For a stunning side that’s fresh, vibrant, with a good source of nutrients and nurtures loving thoughts – plant some organic pansies and enjoy them in a Garden pansy salad.
Friday morning I took my son to the nursery with me. I needed a few planters for my Girl Scout session on Saturday, and wasn’t expecting to bring home anything else, as we have a garden filled with fruit, veggies and flowers, and we’re moving pretty soon. However, I couldn’t resist the rows of colorful pansies. My son PJ had so much fun picking out the blooms and pulling the cart around. Somehow I think we will end up back there very soon. If you’re abundant with pansies like I am, you may want to know How To Press A Pansy or want to make a How To Make A Pressed Pansy Lollipop.
The language of flowers
During the victorian era, people started using flowers in symbolism and gave them specific meanings. Flowers have a language of their own. Pansies symbolize “thinking” or “ loving thoughts.” In fact, the word pan is derived from the Latin word “pensare”, which means to ponder and be logical about a situation. Pansy was often given for secret courting when a relationship was frowned upon, pansies would be given to show affection without words. You may enjoy our Edible flowers list with pictures.
Health benefits of pansies:
All parts of the plant are edible and are a good source of nutrients. One of the active ingredients in pansy is salicylic acid, the same main ingredient in modern day aspirin. Pansy also contains saponins which are compounds found in plants that have expectorant (mucus clearing properties) and anti-inflammatory properties. They are commonly used for upper respiratory infections. I mostly use them for the pretty. However, they are a beautiful flower to plant and have in your garden if you live in a cooler climate as they fare very well in spring, autumn and winter. I planted ours in our garden, however they do well in containers so that you can move them out of the heat in warmer months.
Where to get edible pansies:
The best place to get pansies you will eat is from your own organic garden! Read more on: Edible flowers to grow in your garden. However, if you can’t grow your own, you can head to my guide on Where To Buy Or Find Edible Flowers.
Ingredients in pansy salad:
This salad is really more for inspiration. You can use anything you’d like for this salad! There’s no right or wrong. However, you want to be sure you’re using organic pansies. Grocery stores often carry them, and you’ll see they’re labeled for consumption.
In our pansy salad, I used bitter arugula and some other freshly picked lettuce from our garden.
I also used the fresh produce we had on hand. I had carrots, tomatoes, onion, and cucumber.
Any dressing is wonderful. I used my homemade lemon dandelion root dressing, seen in my Arugula and dandelion greens salad with dandelion root lemon vinaigrette
This garden pansy salad is
- Vibrant, adding a beautiful touch to any affair.
- Easy to assemble and ingredients are easily accessible, ingredients can easily be grown in a garden.
- Perfect for richer dishes like quiche or meat.
- Extremely nutritious.
Other salads you may love
- Dandelion greens salad
- Winter blood orange with crispy sage and roasted almonds salad
- Vibrant edible flower salad
- Tulip salad
- Refreshing cucumber borage salad
Garden pansy salad
Ingredients
- For the salad
- 2 cups fresh arugula or any green of choice
- one carrot thinly sliced or spiralized
- one cucumber thinly sliced or spiralized
- several clean organic pansies
- any vegetables of choice
- For the dressing:
- apple cider vinegar
- fresh lemon juice
- dijon mustard
- honey
- dried oregano
- garlic
- sea salt
- black pepper
- olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dandelion root roasted or fresh
Instructions
- In a large bowl or plate, combine your vegetables and pansies.
Sprinkle with sea salt.
For the dressing:
Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until creamy and smooth.
Notes
Nutrition
I hope this recipe works beautifully for you and is enjoyed for many years to come. Thank you so much for reading. Your visit to my site helped support a small mama run business today. If you enjoyed it, I would be so honored if you would share with your loved ones.
Sending love, fresh baked cookies, and a bouquet of your favorite flowers.
Jenny says
I love this so much, and love the pop culture references!