The Nasturtium Conspiracy (Revelation?)

As I have written before, my garden is literally a sea of nasturtiums. No matter what I do to pull them all up, they keep coming back, especially during the rainy season. Some people consider them a plague, and if all you know about them is that they overrun your garden, then they will be forever relegated to being a weed. When I first moved to the The Shire, the first thing I learned about them is that the flowers are edible, so I make sure to add them to salads whenever they are in bloom. They are a bit on the peppery side but a welcome addition nonetheless, not to mention the visual pleasure they add.

Did you know that there is a lot that can be done with the leaves as well? Yes, they are edible, and no, they are not peppery like the flowers. On the contrary, they are closer to spinach, or if you are from the Philippines or elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the malunggay leaves. They contain vitamin C, iron, and other antioxidants, and like the dandelion, the entire plant can be used.

I’m all about pushing boundaries and trying new things, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover after all this time that I had a field of vitamins waiting for me! It all began with a trip down to the garden to pluck some young plants, taking into consideration the shrinking percentage. Once I had a basket full I sorted them out into what could also be used as hanging plants for the terrace or even indoors. It’s all work in progress at the moment. In any case, I ended up with about two cups of leaves, to which I made a simple batter consisting of 1/2 cup of flour, 1/4 cup water, pinch of salt, pepper, nutmeg and 1/2 tsp baking powder. Mix in the leaves and you can either fry them as small patties or make a larger galette. I used the air fryer (12 min at 200C) to make a galette roughly the size of a solo pizza. To be honest I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised with the results and I paired it with a hot mug of sinigang soup (Philippine tamarind soup). It was the perfect brunch for a cold morning.