Peppery nasturtium petals give crisp cucumber rounds a bright garden finish.
Times are estimates; follow the doneness cues in the method. Quantities refer to harvested food, never planting seeds.
Ingredients
- 1 large cucumber, about 350 g
- 150 g cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- 8 food-grown nasturtium flowers, washed and dried
- 1/8 tsp salt
Method
- Cut cucumber into 16 rounds about 1 cm thick; pat dry.
- Mix cream cheese, lemon, chives and salt. Spoon a small mound onto each round.
- Remove flower stems and divide petals among the bites. Serve promptly or keep chilled.
Storage
Cool cooked food promptly in shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours at 4°C or colder. Use within 2–3 days, or freeze promptly where texture allows. Refrigerate raw prepared salads and dairy sauces promptly; dress salads just before serving. Reheat cooked leftovers to 74°C. Best freshly made; keep chilled until serving.
Grow the main ingredient
Start with the named variety in the Casa Verde seed shop. Growing time, harvest size and flavour depend on your conditions; this recipe uses the harvested crop.
Shop seeds: Nasturtium Alaskan
Other harvests to try
Choose similar tenderness and prepared weight; adjust cooking to the cut size. Colour and flavour will change. For peppers, check heat first: hotter varieties are not a gram-for-gram swap.
More ways to use your harvest
Snapdragon variation: omit the nasturtium and place one small detached snapdragon petal on each cucumber bite. The flavour can be bitter, so keep the garnish small and use only correctly identified food-grown flowers.
Mix 1 tsp finely minced food-grown lemon bee-balm leaves into the cream cheese for a lemon-herbal variation. Keep the existing cucumber and small nasturtium garnish.
For a stock-flower variation, replace the nasturtium garnish with one small detached Iron Blue Matthiola petal on each bite. Use correctly identified Matthiola incana grown for food, never florist-treated stems. Taste sparingly because bitterness varies.
What to cook next
Original recipe developed with AI assistance; not yet kitchen-tested. The image is an AI-generated serving illustration.
