Many parts of the hardy daylily are edible. The earliest leaves which emerge from the ground are the first parts I harvest to eat, when they are very young and most tender. I pinch off the center few leaves from a plant, leaving outer leaves so they will continue to grow. Harvesting a few leaves from many plants scattered throughout the bed doesn't effect their growth as a flower garden later in springtime, and it provides me with a nourishing fresh winter green. The taste is very subtle, and the chopped leaves can be used raw or cooked. I have added chopped young raw daylily leaves to creamy dips and salads, and I've cooked them in omelettes, soups, and stirfries. Keep cooking to a minimum, to retain their crispness and bright green color.
Later in the growing season, the unopened pods of the daylily flowers can be snapped off to cook. I prefer these in stirfries and sautées. The petals of the bloom are also edible, and add lovely color to a salad without altering the flavor. I've also read that the root tubers are also edible (and reportedly delicious simply quick-cooked in oil or butter), although I've yet to try cooking with them. The only trouble with the latter is that digging the roots destroys the plants, while the other parts of the daylily are 'sustainably harvested,' allowing the plants to continue to grow. Daylilies are a workhorse, as you can see, as well as a striking bedding plant... I grow them in masses!
My gardens are all organic, so I have no hesitation about cooking with edible flowers and wildplants. For my most recent stirfry with daylilies, I harvested several other plants from my garden and from the wild, as the photo shows. Notice that I harvest the top growth from the garlic I plant in the fall (I harvest the garlic bulbs in June.) I added these fresh greens to my wok last, after cooking chopped onions, celery, carrots, napa cabbage, and sweet peppers. I added cooked rice-based ramen noodles (sans any pre-packaged seasoning - yuck!) and the spicy peanut sauce I've posted in this blog as an oriental salad dressing. It was delicious!
When picking parts of daylilies to eat, I stick to the traditional orange "tiger lily," which is native to Asia, even though I grow many other colors. Visit a daylily farm and you will be overwhelmed at the variety of colors, shapes, heights, and flowering time. It takes willpower to limit your purchases, they are so lovely and easy to grow. Or visit me... I usually have an over-abundance of plants to dig up and I love to share them!
It may be a bit late for my local friends to eat daylily greens this year, since our 7+ inches of rain in February and temperatures reaching the 70s have made everything start growing fast, but be sure to plant and try daylilies for your future kitchen creations.
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