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Cooking with Lavender

All lavender is an herb and is edible, although some varieties taste better than others. For culinary lavender, we use varieties from the Lavandula angustifolia species and look for dark purple color that will hold its intensity when dried. Buena Vista, Sharon Roberts, Royal Velvet and Hidcote are all good culinary varieties.

Lavender’s distinctive flavor is becoming more popular in kitchens throughout the United States. If you haven’t cooked with lavender before, a good rule of thumb is to use it sparingly. You want lavender to enhance the other flavors in your recipes without being too overpowering. Sweets and citrus recipes are great with lavender.

Following are some ways to get you started.

Lavender Lemonade

This is a simple and delicious recipe to give your taste buds an introduction to the sweet yet pungent taste of lavender.

Seep 1 tbsp dried lavender buds in 1 cup of boiling water until the buds lose almost all of their color. Add to 2 quarts of white lemonade. You can use canned or fresh squeezed. The lavender will add a lovely color to the lemonade and enhance the delicious citrus flavor.

Lavender Sugar

Add 1 tbsp dried lavender to 4 ½ cups of ultra fine sugar. Mix both ingredients in an airtight container and shake well regularly. Strain out the lavender and use in all of your favorite cake, cookie, fruit and drink recipes.

Using Herbs de Provence

A traditional herb blend from the south of France, lavender is the basis of this mix of savory herbs. Herbs de Provence is great with chicken, fish and vegetables.

Grilled Lemon Chicken with Herbs de Provence

1. Mix 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2. Juice and zest of one fresh lemon
3. 1 tsp Herbs de Provence
4. Salt and pepper to taste
5. Add 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts to mixture and let marinade for at least one hour.
6. Grill or bake chicken until well done.