STYLE PRESERVATION: Salad with Edible Flowers from Mari’s Gardens

STYLE PRESERVATION: Salad with Edible Flowers from Mari’s Gardens

Salad with Edible Flowers from Mari’s Gardens

The Inspiration

I was shopping for some houseplants to add to my collection this past weekend, when I came across these beautiful edible flowers at Mari’s Gardens. If you’ve never been to Mari’s Gardens, it’s a large nursery located in Mililani Town on the island of O’ahu. They have houseplants, veggies, trees, pots, soil, and much more!

If you go into the little shop, where you pay for your plants, they have a refrigerator with veggies and gorgeous edible flowers that they grow themselves. The flowers come in a box of 50 for $12.50. It felt a bit like taking on a creative art project. I was determined to get the colors and ingredients right for the salad I decided to make with the pretty blossoms.

A Salad with Edible Flowers

I needed to start with a base of greens. Initially, I thought I would use arugula, but couldn’t resist the beautiful Lāna’i Mix from Sensei Farms. I picked it up at Foodland Kahala MKT., along with the other ingredients listed below (of course with the exception of the flowers).

As soon as I saw them, I knew that I wanted to compliment the colors of the flowers with the juicy orange and red tomatoes from Ho Farm. I decided to add some feta cheese, onions, and pepitas for additional color and texture. The Lychee Ginger Mango Vinaigrette seemed like the perfect tangy addition to the bright and beautiful salad.

Ingredients

  • Lāna’i Mix from Sensei Farms (mixed greens)
  • Feta cheese
  • Ho Farm tomatoes (cut in half)
  • Red onion (diced)
  • Pepitas
  • Lychee Ginger Mango Vinaigrette from Foodland Kahala MKT.
  • Edible Flower Medley from Mari’s Gardens

After washing the greens and flowers, it was time to get creative and assemble the salad. I was pleased with how bright and colorful it turned out. I also had several extra flowers to use with other food projects.

Suggestions and Notes

This salad can easily be scaled to a big beautiful creation that would be great for a party or family gathering. Salads can be a fun way to bring color and beauty to any meal, but the edible flowers can take your creativity and “wow factor” to the next level.

Choose other ingredients that will compliment the colors of the flowers or vice versa. The ingredients I used could easily be swapped out with other types of cheeses, nuts, seeds, or dressings.

I think my take away from this salad prep was that you can get your creative juices flowing in many different ways. Whether you paint, draw, sew, or put together a beautiful salad, it’s important to have some sort of creative outlet.

Tell me your favorite salad ingredients in the comments! For more salad inspiration, check out this Somen Watercress Salad.

 

Mari’s Gardens

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