Photo: Thomas J. Story; Styling: Karen Shinto

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

1  tablespoon  lemon juice
5  tablespoons  extra-virgin olive oil
1  teaspoon  Dijon mustard
1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt
1/2  teaspoon  pepper
1  butter lettuce head, torn into large pieces
2  cups  small squash blossoms, stems removed, divided
3  tablespoons  roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1  avocado, peeled and sliced

Preparation

Whisk together lemon juice, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add lettuce, 1 1/2 cups blossoms, the sunflower seeds, and avocado and lightly toss with dressing until coated. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup blossoms on top of salad.

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There are many ways to stuff a blossom: 1) cream cheese, mixed with chopped chives, salt and pepper, 2) sautéed sweet corn, chopped green chiles, chopped onion with an egg to hold it together, 3) crumbled and cooked Italian sausage, chopped sweet pepper, a little parmesan cheese and tomato sauce. You get the idea—almost anything goes. All stuffed blossoms can be dipped in a light batter (recipe follows) and fried until golden or baked in an oiled pan at 325o until cooked throughout. For a simpler variation, omit the cheese stuffing and fry the blossoms plain. For a more elegant variation, servedrizzled with a light, well seasoned tomato sauce.

Serves 6-8

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups (12 ounce can) beer
salt to taste
30-40 squash blossoms
1/2 pound of any good quality cheese
safflower, sunflower or peanut oil

Beat together flour, beer, and salt. Let sit at least 3 hours. Cut cheese into small pieces and stuff each blossom. Heat 1/4-1/2 inch oil in wide skillet. Dip blossoms in batter, then fry in oil until golden brown.

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from Danielle Adams

Filling:

1/2 small container of Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Medium Tomato – Chopped
Handful of Basil – Chopped
Little Bit of Diced Onion
Dash of Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Batter:

Trader Joe’s or Other Buttermilk Baking Mix
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Water
Enough Veggie Oil to fill about 1/2 of a Medium Sized Skillet/Pan

Make the batter and allow to sit for a bit. Combine all ingredients for the filling.

Fill the Squash Blossoms with the filling, make sure to close the tops of the blossoms after by either pressing them down in to the filling a bit or gently twisting them a bit. Preheat your pan on med-Hi heat.

Dip the blossoms in to the batter and make sure your pan is hot enough. Gently place the blossoms into the pan and cook them until golden brown on each side. I usually turn down the heat to medium at this point.- they cook very rapidly and you should only need to turn them once. I add a little extra salt, pepper and red chili pepper flakes on them after frying too!

P.S. I am a total throw it together and see how it turns out cook… so please let me know if you have any questions about how I made these!!!!

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(Cream Of Squash Blossom Soup)

A delicate, creamy soup flecked with gold.

Serves 4

3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 pound squash flowers (40-50), chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups light chicken stock
1/3 cup sour cream
2 Anaheim chiles or sweet peppers, charred, peeled, seeded and chopped

Melt butter and sauté onion and garlic until translucent. Add chopped flowers and salt. Cook over low flame, covered for 10 minutes or until flowers are tender. In blender buzz flowers with 1 1/2 cups stock.

Return to pan and add remaining stock. Cook over low flame for 8 minutes. Stir sour cream until smooth and add to soup. Reheat soup but do not boil, adjust seasoning and serve garnished with chopped chiles or peppers.

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Very simple and special. Allow 4-5 blossoms per person.

Rinse blossoms. Steam over boiling water for about 1 minute or until fork tender. Serve with salt, freshly ground pepper and butter.

Recipes By Ingredient, side dishes, squash blossoms, The Recipes

Squash blossoms are mild tasting, slightly flowery and more versatile and durable then you’d think! Chopped, uncooked they make a wonderful addition to a salad. The flavor blends well and the colorful orange petals sparkle against the salad greens. Try adding whole blooms to a folded taco and chopped blooms to a tostada— lovely, slightly crunchy and delicious.

Chopped flowers go well in omelet’s and stir-frys, lightly fried. Sautéed with chiles and onions they make a nice filling for crepes and tacos.

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