Sunday, April 27, 2014

Redbud Chef Salad

Redbud Chef Salad.....strange sounding, isn't it?










This is a Redbud Tree in bloom - they are beautiful............
and just this year, I found out that they are also.... edible.  Hmmm.

I like finding wild edibles and learning how to use them, so I went right out to our tree and ate 2 of the flowers. They were a bit sweet with a rather mild flavor.
The Redbud tree looks more purple when seen at a distance..... as shown here.  Up close, they look more pink.

We have had redbud trees for years and I never knew they were at all edible. As I study more and more wild edibles, it is amazing how many things God has provided for us.... many of them in our own yards. Remember though, to always be very sure before you eat anything you are unsure of... there are also many toxic plants out there. Do your research and be safe.... and enjoy.


Here are the redbud flowers we picked for our salad.  Actually, I had already made a salad with a few redbud flowers in it a week earlier, and everyone ate the salad. One son needed a reminder that not cleaning up the plate meant no dessert, so............ he ate it reluctantly. He did agree that they didn't seem to taste bad, but it was odd to eat flowers....especially pink ones!



Here is our base salad..... Romaine lettuce, carrots, and oranges.....

Yes, this is a big bowl.... we have a rather large family and for this meal, we decided to have a chef salad with baked Cheesy Tortilla Triangles. My daughter, who writes Wholesome Joy Photography blog wrote a post on these. They were really delicious and went well with the salad. Even our guys were content with the salad meal, although they had their doubts at the beginning! :)


These are the Redbud flowers after being washed and sorted a bit. We still removed more of the stems after this picture, but we did not remove all of them.... and we didn't even notice them when we ate.

Now I have added :

Hardboiled eggs
Tomatoes
Marinated Chicken breast


Next came.....

Redbud Flowers
Shredded Cheese











Another picture..... I LOVED how colorful this salad was......

One thing I wanted to put on the salad was red onion slices.... I think it would have added greatly to the flavor, but we were out of them.

I would also love to add peppers and cucumbers and broccoli.... and there are so many other possibilities.

Next, I put Ranch Dressing all over it........  There are many other dressings that could have tasted great also... but this time, we used Ranch.

After tossing the salad, we served it on the plates and then added....

Sunflower Seeds
Bacon
More Shredded Cheese









   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                Redbud Chef Salad     
Romaine Lettuce - 2 heads, washed and torn
Carrots - 2-3 sliced
Orange - 1 - peel, cut each slice into 3 or 4 pieces
Marinated Chicken Breast - 1 cup or more
Tomato - 1 large - cut up
Hard boiled Eggs  -5 peeled and sliced
Redbud Flowers - washed and stemmed 
Sharp Cheddar Cheese - 1 cup
Ranch Dressing
   Toss all together, then serve on plates and add the following to the top of each....
Sunflower Seeds
Bacon
Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Optional additional ingredients: peppers, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, or anything else you like
Serve with Cheesy Tortilla Triangles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Cheesy Tortilla Triangle is shown on the far left of this picture. I did not take a good picture of it and I should have..... they were very good and my daughter did a great job of making them.

You can go to her post here.....

Cheesy Tortilla Triangles




  So, you can see that even though this was only a salad meal, it was quite substantial and all were satisfied and did not leave the table hungry. The Cheesy Tortilla Triangles really helped complement the salad. We heard many comments of "This meal is SO good." That was funny because the guys had not been too excited about eating another flower salad... or a salad-only type of meal....... so they were surprised at how tasty and filling it was.

  Thank you for visiting my blog today.  I hope you have a wonderful day. :)

Shared on............



Over the Moon Link Party
Dishing It and Digging It
Home Matters Linky Party
Friday at the Fire Station
Weekend Potluck
Foodie Friday and Everything Else
Home Sweet Home
Wise Woman
Tuesday Talk
image-in-ing
Modest Mom Mondays
Art of Homemaking Mondays

40 comments:

  1. Well, this is a first for me too. I am assuming that all red buds are ok to eat? It sure makes a pretty salad.

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    1. I don't know if I would say ALL redbuds are okay to eat, since I want to be careful what I say, but the information I have found didn't give cautions about them, so you may be right. The salad really did turn out so colorful and pretty..... thank you for visiting. :)

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  2. Looks so pretty and delicious! I will eat anything if it's covered in Ranch dressing :-).

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    1. Ranch dressing is good..... but so was the salad. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  3. Coming to visit you now. Thank you for your kind words on my blog! Redbuds trees are my fave in the spring...I recently posted about them myself! I had no idea they were edible! Oh my word! And that salad is gorgeous and looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing that info. Blessings, Debby

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    1. I'm so sorry to be so late in responding here.... I do enjoy redbud trees and I was so glad to recently find they have edible blossoms... always something more to learn. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  4. What a beautiful salad! Very interesting I know there are several flowers that are used in recipes but I would never have thought of Red Buds. Very ncie. Stopping by from Huckleberry Love.

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    1. Thank you... I know of a few flowers and we eat some of them... need to check into it even more though. :) Thank you for visiting... I'm sorry I am so late in responding.

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  5. Thanks for linking up to the Thoughtful Spot!

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  6. That is a beautiful salad for sure! Wanting to try the cheesy tortillas too. And the Red Bud tree is so pretty! Stopping by from Singing Honey Bee.

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    1. Thank you... and the cheesy tortillas are tasty...and so easy. Thank you for visiting.. and I am so sorry to be so late in replying.

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  7. This is a beautiful salad!
    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

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    1. Thank you... it was nice to have you. :) I'm sorry to be so late in replying.

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  8. Hello, I am visiting from Roses of Inspiration. I love using edible flowers but didn't know Red Bud was included--thanks for sharing! Your salad is looks delicious and beautiful! Blessings, Cecilia

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    1. I like the edible flowers also.... and I am hoping my nastursiums do well enough to use them for salads this year. :) (My guys don't care for the flowers in the salad though. :) Thank you for visiting... it was nice to have you.

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  9. well now isnt that an interesting find, I haven ever even tired dandelion green, your salad looks delicious!!
    Thanks for adding my party to your list and for stopping by!!
    Have a great week and Happy Easter!!
    Karren
    xoxox

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    1. I love finding more and more "freebies" in the wild... that are edible. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  10. Your salad is beautiful and even more so because some of it was foraged! Thank you for sharing your wonderful posts this week on the Art of Home-Making Mondays. They are always great reads :)

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    1. Thank you... I enjoy the yard edibles... and keep looking for more. I love learning. Thank you for such a sweet comment... God knew I needed some encouragement today and here it is. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  11. Thank you for visiting and pinning. :)

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  12. This salad not only looks delicious, but it's quite beautiful! Thank you so much, dear friend, for sharing with Roses of Inspiration. Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday! Hugs!

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    1. Thank you... we really like it... well, except that some of the guys are put off by having all of the pink flowers in the salad- not because of the taste, but the color. :) Pink and flowers just don't seem too manly to them!!! :)

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  13. This looks so colourful & tasty!
    Thank you for linking up on the Talented Tuesday Link Party! I hope you join us again this week :-)

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    1. Thank you.... it is pretty tasty and fun. :)

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  14. I wish I'd known this a little sooner this spring! :-) Maybe next year.

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    1. It is fun to try... I have been nibbling on the blossoms when I am out in the yard. :)

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  15. What a beautiful salad! Sounds like it was yummy!


    Thanks for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday! We'd love for you to join us again this week!

    ~Lisa

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  16. Your salad look yummy. Enjoyed this the color, will have to try.

    Carole @ Garden Up Green

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    1. Thank you... it really is tasty... and so pretty. :)

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  17. This salad looks really good! I like to eat Redbuds, too. I also like to make Red Bud Jelly. Here's the link to the recipe I use.

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    1. Thank you... it was wonderful and colorful. I've never made Red bud jelly... sounds great! :)

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  18. Fun recipe! That's the prettiest salad I've ever seen:) Thanks for linking up at the Home Matters Link Party! We hope to see you again next week:) #HomeMattersParty

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    1. It was a pretty salad... a little too "pretty" for my boys. :) It did taste good, though. Thank you for the link up.

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  19. I never knew you could eat these! Makes a pretty salad. Thank you for joining Home Sweet Home!

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    1. I have been enjoying learning about all of the wild edibles in our own yard, so have been doing lots of investigating on the topic. I was surprised to see that those beautiful trees had edible parts, also, and one reader said they make Red Bud Jelly as well. I have never tried that, but may in the future. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  20. Wow, looks so pretty and colorful! I had never even heard of a Redbud tree. Probably not very common in the desert! Thanks for sharing at the Friday at the Fire Station link-up.

    Jen

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    1. No, I wouldn't think you would ever see them in the dessert! :) It is a beautiful tree though... and those flowers do taste good in a salad.

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  21. It is a pretty dish... and a tasty one... thank you for visiting and for the invitation for the other 2 blog parties.... I made a note of them.

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