Springtime Nasturtium Appetizers are a beautiful presentation for any party. Simply made with a last minute splash of freshly picked blossoms, scented with their peppery flavor. Choose your own cracker or bread for this dish along with your favorite cheese. Or sprinkle these heavenly petals on a lovely green salad. Springtime Nasturtiums are early-bloomers and the first to burst into color in your early garden. Their rainbow colored faces brighten any edible dish you may want to serve your guests. With their peppery bite they marry beautifully with this simple orange-scented cream cheese spread. Taking minutes to prepare your guests will savor this unique appetizer. These flowers can be planted directly in your garden or a pot. They come in an assorted colors and sizes. What makes this a gardener’s favorite flower is that they are a perennial, which reseeds and comes back year after year. You can find seeds at your local garden store or online at Renee’s garden seeds. A welcome to any morning brunch or afternoon tea. This recipe was inspired by Rosalind Creasy’s gardening book, The Edible Flower Garden.

Springtime Nasturtium Appetizer

Course Appetizer

Cuisine California

Keyword appetizer, california greek, edibleflower, nasturtiums, spring

Author Rosalind Creasy

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
Zest of one orange
3 tablespoons of orange juice
1 pound of cocktail bread, crusts removed
Nasturtiums or any edible flower
Herb leaves such as basil, sage, parsley, mint

Instructions

In a bowl add the cream cheese, dill, zest, and orange juice. Mix gently.
Adjust the cream cheese by adding a little more juice.
Trim all the crusts from the bread.
Spread the cream cheese on the bread. Smooth.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to add the flowers.
Wash and pat dry the flowers on paper towels.
They can be refrigerated until ready to serve.
Decorate each bread with one leaf and flower.
This can be made ahead a few hours in advance.
Cover and refrigerate.

Nasturtium blooms in yellow-orange flare
I pluck them and I savor their sharp tang
of spice and feel their texture on my tongue
satin-smooth and cool and clean and rare.
I eat then one symmetrical round leaf,
green and piquant, crisp within my mouth
restorative of memories of youth
and palliative of age and unbelief.

.The flowers burn with early Autumn light vibrant, bright and vivid and alive, I strive to fan some spark with their delight I fight to find some ember to revive. I eat the blossoms, gold and orange-red and kneel beside the Autumn flower bed. By tony parsons