Sunday, October 17, 2010

Poor Man's Capers

Nasturtiums are a fabulous addition to the vegetable garden. The leaves and flowers can be used in salads, they have mild antibiotic properties for times of illness, the bees love the flowers, the flowers are beautiful and you can pickle the green seeds.

Pickling nasturtium seeds is commonly known as "Poor Man's Capers". Today one of the jobs on my list was to pull out this plant as it was not allowing my strawberries much light, had grown through some spinach and was looking a little tired.



We collected all the green seeds after pulling it out and washed them, picked them through for any brown seeds and then placed them in a canning jar.



I made the pickle with:
1/3 bottle apple cider vinegar
Teaspoon crushed garlic
Teaspoon pickling spice
Half a lemon and onion finely sliced
1 teaspoon salt

Bring it to the boil and cool.



Pour it over the seeds until completely covered and seal.



We use capers in salads, on sandwiches and on pizzas and as they are REALLY expensive I do hope this substitute works.



My little guy picked some of the blooms which now smile at me at the sink when I wash dishes.

5 comments:

Lois Evensen said...

Well, once again I have learned something new here on your great blog! I had no clue nasturtium seeds could be eaten, much less pickled and saved. Do they have a flavor of their own, or does the flavor come from the pickling process?

Grant said...

They combine really well with tuna. I have been doing this since my newly wed days and love to keep a bottle in the fridge for that Summer salad boost.

Urban Homestead South Africa said...

Hi Lois

They have a peppery flavour, similar to the leaves of the plant.

Chris said...

I just started growing some nasturtiums and I am really excited to add them to my salads. Now I have a great recipe for when they are done too. Thanks so much.

How long will the canned "poor man's capers" last?

Urban Homestead South Africa said...

Hi Coop

As they are pickled with vinegar they should last for a good while, but once opened it is best to keep them in the fridge.