At all times, we’re on the lookout for new ways to bring together our love for cooking, gardening and entertaining, and this salad is it! A scrumptious botanical treat, this salad brings vibrant color and imagination to any event whether a girls’ luncheon, baby shower, or celebratory brunch. Taken from the pages of Hattie Ellis’ stunning cookbook Honey, the sweet and striking essence of this recipe engages every sense on first bite! Here’s Hattie with a few notes on how to bring your garden right on in to your kitchen table…

The world of edible flowers was opened up to me by a visit to Maddocks Farm Organics in Devon, where Jan Billington specializes in growing organic flowers for the table. We wandered through her beds of flowers, munching away at exquisite blooms, while Jan showed  me which ones the bees preferred to feast on.

Ever since, I have looked at flowers with new eyes. We eat the leaves of plants, so why not the flowers? You need to make sure you’re eating ones that taste nice and aren’t toxic, but once you’ve found a few favorites, flowers are an easy way to add fresh beauty and interest to the plate. The Scented Kitchen: Cooking with Flowers by Frances Bissell is the best book I’ve found on the subject, along with Edible Flowers by Claire Clifton.

The chives, borage and violas used here are all blue flowers to go with the blue cheese and are all easy to grow, whether you have a plot or a pot. Otherwise, you occasionally find such blooms in some green grocers and the odd supermarket, but mostly you need to get in touch with someone like Jan.