Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Insalata Caprese with nasturtiums?


 I've been thinking...

Would nasturtium leaves, cut into thin ribbons (chiffonaded, if I must be proper), and added to tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and purple basil be...wrong?

I had forgotten about the simple nasturtium until I saw their butter yellow flowers trailing up and down a picket fence in my mom's herb garden. Their leaves are delicious, peppery and apparently antimicrobial. As a child I was instructed to go into the garden and wrap one leaf around a small piece of cheese, to chew for sore throat relief. The cheese was my reward for taking the medicine.

I have not eaten them for a long time, but while thinking of ideas for AOL's Shelterpop I got the bright one of "Grow your own Lunch." Well, my lunches turned out rather green, and why not? Growwe bruin brood, as we say (rough brown bread), nasturtium leaves, and grated sharp cheddar. Lekker. And mighty good for you.


Still tinkering with that favourite salad.

And tinkering with the blog: to constantly post mega, screen-eating pictures does not seem justified unless they are very good, and obviously not all of them are. These two pictures, for instance - they're nice, the first one is better, but they're not spectacular. Does one want an entire screenful of OK nasturtium leaves?

Does one want nasturtium leaves in one's Insalata Caprese?

We shall see. A last lunch on Sunday, hopefully under the tree. Friends and Interesting People to feed.

4 comments:

  1. nasturtiums in a salad are one of my favorite parts of summer. magically pretty and yummy, too.

    enjoy your last bit of vacation!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Call it tropaeolum chiffonade and enjoy! (I do.)

    Full-page photos on blogger can be awkward for some viewers.I'd say leave as is and allow us click-for-big.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been trying to size them at original, and using 6x4.5 at 96dpi for most, which looks small in photoshop but big on the blog. 72dpi takes it down a bit. big is juicy for ID shots and beauty, but you are right for strict illustration smaller seems less gaudy, bawdy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kappertjie blare = definite yes. In the past I have been known to serve stuffed mushrooms on a bed of young leaves. delicious.

    ReplyDelete

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