Daylilies With Mushrooms and Creamy Pasta

BlogHer and Knorr sent me a package of Knorr’s new Homestyle Concentrated Kitchen Stock to see if I could come up with a new recipe. Of course, simply because it’s summer, all I could think of was… flowers.Â If you’re looking for a way to introduce these nutrition-packed Daylily blooms to your family’s plate, this is the recipe to try.

If you can start thinking of the Daylily (Hemerocallis Fulvaas) as a delicate vegetable, you’ll be able to resist the urge to tear the “weed” out for over taking your garden. Not only does this flower taste delicious, the daylily flower provides more vitamin C than green beans,

2 grams of protein, and 3,000 IUS of Vitamin A. (See chart below for nutritional information.) The flavor is delicate and mild, and it’s much easier to get my kids to eat a Daylily than a Brussels sprout any day.

Last summer, we fried our daylilies — and we couldn’t fry them fast enough for the kids. When we made stuffed zucchini blossoms, we stuffed daylilies in place of the zucchini blossoms when we ran out.Â This year, because the flower is so abundant, and I can’t resist its flower-power nutrition, I’m incorporating the flowers into salads and pasta. This week, I added daylilies to my mushroom pasta recipe (my comfort food) and found the pan empty before I could have my own second helping. Â This recipe is sooooo good, and so quick to make.

Daylilies With Mushrooms and Creamy Pasta

Serves 4:
Total Cook & Prep Time, 25 minutes.
Level: Easy
Wow Factor: OFF THE CHARTS!!!

Ingredients:

12 ounces angel hair pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups mixed fresh mushrooms, sliced (oyster, shiitake, cemini, Portobello.) 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tub Knorr Homestyle Stock, added to 3.5 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cups daylily blossoms.
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
Â½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Â½ lemon, juiced

Brush off any dirt from the mushrooms with a paper towel. Slice the mushrooms thinly.

Drown your daylilies in a bowl of salt water to remove any dirt and bugs. Drain on paper towels, and chop.

Heat oil and butter in a skillet, and I like to give the mushroom a head start and add them to the skillet first.

Cook these at a medium-high flame, cooking four minutes, stirring to toss them once. Add the daylilies,Â (I know… weird to be adding such delicate things to your skillet… but you’ll be glad you did) minced garlic,

salt, pepper and red pepper. Cook mixture together for four more minutes, or until garlic and mushrooms have a golden color.

At this point… I have to stop myself from picking up the fork and eating the entire contents of the skillet…

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente, 3-5 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

Turn off the heat to the skillet, and slowly begin to add the stock, and stir. (A trick my Grandma taught me to prevent “lumps” in the sauce.)Â Knorr has created a new stock in a concentrated package, made with herbs and vegetables — simmering already done, compliments of Knorr, so it’s pumped with homestyle aroma and flavor. This means, this meal is a quick and easy pantry meal — no need to call the pizza delivery man to deliver a box — Knorr makes it easy to get the home-cooked taste and nutrition, quick.

Each tub makes 3.5 cups of broth. Just pop open the lid, add water, and stir.Â Turn back on the heat, and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.