days, but they should not be washed before use, water will be fatal to both their appearance and taste.

salad dressing secret

The simplest salad dressing, which best preserves the original taste of the plants, is made in two steps (it is great for mixtures of two or three varieties). First, the salad is poured with vegetable oil and gently mixed so that a thin layer of oil is distributed over all the leaves and protects them from the “biting” vinegar. Then sprinkle with vinegar and mix again. Salt is sprinkled on the salad right before serving, and quite a bit: just a few grains are enough.

You can cook a more complex and refined sauce. Sophisticated selection of components and a special mixing order will give an exquisite oiliness and a touch of mystery. It all depends on the selection of ingredients: for example, you can mix several types of oil, vinegar, add various spices, mustard, etc. The choice of these elements is so wide and varied that you can invent a new salad dressing every day.

In white flower

Green vegetable salad with onion sprouts

For 4 persons. Preparation: 15 min. Cooking: 2 min.

• 200 g green asparagus tips
• 125 g green mini zucchini
• 75 g sugar peas in pods
• 50 g peeled fresh green peas
• 50 g fresh small beans, shelled
• 12 fresh mint leaves
• 20 fresh marjoram leaves
• 2 pinches sprouted onion seeds
• 20 white flowers: primrose, pansy, jasmine, etc.

For the filling:

• 3 art. l. almond oil
• 1 st. l. hazelnut oils
• 2 tbsp. l. honey vinegar
• 1 teaspoon acacia honey
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• salt and pepper

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a mixer.

Wash the vegetables, drop them in boiling salted water for 2 minutes, drain in a colander and place in very cold water to keep their beautiful green color. Then fold back into a colander, transfer to a salad bowl and pour over the dressing.

Mix gently and divide into bowls. Sprinkle with mint and marjoram leaves, season with sprouted onion seeds, garnish with flowers and serve immediately.

In pink flower

Salad of green tomatoes and avocado with lime.

For 4 persons. Preparation: 15 min.

• 2 avocado
• 4 green tomatoes
• 2 Lime
• 1 fresh green hot pepper
• 2 tbsp. l. redcurrant berries (without twigs)
• 12 soy or other legume sprouts
• 20 purple basil leaves
• 20 pink flowers: begonias, rose petals, etc.
• 2 tbsp. l. cold pressed olive oil
• sea ​​salt

Wash all salad ingredients. Take one and a half limes and squeeze the juice, and cut the remaining half into thin slices. Peel the avocados, cut them into thin longitudinal slices and sprinkle with lime juice; cut the tomatoes into 3 mm thick transverse slices, and the pepper into thin oblique rings.

Arrange all the ingredients on plates, drizzle with olive oil, salt, add currants, basil and sprouts, garnish with flowers and serve immediately.

This salad goes well with thin slices of toasted bread.