What Can I Do With Chive Blossoms?

Today I walked out into the garden and found blossoms on my chives. They make the garden look so pretty and add the burst of early spring color that's otherwise missing in a sea of "shades of green"... Most people miss though that chive blossoms are also a tasty treat ~ They are strongly flavored though, so a little goes a L-O-N-G way... Here are a couple of my favorite things to do with chive blossoms.

CHIVE BLOSSOM VINEGAR
(a great gift as well as a wonderful treat!)
2 cups white vinegar

2 cups fresh chive blossoms

Bring vinegar to a near boil and pour over the chive blossoms. Let stand in large glass bowl or bottle in a cool, dark place for one week. Strain the vinegar and discard blossoms.

Serve as a herbed vinegar & oil dressing or transfer to pretty bottles adding a fresh chive blossom of sprig of fresh chives to each bottle.

CHIVE BLOSSOM OMELET
4 fresh eggs 4 tablespoons sour cream pinch of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley 1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives 2 tablespoon unsalted butter 12 rinsed & dry chive blossoms
Lightly beat eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper, parsley and chives. Preheat omelet pan and melt butter. Pour in egg mixture and leave undisturbed until omelet begins to set. Lower heat and, tipping pan slightly, lift edges to let uncooked egg run underneath. When omelet is firm, sprinkle with chive blossoms and fold in half.

CHIVE BLOSSOM SALAD WITH MUSHROOMS (although chive blossoms make an excellent addition to ANY salad!)

1 pound fresh raw mushrooms (I like a variety for a fuller taste, but the original recipe called for white mushrooms! Maybe use seasonal Morels too...)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
About 12 chive blossoms
1/3 cup chopped chives
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Wipe the dirt off the mushrooms with paper towels. Slice the mushrooms and arrange them on a serving platter. Drizzle the oil over the top. Sprinkle the mushrooms with blossoms and chives and season with salt and pepper.

A variation on this would be to slightly saute the mushrooms and sprinkle with a goat cheese or other farmers cheese too!

... Don't miss out on a seasonal treat. Use what Mother Nature gives you to adorn your plate, tempt your palate and please your tummy!

Update on Aeroponics Growing

I wanted to update any readers on my experience with the AeroGarden 3. I'll have to say I was disappointed. I KNOW that things never work as advertised, but I suppose I had high hopes for this, after all it IS growing plants with aeroponics and proper lighting. it should be a no brainer.

I first planted (sometime in January) chives, parsley and a green basil. The basil never made it so at a later time I added purple basil - Neither basil grew or produced anything. My chives we weak and spindly and my parsley while it produced enough to snip here and there it did not grow a bushy parsley bunch.

Here is a photo of my chives (although they have mostly been clipped) and my parsley! If I had to do it all over would I buy this product? Considering I got an AWESOME deal, yes I would likely buy it again. Am I going to shout my joy from the roof-top. No, I can't say I would endorse this for someone else UNLESS they could get the same great deal, or may be able to pick up one very inexpensively used...

The AeroGarden 3 will give me a few fresh herbs during the winter months when I otherwise can not grow squat!