Young borage leaves taste like cucumber and can be added to spring salads along with dandelion greens and chives. Borage can also be used instead of lettuce in sandwiches. The older leaves are too fuzzy to eat raw, but when added to soup stocks, they impart a cool cucumber flavor. Add half a cup of fresh borage leaves to one quart of simmering stock, then use the stock to make a creamy cucumber soup.
Borage stems taste like cucumber too. Peel, chop, and add half a cup to an apple and pear salad to serve four. Or, to lighten the taste of a hearty soup or stew for four, add one cup of peeled and chopped borage stem.
Borage flowers make charming edible garnishes. Float the cucumber scented pink and blue blossoms in lemonade, iced tea, or pale chilled soups such as summer squash. To bring a flash of color to a green salad, add to greens after tossing with a dilled vinaigrette.
Quick Salads with Borage Flowers
- Combine a pound of steamed and shelled shrimp with a sliced ripe avocado. Toss with olive oil and lime juice and garnish with a quarter cup of borage flowers
- Arrange about four ounces of sliced smoked trout on a nest of mustard greens. Sprinkle on a few whole borage flowers and a pinch of minced fresh dill weed. Drizzle with fresh lemon juice and olive oil
- Thinly slice a pound of purple onions into rounds, then grill or broil. Toss with balsamic vinegar and a splash of olive oil, and garnish with a quarter cup of borage flowers
