Nasturtium Capers ~ Poor Man's Capers Recipe

"I love Nasturtium's, every part of the nasturtium is edible and quite tasty ~ the flowers are so good to brighten up salads or decorate cakes and the leaves can be used in drinks. Then I came across this recipe and knew I just had to try it! I was going to try making these last year after my Nasturtium's had finished flowering, but the possums got to the seed's first! So this year I will be on watch to get them first! A little more peppery in flavor than Caper's, but you can use these as you would Caper's, in salad's, pasta, pizza whatever your fancy!"

Original is 1 jar serving

Metric US

I've Tried It

Ingredients

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1 1/2 - 2 cups of nasturtium seeds or pods
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups white vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar

1 fresh bay leaf
3 peppercorns, slightly crushed
Water

Nutritional

Serving Size: 1 (1471 g)
Calories 698.4
Total Fat - 6.6 g
Saturated Fat - 1.8 g
Cholesterol - 163.7 mg
Sodium - 8013.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate - 132.8 g
Dietary Fiber - 18.4 g
Sugars - 105.3 g
Protein - 22.1 g
Calcium - 396.7 mg
Iron - 11.9 mg
Vitamin C - 113.3 mg
Thiamin - 0.8 mg

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Pick the nasturtium pods, pick out any leaves or flower bits, then give the seeds a good rinse in cold water to remove any dirt, the dunk them in a bowl of cold water and let any flower bits left will float to the top.

Step 2

In a small bowl or jar put 2 cups of water and the salt, give a good stir & whisk or stir to dissolve the salt.; add in the pods and allow the pods to sit overnight in the salt brine, (this is to draw out any bitter taste the pods may have) leaving overnight.

Step 3

The next day, strain the pods and rinse.

Step 4

Using a small saucepan add the vinegar, 3/4 of a cup of water, bay leaf, peppercorn's and sugar, stir dissolving the sugar completely, over low heat and bring to slow simmer, simmer for a minute and if sugar is dissolved remove the pan from heat.

Step 5

Use a clean sterilized preserving jar (judge the size by how many pods you have), place in the nasturtium pods and completely cover with the hot vinegar brine. Note" I like to place a metal spoon in the jar when doing this, as the spoon will take any excess heat and jar is less likely to crack).