Nasturtium Stir'ems

As you know, my front garden is alight with nasturtium plants this winter, and I had heard that they are quite edible. Eaten raw they are SUPER peppery; even for me who is in love with watercress as a salad base. So I thought I'd pick a bagful and try them out cooked. They really are quite appealing, lovely looking leaves and stems:


So I decided to add them to my standard Duck and Glass Noodle Stirfry Salad in place of the usual watercress (which is getting easier to buy, but is really rather difficult to grow).

All in all it was pretty straight forward, I just cut up the stems and leaves with a pair of scissors and added them into the wok at the appropriate time.


I only used duck, green beans, garlic and ginger as the other stuff so I could really see what the nasturtiums had to say.


It turned out nicely (although I have a right wrist injury in a splint so left-handed stirfrying caused a bit of kitchen carnage I must say):
...but I must say the nasturtium didn't really add much flavour that I could notice, not like watercress does; but the stems add a nice texture, and you are left with a funny tongue coated peppery feel once you finish eating, which is a new sensation.

I think the verdict is that I'll use the front yard plants for my stirfries if I haven't got watercress to hand, but I can't say it will be replacing it all together. I'll carry onto the next nasturtium experiment...

Nasturtiums

I was so angry when I first moved here, the previous owner (or was it the estate agent?) had basically thrown a packet'o'mixed seeds all over the garden beds so it looked a bit like a Jackson Pollack flower spew! I got a gardener in to help me rip out everything except the big lemon tree, the bottle brush tree and the hibiscus tree in the front yard, and I started again with a country cottage style garden - I've planted marigolds and mint in a pretty row along the driveway; some pizza thyme by the letterbox; a row of standard iceberg roses and tuscan rosemary along the footpath; some lavender, heirloom sage, native lillies and watercress in the front garden bed; and two bay trees in formal pots by the front windows. Everything is edible, except for a port wine magnolia which I wanted for the fragrance near the front door. However, in the meantime, the entire front garden bed has filled up with a sea of nasturtium plants, popping out all over the place as if to say "hey! we're edible too, you know!". I've been tasting the leaves - MAN they are peppery. You know I love the peppery taste of raw watercress, but the nasturtium leaves sure pack a punch - I've had tears in my eyes with the last few nibbles! So I'm on the hunt for nasturtium recipes - in particular I think I will try substituting them in place of watercress in stir-fries, but here are a couple of recipes I wanted to keep here as links to remind me to try them later:

We're eating flowers

Herb and nasturtium biscuits

Thai Rice Salad with Nasturtium

Please let me know if you have any further ideas or recipes that you've tested!