The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe: Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe: Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe:

Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe: Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

I can officially declare that it is summer! The mercury has been steadily rising over the last four to five days and I am wearing shorts and t-shirts, so, it MUST be summer. My herb garden and edible flower bed is blooming with new flowers opening each day; the next flowers and leaves to grace my salad bowl will be nasturtiums and borage, but, for now I am pleased to be using chive flowers and marigold petals. Of all the flowers that I use in cooking and baking, marigolds have to be one of my favourites – they look bright and cheerful when scattered over salads or omelettes, and they have a lovely peppery taste. They are also rather regal, as they were used extensively throughout the mediaeval period for Royal banquets and special feasts. Marigolds were eaten whole, as well as being used to adorn salads and sweet junkets and Henry VIII was believed to have been very fond of them. The flower also has a long history of being used as a healing tisane, that goes back to the ancient Greeks who drank it to relieve nervousness tension and insomnia. This gaily coloured flower is also known more commonly as Calendula Officinalis, as well as Pot Marigold, Ruddles, English Marigold, Scottish Marigold, Garden Marigold and Common Marigold. 

The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe: Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

If you are as fascinated with this cheerful culinary flower as I am, there is an alternative herbal healing site here, Herbs Hands Healing, where you can read more about the medicinal side of the flower. I have them growing all over my garden, not just in neat borders (actually, I have NO neat borders anywhere!) but amongst lettuces, soft fruit and even in the chicken run. I have been developing lots of recipes with the humble marigold over the last few weeks, and the recipe I am sharing today is the first in a series of marigold (and other floral) recipes.

Pot Marigold

The other flower that I have added to my seasonal recipe today, are chive flowers; chive flowers are such a lovely colour and taste mildly “chive-like”. I don’t harvest all of the chive flowers for my floral kitchen, as I need them to progress on to seed heads so I can collect the seeds and for self-seeding in the garden for next year, but, I have so many of them growing randomly in the garden that they are also a very popular addition to my summer recipes, especially dressings, salads, baking and omelettes. I also add them to pasta dishes for a bit of colour and texture, as well as their mild chive flavour.

Chives and Chive Flowers

But back to my recipe, a beautiful salad for enjoying in the dappled shade of a tree, or on the heat of the terrace,  Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers – it’s easy to prepare and I love to  “paint a picture” on a plate when I make this salad, dipping in and out of my pots of petals as if I had a brush and some paints. As well as the chive flowers and marigolds, I like to add mint to this salad as it imparts a fresh flavour that enhances the peppery taste of the marigolds. I like to use a “robust” lettuce when making this salad, and a slightly bitter one for even more layers of taste – so, my lettuces of choice would be scarole, frisée or cos. The last time I prepared this salad, I used a fabulous piece of kitchen kit that the lovely ladies at Oxo sent me, a Salad Spinner. I have always wanted a good salad spinner, but my husband was not convinced that yet another piece of kitchen apparel was needed, so I was really pleased when I was sent one for review, and I have to say that I LOVE it – NO more soggy, wet lettuce!

But, that’s all for today, with apologies to my regular readers for my lack of posts lately – I was attending Food Blogger Connect over the weekend and have been travelling back home over the last 24 hours……..NORMAL service will be resumed soon! More about Food Blogger Connect later, as well as some new book reviews, a Greek dinner party, some new recipes and also a LOVELY new 5:2 diet recipe too……have a great week, see you soon, Karen 

The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe: Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

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Serves	1
Prep time	15 minutes
Allergy	Egg
Meal type	Lunch, Salad, Side Dish, Snack, Starter
Misc	Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party, Formal Party
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A delightful salad made with fresh eggs, tomatoes, cucumber and mint, as well as being dressed for summer with marigold and chive flowers. This salad is colourful and makes a wonderful luncheon dish as well as being perfect for picnics.

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 large lettuce leaves per person
• 1 chive flower per person
• The petals of 1 marigold flower per person
• 5 or 6 fresh mint leaves per person, roughly chopped if large
• 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons salad cream
• 4 fresh chives per person, snipped
• 1 large tomato per person, washed and cut into wedges
• 1 large hard boiled egg per person, peeled and quartered
• 1” (2:5cm) of cucumber per person, washed and cut into thin slices
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Note

A delightful salad made with fresh eggs, tomatoes, cucumber and mint, as well as being dressed for summer with marigold and chive flowers. This salad is colourful and makes a wonderful luncheon dish as well as being perfect for picnics. 

Directions

Step 1	Arrange the lettuce leaves in a bowl, shredding them if they are very large. (wash and spin them beforehand)
Step 2	Place the sliced cucumber in and amongst the lettuce leaves and then add the quartered hard-boiled eggs and tomato wedges.
Step 3	Snip the chives and scatter over the salad, reserving a little for a garnish later.
Step 4	Spoon the salad cream over the salad in small dollops and then scatter the mint leaves over the top.
Step 5	Finally, scatter the marigold petals over the salad along with the small purple petals from the chive flower and finish with some more snipped chives to serve. Allow diners to add salt and pepper to taste.

The Smell of Summer with a Floral Salad Recipe: Egg and Tomato Salad with Marigold & Chive Flowers

As this recipe has several herbs in it, I am entering this into my Cooking with Herbs (Herbs on Saturday) challenge here: July Cooking with Herbs Challenge (Herbs on Saturday) Win a Foraging & Wild Food Book

And, as it is a very seasonal salad suitable for a BBQ, I am also entering it into Lou and Anneli’s Four Seasons Food challenge too – where the theme this month is Barbecues.