My Mom loved to serve a simple sliced tomato plate with a little side of mayonnaise when the Northern California dry farmed coastal varieties (like Molinas and Early Girls) hit the farmer’s markets. Since, I just harvested the last of my Early Girls, I figured this would be a perfect accompaniment to my grilled sardines recipe. I do love tomatoes picked fresh, still warm from the sun, with crunchy salted capers.
The blue accents are rosemary flowers! And yes, you can eat them! And they taste just like the herb but even more intense with a touch of honey sweetness. I was looking for something colorful in my garden to add to the tomato plate and noticed the pretty little blue flowers with bees swarming all around. I tried one and then quickly googled it to make sure they weren’t poisonous – and they’re not! Hooray! They’re tasty and I’m still alive!
Can you believe, in all my years of cooking, and I never knew you could eat rosemary flowers? They are strong so use sparingly, but they add a neat surprise little bite.
I love using flowers to garnish plates. Some just add a little color pop with relatively no flavor (which is okay too), but others like: rosemary flowers, chive & garlic flowers, bee balm, anise hyssop and nasturtium (flowers and leaves) really pack a punch. I’m always looking for new edible flowers, so if you have a favorite please share!
There’s nothing much to this dish. Just really ripe and delicious tomatoes, some minced shallot, a few leaves of dill, a handful of salted capers (un-rinsed), a generous seasoning of crunchy sea salt and a squeeze of Meyer lemon over top plus a little olive oil for shine. A simple side dish or pretty picnic plate…
Yum. I recently started eating little tomatoes like popping pills.
I wish there was “heart” emoji when responding on WordPress but there isn’t lol! I was not a tomato aficionado for a long time, but I grew up in the 70’s where they were often mealy and mushy from the super markets. I have since changed my ways 🙂