Lines to a Nasturtium

flame-flower, day-torch, mauna loa,

i saw a daring bee, today, pause, and soar,

into your flaming heart

Anne Spencer (1882 to 1975, Harlem Renaissance)

This was my first year planting the beautiful jewel nasturtium from seeds and they are overflowing in all parts of my garden adding a beautiful color and attracting bees and birds. The heat in the past few weeks has not helped them much but they are hanging tight and I hope with survive these soaring temperatures.

The zero waste in me was ecstatic that all parts of the plant are edible with a mild peppery flavor, they are incredibly delicious. I have been using the leaves and flowers in my salads and stir fry pretty regularly. Munching on them right off the plants even better.

Did you know that Nasturtiums have high levels of vitamin C  and manganese, iron, flavonoids, and beta carotene. Just what we need to keep booting our immune system.

With an abundance of flowers, I decided to make a simple Nasturtium flower infused vinegar. All it takes is flowers and a good quality organic white vinegar. It is really  as simple as that, use as many flowers as you like but a recommendation is below.

The flowers impart a beautiful color to the vinegar and its ready for use in a couple of weeks. You can strain and bottle it after it. I just keep a flower filled jar on my counter as I love the color it adds to my kitchen.

Nasturtium infused Vinegar

2 cups Nasturtium Flowers

2 cups of white vinegar ( try plain organic white or white balsamic)

Add the flowers to a glass jar and cover with vinegar. Lid the jar and store in a cool place for 2 weeks. Shake the jar once day for a couple of days to move the flowers around. It should be ready for use in a couple of weeks. You can strain in a different bottle and use on soups, salads or sauces.

Sharing at Angies , check out the party and the blog of the fab cohost  Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook