Summertime and the Blossoms are NOMMY

Harvest of the day, from upper left, clockwise: Daylily blossoms, squash blossoms, peas and unopened daylily buds, dried daylily blossoms, chard.

Oh, squash plants, how you used to frustrate me. You send out so many male squash flowers, and I'm left waiting a full month for the female flowers to arrive, and then another month for actual squash. Le sigh...

A little cucurbita background for you non-gardeners out there - squash plants are what is called monoecious, meaning they produce both male and female flowers (or, imperfect flowers). It's typical for squash plants to send out loads of male flowers first, and then, after some time, begin to shoot out female flowers. This is kind of cool from a biological standpoint, but for my stomach, it's always been kind of frustrating.

... until today.

Meet my new friends - the blossom family. They're battered, deep fried, and delicious. And, yes, they're vegan (and gluten-free). I have to tell you, I've always grown summer squash for the actual vegetable, but this has completely changed my urge. I want the blossoms.

Here's how you make 'em:

Ingredients:

• 8 Squash Blossoms (yes, I ate one before I could take the picture above.. they're just that good!)
• 1 Cup Almond Milk
• 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch
• 1/4 Cup White Rice Flour
• Sunflower Oil (For Frying)
• Salt, to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat the Sunflower Oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the tapioca starch and white rice flour.
3. Dip each blossom in the almond milk so its thoroughly soaked, then roll them in the starch/flour blend.
4. Carefully drop each blossom in the oil. You want about 20-30 seconds per side, flipping once. You'll know they're done when they're crispy, rather than "flowery".
5. Take them out of the hot oil and place them on a plate covered with a paper towel.
6. Sprinkle salt on the blossoms as soon as you take them out.

All in all, this took me about 3 minutes of picking and 10 minutes to make.

I was then left with all this batter and heated oil. I have several bunches of daylilies growing in my garden, and after the flowers bloom, they're sort of a waste. So I took all my day-old blossoms and fried them up:

These were good! Not as good as the squash blossoms, but still delicious. They have a nice crisp outside, and a melt-in-your-mouth inside with a slightly floral taste. It's a fantastic use for day-old flowers!

Notes:

• If you have flower allergies, I wouldn't recommend trying the daylilies without testing to see if you're allergic first.
• Daylily flowers are completely edible. Actually, from what I understand, the whole plant is edible, including the blossoms, buds, stalks and root stock, though I've heard the blossoms and buds are the tastiest part of the plant. The root stock is supposed to be good as well, but to me it seems like such a waste!
• 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch and 1/4 Cup White Rice Flour was more than enough for the 8 blossoms I fried. If you need more, just do approximately a 1-to-1 ratio.
• I don't own a fryer, or frying thermometer - I couldn't tell you what the ideal temperature is for this. Medium heat on my stove worked perfectly though. 
• A good way to test if the oil is hot enough - take a small amount of the starch/flour blend and drop it into the pan. If it sizzle-sizzle-sizzles, you're good to start frying.
  

A Quick Vegan Miso Soup

It's that weird part of middle Tennessee winter here in Nashville where the weather can't decide what it wants to do. A week ago it was 2 degrees, today it's been a pleasant 56. These types of weather changes in a typically humid climate are absolutely wonderful for someone who has an allergy to leaf mold like myself. Fortunately, earlier this year I discovered an absolutely brilliant, quick homemade remedy for feeling blue - miso soup.

And, yes, this recipe is vegan! A good portion of the time, the base for miso soup is made with bonito flakes. I've found that mushrooms make a delicious vegan substitution. After trying a few different types, wood ear mushrooms and Shiitake seem to add the best flavor.

This recipe takes about 5 minutes of prep work and is ready in less than 30 minutes, meaning that there's just enough time to have a cup of tea and curl up on the couch while it's getting ready.

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 Cups Water (Filtered)
• 1 Tbsp Nori or Wakame Flakes
• 3-4 Wood Ear Mushrooms, whole -or- 6 oz Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 3-4 Scallions, chopped
• 3-4 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 8 oz Firm/Extra Firm Tofu, diced into small cubes (appx 1/2 each)
• 1/4 - 1/2 Cup** Miso Paste(s)*
• 1/2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1/2 Tsp Soy Sauce

In a soup pot, add water, Nori flakes, garlic and mushrooms. Bring to a rolling boil, then add the scallions and drop the heat down to low.

Once the soup has almost stopped boiling (around 15 minutes), add the diced tofu and stir. This will drop the temperature down to the appropriate temperature to add the miso.

Add whichever miso paste(s) you have chosen for the recipe, as well as the sesame oil and soy sauce. Stir until the miso paste has dissolved. You could actually eat it at this point, but I like to let it sit for about 15 minutes on low after this, and then serve. It really melds the flavors together.

Important Note: Do not allow the soup to boil after adding the miso paste. This will completely change the flavor of the soup. (It also removes some of the health benefits)

Additional Note: If you're using wood ear mushrooms, they're there more for flavoring, so I typically remove them at serving time. If you're using Shiitake mushrooms, leave them in. They're delicious :)

* The miso paste type(s) you use will define the flavor of the soup. Yes, that's type(s), with a parenthetical 's'. I typically use more than one type of miso paste when I make this recipe, depending upon what I have in the fridge and what my mood is. My absolute favorite is using 1/3 cup of red miso and a 1/3 cup of chickpea miso (which is a bit more difficult to find). However, I've found that about a 1/3 cup of white miso and a 1/3 cup of red miso creates a nice, light flavor.

** This recipe can go anywhere from miso-y to extremely miso-y fast, depending upon how much you use. I like mine to be extremely miso-y, so I typically end up using more towards the 1/2 cup range.