Apart from being extremely beautiful, flowers can also taste good. Most of them, if they’re not poisonous, are edible. Each one has its own flavor and color, and they can add that little touch to your dish.  Well, I guess we can say flowers are beautiful inside out! They can compliment any dish, whether they’re used for their flavor or beauty.   Here are some tips and tricks to add flowers to your cooking:

• Flowers that have a stamen and pistil, like hibiscus, freesia, amaryllis, etc. can serve as an accessory to your dipping bowl. Remove the stem, stamen and pistil, put the flower in a glass bowl, and fill with your dip!

• Sprinkle rose petals, daisies or lilac to your green salad.

• If you are serving clear drinks like whisky or vodka, you can freeze ahead of time small flowers into your ice cubes.

• Another way to freeze flowers, is by putting them in popsicles. To keep those popsicles transparent, try to flavor them only with rose water and a bit of sugar. They make the perfect treat for a hot summer day!

• Flowers also look great on pastries. They give a sweet look for a sweet tooth!

• You can also put them inside Jell-O deserts.

Here is a list of the most popular edible flowers:

• Bachelor Buttons (a.k.a. Cornflowers): very mild flavor, like a non-crunchy cucumber.

• Basil Flowers: tastes like…basil!

• Bean blossoms: sweet, beany flavor.

• Borage: mild wintergreen taste.

• Calendulas: they have a bit of a tang flavor.

• Carnations: a bit sweet and a bit spicy.

• Chive Blossoms: onion-like flavor.

• Day Lilies: best eaten stuffed and fried, or chopped and added to dishes.

• Nasturtiums: most popular edible flower. They have a peppery taste.

• Violas (Pansies and Johnny-Jump-Ups): velvety feel and extremely mild taste, like an iceberg lettuce, but without the crunch.

• Zucchini Blossoms / Squash Blossoms: can be chopped and sautéed or added to soups, or, in classic Italian style, fried or stuffed with a bit of cheese and then fried.

• Violets, roses and lavender: sweet flavor to salads or desserts.

With this being said, I wish you all a flowery day!   P.S.: Always remember to wash the flowers first, and be sure to buy non-sprayed flowers, made to be edible.