Chive blossom vinegar isn’t a normal thing to be making in January, but my wish for chive blossoms was realized.

This winter had been on the warm side for us. It was just last night the geranium and the jalapeno plants bit the dust to freezing.

While making a salad for dinner the other evening, my thoughts turned to chive flowers and all the yummy things I could do with them.

I thought how nice it would be to have some chive blossoms to add to the salad, or sprinkle some over the baked potatoes.

I was thinking about making more chive blossom vinegar but alas, being January, my desire would have to wait until spring.

Chive blossoms have a delightful onion or garlic flavor, depending upon which type of chive you have. Onion chives have lovely purple flowers that I really like; garlic chives produce white flowers.

But look at what I found!

As I rounded the corner towards my office, right there in front of me was a lovely plot of blooming chives in the schools herb garden.

Yay! Wish granted!

( Now I wish for a million dollars)

I picked as many as I thought I needed and ran home to toss them into the evening salad and make some Chive Blossom Vinegar for salad dressings in about a month.

Chives are quite simple to grow and actually are perennial so they come back year after year. I have both garlic chives and onion chives growing in my garden. They definitely are not flowering now. In fact they look quite pathetic until a bit of warmth cradles them a bit.

Chive Blossom Vinegar

Wash and dry the chive blossoms. Prepare the chive in any of the following ways:

• Leave as much stem on as you want
• Use only the tiny flowers
• use the entire flower heads in tact; no stem
• leave some stem with the flowers
• chop some chives to add with the flowers
• any combination you want

The goal is to make it look pretty and attractive.

• Place prepared blossoms into an attractive bottle.
• Boil enough white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar to fill the bottle.
• Use a funnel to fill the bottle with the hot vinegar.
• Cork or seal the bottle.
• Label with the date you made the vinegar.
• Let steep for 30 days.

After the flavor has developed, open the bottle and experience the fresh aroma of the chive blossom vinegar.

Use it to make a simple vinaigrette.

Chive Blossom Vinaigrette over Tomato, Onion, Cucumber Salad

• 1/2  cup chive blossom vinegar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups of olive oil

Place all the ingredients but the oil into a bowl and whisk to combine.

Whisk in the oil and serve.

This is a temporary emulsion which means you will need to whisk it before using as it will separate.

Tomato, Onion, Cucumber Salad

Serves 2

• 1 medium tomato, wedged into 8 wedges
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, sliced thin
• 1 scallion, sliced thin
• 1/2 English cucumber, sliced thin
• Chive blossoms

Toss the sliced vegetables in a bowl and then arrange attractively on salad plates.

Sprinkle the chive blossoms on top

Drizzle Chive blossom vinaigrette over salad and serve.

To make this go over the top, drizzle a few drops of truffle oil over the salad too.

Related articles

• Money Saving Herb Gardens (www.spoonfeast.com)
• The Basic Perfect Vinaigrette (mybestcookbook.wordpress.com)
• Sophie Grigson’s onion, chive and garlic tart (independent.co.uk)
• Charred Lemon and Garlic Chive Blossoms (ideasinfood.com)
• Back Away From The Bottle: Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes (huffingtonpost.com)
• Champagne Vinaigrette a winner any way! (chanteusedesigns.wordpress.com)
• From Patch to Plate (ideasinfood.com)
• Chives are a readily available herb, easy to find at local markets (educationweev.wordpress.com)
• Garlic Chives (paulasgardenpatch.com)