Rose Hip & Flower Salad -

This Rose Hip & Flower Salad is a brilliant little salad for cleansing the palette and a way of using rose hips that you wouldn’t first think of.

Per person

Click here to see our Rose Hip Foraging Guide

Ingredients for our Rose Hip & Flower Salad

2 Rose hips, chopped and seeds removed
Handful rocket salad
3 dandelion leaves
3 vetch tops
Edible wild flower
Rose flower vinaigrette – 1 part rose flower syrup to 1 part cider vinegar

Method:

Wash the salads and mix in your vinaigrette
Plate up with the rest of the ingredients and dash a little more rose flower over the top

Click here to see all of our Rose Recipes

References

Find more about Rose Hip medinical benefits

Physical Characteristics or Rosehips

Root –

Woody, green/brown with a large tap root. Was allegedly used to treat dog bites in ancient times. Stems – Green to brown depending on age, the stems are covered in small, sharp thorns.

Leaves –

Pinnate with 5-7 leaflets, growing on alternative sides of the stem.

Flowers –

Large pink or white flowers with five petals and many stamens. They have a faint sweet smell.

Seeds/Fruits –

Orange to red berry-like hips around 15–20mm long-form in small clusters. Each hip contains many hairy seeds.

Scientific Classification

Kingdom – Plantae

Order – Rosales

Family – Rosaceae

Genus – Rosa

Known Hazards

Beware of the thorns.

Could be confused with

There are many species of wild rose found in the UK which are all very similar and difficult to identify. Roses are also commonly planted in gardens and some of these have escaped into the wild. But all are safe to eat.

Range

Native to Europe, North West Africa and Western Asia. Is considered an invasive species in Australia and New Zealand.

Habitat

Wild rose is found in hedgerows, woodland edges and on scrubland. It’s more common in the south of the UK but can be found all over, especially in heavy soils.

Edible Uses

The flowers and the fruits are both edible.

The rose petals can be added to a salad and eaten raw and they are used in the production of Turkish Delight and go well with any Middle Eastern dish. They are also good candied and used as a garnish. Rose petal sugar can be made simply by placing petals in caster sugar until they dry.

The flesh from the hips contains high levels of antioxidants, carotenoids and vitamins B and E and is used to make syrup, tea and jams. During the Second World War due to a shortage of citrus fruits, the British government encouraged the picking of rosehips to make a syrup which was issued as a dietary supplement.