Eat These Flowers Off the Side of the Road
All photos taken by Penelope Eaton

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Food

Eat These Flowers Off the Side of the Road

Nasturtium is a peppery plant that can be eaten raw or cooked. Better yet, they are ridiculously easy to forage in the West Coast, especially in your neighbor's backyard.

Last fall, I was driving down a secluded canyon road in Malibu, California, when I spotted a vine full of lily pad-shaped leaves and the occasional orange flower crawling over a fallen tree just next to the road.

After stopping and getting out to inspect a little further, I saw this tree that was covered in what I thought was nasturtium, an edible vine of peppery leaves and bright flowers. And even better, since it was nearly winter, the vines had begun to die down for the season and only the saddest of its leaves, little shriveled flowers, and seed pods remained partially withered on the plant.

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To be sure, I grabbed a leaf and a flower and put them in my mouth. When I wasn't dead five hours later, I began counting down the days until summer.

READ MORE: Fiddleheads Are the Beyoncé of Foraged Foods

Nasturtium is the lazy forager's dream plant. If you're looking for it, you can find it growing all over the West Coast: on the roadside, near river banks, and maybe even in your neighbor's garden.

Beginning to bloom in late spring and early summer, nasturtium's brightly colored orange, yellow, or red flowers (depending on the varietal) and circular, velvety leaves, are the marker of the start of Los Angeles's summer and begin appearing on menus shortly thereafter. With a peppery, clean vegetal taste—something between watercress and arugula—nasturtium is a versatile plant whose leaves, flowers, and seed pods can be eaten raw, cooked, and prepared every other way in between.

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Since the first time that I was attracted to their hue, I've made my way back to that spot and a few others throughout the season to forage for myself, friends, and a few chefs around the city.

When heading out to forage, I always wear a giant pair of boots that can get beat up and suggest you do the same, no matter how hot and tempting it is to wear your favorite flip-flops. It is important to be wary of things like nasty ticks or other sort of undesirable bug creatures that inevitably are also part of the foraging.

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To harvest the nasturtium, you want to either go early in the morning before it becomes warm and the flowers are just beginning to open or later in the evening when it starts to cool off again. Cut about 1 inch underneath the bottom of the flower so that there is a bit of stalk left on the plant and allows for more versatility for when you're cooking; the leaves can be cut about the sCut about one inch underneath the bottom of the flower so that there is a bit of stalk left on the plant, which allows for more versatility for when you're cooking; the leaves can be cut about the same. Make sure to move around and evenly take from the entire patch so not one area of the plants get harvested too much. If you forage properly and keep it to no more than a third of the plant, you'll be able to go back to your same spot for years.

Be sure not to harvest too many that are very small, as those are the next generation of the plant.

When looking for the best nasturtium flowers, I like to go for an array of colors ranging from the very light yellow to dark red because a mixture looks best on the plate.Pick ones that are open, but not overly so, and make sure to inspect the plant for bugs that like to hide underneath the flower just at its base.

aphids_on_nasturtium

Most of the time these black aphids can be easily removed by scraping them off with your scissors but if they've gone to town on the plant you may want to leave it be. Other things to avoid when looking for which ones to pick are flowers that have small white blotches on them from bugs and disease.

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When it comes to the leaves, the bigger ones are best used in cooking and the smaller hold up better used in salads, raw, and as garnishes." As the leaves get bigger and bigger, they sometimes can develop a bumpy surface to the skin or start to get some yellow discoloration; avoid those and stick to the one that have a dark greenish color. Most importantly, be sure not to harvest too many that are are very small, as those are the next generation of the plant.

nasturtium_foraging_tupperware

If you're taking a smaller haul, you can use a bunch of large Tupperware containers to transport the nasturtium. I like to line them with slightly damp paper towels, not because they necessarily need the moisture but because it helps keep them cool and they don't do well with heat once they've been picked. For a larger haul, you can use something light like large paper or plastic bags and toss them in there, just be sure to hold the bag lightly as they can crush pretty easily.

Another thing you can do is harvest some of the half ripe, young, green seed pods that are still on the vine, take them home and pickle them. Foragers call theses "poor man's capers" and they are unbelievably good—dare I say, maybe even better than actual capers. I really like this recipe here.

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After foraging, wash them softly and search them for bugs. I always find at least one or two spiders and a bunch of other crawly-type creatures so you don't want to skip that step.

Then eat some, because nasturtium is the best when you can eat them as soon as you can after they're picked. I love them in a salad, in pasta, and for the bigger leaves, used like grape leaves to wrap around rice and cheese and other good stuff. You can also cut a few longer vines, put them in water and use them as flowers in your home, plucking them throughout the week from your kitchen table and tossing them in salad.