Cooking with Sunflowers

I have been waiting a few years to have a go at cooking with sunflowers and this weekend gone I had the absolute delight on a hot and gloriously sunny summers day to walk the annual sunflower field at Blue River Orchard and picked an array of sunflowers to have a culinary play with.

How glorious and majestic is the sunflower Helianthus annuus, bringing joy and happiness as their heads follow the sun and the bees feast on their nectar. The buds, petals, leaves and seeds are all edible and delicious. The seed heads, picked at the perfect moment, make incredible steaks, grilled on the BBQ and eaten like a giant sweetcorn cob. The green flower buds are delicious prepared and eaten similarly to artichoke hearts with a beurre blanc.

Sunflower seeds are super nutritious, providing a dense source of vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, healthy fats and protein. They promote heart health, reduce inflammation, support immune function, and help stabilize blood sugar.

Earlier in the day I had been out on my weekend bike ride and picked a bunch of fresh fennel seeds and thought they would be a perfect seasonal accompaniment to the sunflower heads sauteed in a little butter with garlic and a pinch of chilli flakes.

I find fennel seeds the most flavourful and satisfying to the eye when green, the seeds can be gathered and dried easily by holding each cluster of seeds and pulling them off the stem and drying in a wooden bowl in an dry airy place, giving them a shake every day to ensure they dry evenly and thoroughly. A concentrated source of minerals including magnesium, copper, potassium, calcium, zinc, manganese, vitamin C, iron and selenium.

For this recipe it is essential to pick the sunflower heads before the seeds form the hard shell. I choose some medium to large heads with their heads just beginning to droop and petals beginning to wilt. Check a couple of seeds from the edge to be sure and cut the flower head with a couple of centimeters of stem still attached. One head is plenty for two people. Remove the tiny flowers from the seeds by rubbing your thumb over the top with medium pressure and they'll pop right off.

Sunflower Seed Head Steaks

with fresh fennel seed and garlic butter

 ~New Recipe~

Cooking with sunflowers is such a summertime delight, slightly unusual, but trust me you won't be disappointed with this delicious and nutritious foraged feast.

Vegan | Gluten-free

Serves 6

3 sunflower heads with 2cm of stem

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

A pinch of salt and pepper per head

50g butter, dairy or plant-based

1 tablespoon fennel seeds, fresh or dried

1 clove garlic, crushed and sliced

1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

30g parmesan, finely grated

1 lemon, sliced into wedges

Heat the grill or hot plate until smoking hot. Remove the flowers from the seed head, pop onto a tray and drizzle olive oil over the prepared head and season. Place face down on to the heated grill and lay a tray across the top of the sunflower head and weight it down with a couple of cast iron pans or similar. Cook until a little charred, about 5 minutes, flip and place tray back on top and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, add the garlic, fennels seeds and chilli if using, sauté on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the garlic is just starting to colour, remove from the heat.

To serve: Place the sunflower heads on a platter and bathe them with the fennel and garlic butter, sprinkle with grated parmesan and squeeze lemon juice over the top. Cut in half (if you are sharing) and pick up with your hands and eat it like a corn cob, otherwise the seeds come out easily with a fork. Don't miss out on the middle and inner base also tho, it's soaked up all that delicious butter and is almost the best part, enjoy!