Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Finger food
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Meat
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos

Nasturtium leaf salad

by Jeanne Horak on July 15, 2007 13 Comments in Recipes - vegan, Recipes - vegetarian, Salads

nasturtium-leaf-salad

Astonishingly, it seems that the teeniest little bit of summer has finally arrived in the UK!  I mean, we have had two weekends in a row of reasonable weather (well, not raining, that is…) and I have finally had a chance to spend some time in my sadly neglected garden.  I must say that despite the neglect, it’s looking pretty OK.  The last of my profusion of poppies are still hanging on; the geraniums are blooming for all they’re worth and the alyssum is making clouds of sweet-smelling flowers.  But most importantly, my favourite harbinger of summer has arrived:  the nasturtiums.

I have loved nasturtiums ever since my mom introduced me to them as a child (although I knew them by their Afrikaans name of kappertjies then).  They were easy to grow, fairly hard to kill and produced loads of flowers over a long period.  Plus there was the added bonus that their leaves looked almost exactly like the lily pads I had seen in my illustrated Beatrix Potter books and with a drop of dew in their centre, I could almost imagine them featuring in her wonderful tales.  I remember always being on the lookout for interesting colours: the ones with petals that shaded from red in the centre to yellow at the edges were my favourites and tended to grow lke weeds in Plett, on the slopes below the old Lookout hotel.  I would always make sure to get some seeds to take home and try and grow them in our garden, to my mom’s amusement.  When I arrived in the UK and saw nasturtium seeds for sale at the nursery, I immediately snapped them up and planted some – just having the plants in the garden made it feel a little more like home.  And this year, to my surprise, I discovered two thriving nasturtium plants that had sown themselves in the little corner by the garden gate, where nothing grows except weeds. So you could say that I now have wild nasturtiums growing in my garden…

I certainly had never thought of eating them until I started reading more widely about food and discoverd that a) capers are in fact NOT pickled nasturtium seeds, as we had always been told as children!) and b) both the flowers and leaves are edible, with a pleasant peppery tang.  They were brought to Europe in the 16th century from the jungles of Central America and in fact, their peppery tang is where nasturtiums for their name from:  an amalgamation of the Latin word for nose (nasus) and twister (tortus).  I have nibbled on them a few times since discovering their culinary possibilties and since they taste very much like rocket to me, I though they would be ideal in a salad.  And although I know the flowers are edible too, it just seems too much of a pity to pick them when I so love seeing their cheerful orange faces when I look out of the window.

So you’ll have to make do with wild nasturtium leaf salad!

NASTURTIUM LEAF SALAD (serves 2)Nasturtium_leaf

Ingredients

Cos lettuce, washed and torn
Cherry tomatoes, halved
2 sticks celery, sliced
5cm of a cucumber, thinly sliced
spring onions, chopped
a handful of fresh nasturtium leaves
1 Tbsp capers (optional)

Method

Toss the salad ingredients together and dress with a lemony vinagrette dressing.  Delicious with pizza.

This post is my atrociously late submission for Bron‘s great Wildfood event.  This month’s theme was Wild Weeds – check out her fantastic roundup!

More deliciousness for you!

  • Seven-layer saladSeven-layer salad
  • Salade folle a la Cooksister and a foie gras primerSalade folle a la Cooksister and a foie gras primer
  • Confetti rice salad – celebrate!Confetti rice salad – celebrate!
  • Blackberry and Prosciutto saladBlackberry and Prosciutto salad

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Yauatcha
Race for Life 2007 – been there, run that »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Pille says

    July 16, 2007 at 7:20 am

    My mum grows these flowers in the garden, I’ve read that they’re edible but somehow never tried them myself. Next weekend, I promise – the round leaves look so cute in your salad!

    Reply
  2. Kit says

    July 16, 2007 at 7:59 pm

    I love nasturtiums too. I had the experience in reverse order to you. Growing them as a child in my English garden from seeds, then being delighted to find them growing in profusion wild in South Africa.
    We used to bite off the pointed end at the back of the flower and suck out the nectar as children. Now I nibble the leaves too. They are supposed to contain a natural anti bacterial/ antibiotic and can ward off sore throats if you eat a few leaves. I’m still waiting for mine to flower so I can pick posies for the kitchen table.

    Reply
  3. Lydia says

    July 16, 2007 at 8:28 pm

    I love adding nasturtium leaves and the blossoms into salads. Topped with a fruity vinaigrette, the peppery taste of the leaves is fantastic.

    Reply
  4. Susan from Food Blogga says

    July 18, 2007 at 11:41 pm

    I’ve had nasturtiums in a fragrant flower salad mix that I by at the local farmer’s market. It makes such an elegant presentation, doesn’t it? Your photos are just lovely, especially the second one with the water droplet. Quite inspirational!

    Reply
  5. Jeanne says

    July 19, 2007 at 5:10 pm

    Pille,
    Oh yes – just grab a handful of your mom’s! The smaller leaves are usualyl nicer and can go into the salad in their entire, round form which is prettiest. If you like rocket, you are sure to like these 🙂
    Kit,
    How funny that we had the reverse experience! One of the joys of moving far away from home I guess… I also remember kids biting off the pointy end to suck the nectar, but I’ve always preferred them for their aesthetic qualities. Interesting about the antibacterial/antibiotic properties – I’ll have to try that nest time I feel a scratchy throat coming on.
    Lydia,
    Mmmmm – maybe a little raspberry vinaigrette? Now you’ve got me thinking!
    Susan,
    Thanks *blush*! That’s high praise from somebody who takes such lovely photos herself! And I agree – flowers do add something so special to a meal’s presentation.

    Reply
  6. pam slade says

    July 22, 2007 at 3:53 pm

    I sit in a comfy chair beside a raised (alpine) bed with a clump of nasturtiums, and I munch away any time of day (having first checked for caterpillars).
    I wonder why they don;t attract blackfly, as they did when I was a child?
    Pam

    Reply
  7. Spittoon Extra says

    September 14, 2007 at 2:03 pm

    DMBLGIT – The Roundup

    Sorry for the long delay in posting the winning photos. A double house move in the space of three weeks and a loss of internet connection is the reason. Salivating over the entries as I have been doing, it must…

    Reply
  8. Margot says

    September 16, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    You are very lucky, my nasturtium plants were all invaded by some little black bugs, I had to use some poison to get rid of them so they were not edible any longer. I removed them from the pots but to my surprise they grew back very quickly… unfortunately this time slugs ate all the leaves.

    Reply
  9. judy jackson says

    September 8, 2013 at 9:36 am

    I’m mentioning your piece (long ago) about nasturtium flowers and leaves. I thought you might like to see it. It’s going on my blog The Armchair kitchen (see website above) next Friday 13th September. Do have a look and let me know if you like it.

    Reply
  10. Wayne wong says

    October 5, 2015 at 3:53 am

    Love ur story and willing to put this into my diet

    Reply
  11. Wayne wong says

    October 5, 2015 at 3:55 am

    Where do I get these seeds?

    Reply
  12. Lee says

    September 24, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    As a child I was introduced to cold roast beef and nasturtium leaf sandwishes. Delicious. I’m so glad others are learning how good they are to eat. Lee

    Reply
  13. shane maskell says

    July 16, 2017 at 9:40 am

    I came across your blog as I wanted to know if I could eat the leaves as someone told me. Reason being I planted several from seed in pots and some in ground and astonishingly I have the biggest leaves growing especially the ones in pots but so far not a flower!! Am I being impatient its just the plant has taken off with such profusion of leaves and I cant see any signs of a flower in sight. I have grown them before but they were already established from a nursery. However with the summer here I have picked the leaves to add to my salads and discovered the peppery taste as you say similar to rocket.

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Enter your address to subscribe via e-mail

Search over 500 recipes

Featured on

Recently on Cooksister

  • Potato, salmon and cucumber salad
  • Review: Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote
  • Exploring Grenada’s tree-to-bar cocoa estates
  • Beef, broccoli and udon noodle stir fry from “The Japanese Larder” by Luiz Hara
  • The Rosemary – an organic Hungarian restaurant in London
  • The Foyle Hotel Eatery: dining on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way
  • 8 Rhubarb recipes you need to try this winter
  • Saturday Snapshots #318

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
How to sautée Brussels sprouts
Brandy and Coke glazed gammon for a South African Christmas feast
Gem squash central - how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!

Also available on

cooksister


Instagram post 2182859529545291118_54730621
Can anybody gaze up at St Paul's Cathedral and fail to be impressed by its scale, beauty and grace (and the amazing blue skies that London has been blessed with for the past 2 Sundays??) *LONDON TRAVEL TIP* Admission to the cathedral costs £20.00 on the door (or £17.00 in advance) but here are my tips to see the interior for less.
1. Attend a service in the cathedral for free (there are four services a day), although you will not be able to access some areas like the whispering gallery that are open to paying visitors.
2. Attend a free organ recital which take place most Sundays at 16h45.
3. Get 2 for 1 tickets when you buy National Rail tickets to travel to a station near St Paul's. See http://www.daysoutguide.co uk for details.
4. When you buy your ticket, ask for an Annual Pass which will let you return to the cathedral for free as many times as you like for a year. 365 visits for the price of one!
5. Book a public guided tour (no extra cost above admission) which will get you access to areas like the Geometric Staircase and the Quire which are not usually open to visitors.

Instagram post 2171125393545679606_54730621
"Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate" (JRR Tolkien)

Do you love the anticipation of what lies just around the corner? Or does the unknown fill you with trepidation? On my recent trip to Assisi, I found this compact and ancient city to be filled with hidden treasures concealed behind every corner (and there were MANY corners, most of them on a steel uphill! 🤣). Sometimes a quiet church; sometimes a quirky art gallery; sometimes a breathtaking view; and sometimes a cheerful procession of geraniums marching up ancient stone stairs.

May you turn a corner today and discover something wonderful. 🙂
📸 @paolahorak

Instagram post 2140197497750837873_54730621
Today, South Africa (my homeland) marked Heritage Day, when the diversity of cultures in the country are celebrated. But as much as heritage is about what makes us different, it is also about what brings us together.

One thing that brings South Africans of all ages, from all walks of life, and from all cultures together all over the world is the braai - food prepared communally over an open fire and enjoyed with friends. Today, Heritage Day shares the date with National Braai Day when Sourh Africans celebrate their unifying fireside  culinary heritage. 
I have made this dish both in the oven and over the coals of the braai - and I definitely prefer the smokiness of the braaied version. The dish is simplicity itself - salmon (or snoek, if you can get your hands on some!) basted with a sticky glaze of... smooth apricot jam and Bovril! I kid you not! Don't mock it until you've tried it 😁. Serve on a bed of leaves topped with pomegranate seeds and spring onion.

Happy Heritage Day! 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦 #heritageday #braaiday

Instagram post 2135786442203279056_54730621
Hands up - who is loving the fabulously mild September weather we are experiencing in London at the moment? Such a treat 🌞 There are few finer ways to enjoy sunny late summer weekends than sundowners along the river Thames with friends. This particularly lovely and colourful river view was snapped from outside the @barmyarmstw1 in #Twickenham recently. 
How have you been celebrating the lingering summer days?

Instagram post 2118446473331719697_54730621
The Cité de Carcassonne is a walled mediaeval citadel within the modern French city of the same name, in the Occitanie region of southern France. The citadel was founded during the Gallo-Roman period and is famous for its intact 3 kilometres of double surrounding walls and 52 towers.

The original Roman walls were in place by 333 AD and since then the citadel  has been variously occupied by the Visigoths, Saracens and the Crusaders. The second line of walled defences was added after 1226, outside the Roman walls, and the town was finally annexed to the kingdom of France in 1247.

I loved looking up at these magnificent walls on Bastille day, through the prism of a glass of @foncalieuwines who were hosting us at @lecomptoirdelacite  for dinner with a spectacular view. 
Have you ever visited a Mediaeval walled city? Which one? [PRESS TRIP]

Instagram post 2106746806038463644_54730621
Simple and delicious, this new potato, salmon and cucumber salad is the happy marriage of nutty new potatoes (I used @jerseyroyals), silky smoked salmon and crispy cucumber in a lemony yoghurt dressing. Perfect for a summery main course - the recipe is linked to in my profile. Have a delicious weekend, everyone 😎 [GIFTED]

Instagram post 2100775015050655801_54730621
Come on in - the gates are open! Hello to my new followers - great to have you here 😊

These beautiful gates lead to the elegant Chateau la Provenquiere in the Pays d'Oc region of the Languedoc where I recently tasted their range of rosé wines. Built in the 15th Century, the castle was restored and refurbished to its current style in the 1800s. If you visit, make sure to explore the beautiful grounds and views over the surrounding countryside from the chateau garden. [PRESS TRIP]

Instagram post 2097986173625239866_54730621
Looking out over the vineyards of La Clape in Pays D'Oc in the south of France, where we spent the night at Gerard Bertrand's beautiful hotel, Chateau L'Hospitalet. From this ridge (about 10 minutes walk from the hotel) you can look out over the vines all the way to the Mediterranean which exerts its influence on the region's microclimate and its much-respected red wines. [PRESS TRIP]

Instagram post 2093023799826787585_54730621
[Press trip] Enjoyed a fabulous charcuterie platter under the trees to the sound of cicadas at Bar Boeuf & Cow near Béziers with winemaker @bruno.andreu. Bruno has recently started making wine under his own name and makes a great range of "Aromatic" @vinspaysdocigp varietal wines as well as AOP and premium "Icon" ranges. His "Aromatic" Pays D'Oc IGP Merlot with its ripe red fruit flavours and lively acidity made a great match for the excellent smoked duck breast (and I love his  botanical-themed labels!). What wine do you enjoy with charcuterie?


Load More...


Follow on Instagram


Cooksister

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs

See my Recipes at Feastie

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Jersey-royals-salmon-salad2 © Jeanne Horak 2019
Beef-Udon-noodle-stir-fry-title
P2PIrelandRhubarb © J Horak-Druiff 2013
Blood-orange-halloumi-salad-title
Lentil-squash-feta-Casserole
lamb-pulao-title
Blood-Orange-Cake-Title
Rhubarb-strawberry-Galette-1

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2019 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2019 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Necessary Always Enabled