Have you ever eaten a daylily flower?
These beautiful flowers come in a rainbow of colors and I have several in my yard ranging from a deep orangy red to a solid orange to a buttery yellow.
These beautiful summery flowers not only brighten the landscape but they are edible too!
The tubers are eaten when the plant is dormant, such as early spring or late fall. They are usually boiled.
The green shoots can be chopped and sautéed.
The flowers can be eaten raw (I love to throw them in salads for a burst of color and a sweet flavor) or they can be stuffed and batter fried. Delicious!
I just so happened to have some goat and sheep cheese in my fridge and the flowers are abundant right now so I decided to cook some up for dinner. They were so pretty that I just had to photograph them and share the recipe with you.
This is a fun activity to do with kids. They usually love the flavor of the flowers when eaten raw and will have fun making the stuffed flowers for dinner. If you have a picky eater, having them help you make the meal is a great way to give them ownership and the encouragement to try out their masterpieces.
To make some stuffed daylilies you will need:
12 daylily flowers
12 chives, garlic chives, parsley, or cilantro stems
4 oz. plain goat cheese (I buy mine from Aldi)
2 tablespoons grated manchego cheese (or other sheep cheese, again I get mine at Aldi)
1 teaspoon each: garlic powder, dried thyme, dried basil
Batter:
1 cup flour of choice (I generally use cassava, white rice, or coconut)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons thyme
1 egg
1/2-1 cup water or coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil or tallow
Directions:
Start by shaking your flowers and making sure all the little critters have left them. I often discover tiny sugar ants hiding down at the base. Set them aside.
Mix together the cheese and herbs.
Add 2 teaspoons or so of the mixture to fill the flower then use a chive or other stem to tie the ends together. You have to do this gently or the stem/chive will break.
Once they are all finished, set them aside.
Add the oil to a cast iron skillet or other frying pan and heat until melted.
While it is melting, mix together the batter, adding liquid until it is the consistency of a thin pancake batter.
When the oil has heated, start dipping your stuffed flowers into the batter, getting them evenly coated, then add them to the frying pan, making sure they don’t touch each other.
Fry until golden brown then turn over. You may need to turn them a few times to get all the sides.
When they are finished, remove them from the pan and they are ready to eat.
So easy to make and delicious!
I’ve got a dessert version in my head that I want to try out. If it turns out as delicious as I think it will, I will share that recipe as well!