The Beauty and Benefits of Sunflowers

The name of the sunflower, Helianthus, is Greek and means, curiously enough, Sunflower.

There was once a beautiful water-nymph called Clytie who fell in love with Helios, the God of the Sun. She was so much in love that she would sit on the grass and gaze up at the sun all day long but Helios, in his travels, looked over the world and never once did he see Clytie.

The other Gods took pity on her and turned her into a flower. Her legs became the sunflower's stem, her face became the flower and her golden hair the petals.

Today, in the form of a sunflower, Clytie still stares up at her love and this is why the sunflower's face always turns to follow the path of the sun.

We are accustomed to seeing the spiral in Nature. A spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point. If you look closely at the centre of a sunflower you can see that the disk flowers grow in a pattern of two opposite spirals.

* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

* 2 small heads iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
* 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (about 2 ounces)
* 2 avocados peeled, pitted, sliced

Preparation

Combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and garlic in small bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk in mayonnaise. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Combine lettuce and sunflower seeds in bowl; toss with enough dressing to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Top with avocado slices. Pass remaining dressing separately.

Healthy, natural sunflower oil is produced from oil type sunflower seeds.

Sunflower oil is light in taste and appearance and supplies more Vitamin E than any other vegetable oil. It's a combination of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with low saturated fat levels. When choosing sunflower oil, try and get the unrefined oil.

The versatility of this healthy oil is recognized by cooks internationally. Sunflower oil is valued for its light taste, frying performance and health benefits.

9 inch pie crust, frozen , fresh or refrigerated
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sunflower seeds

Heat oven to 375*. Beat eggs, sugar, salt, butter and syrup. Stir in sunflower seeds. Pour into pastry lined pie plate.

Bake until set, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or refrigerate.

Pie can be made in advanced and frozen. Store no longer than 1 month. Unwrap pie and thaw in refrigerator 20 minutes.

Blueberry Bran Sunflower Muffins

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/2 cup milk
* 2 large eggs, beaten lightly
* 1 1/2 cups self-raising, all-purpose, flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup bran
* 3/4 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds, toasted lightly
* 1 1/2 cups blueberries, picked over

Preparation

In a bowl stir together the butter, the milk, and the eggs.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the salt, the bran, and the sunflower seeds. Add the butter mixture, stir the batter until it is just combined, and fold in the blueberries. (The batter will be thick and lumpy.)

Divide the batter among 12 well-buttered 1/2-cup muffin tins and bake the muffins in a preheated 425°F. oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are golden.

Turn the muffins out onto a rack and let them cool.

* a 3-inch fresh jalapeno chili, chopped (wear rubber gloves)
* 1/3 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds, toasted lightly and cooled
* 1 1/2 cups packed fresh coriander
* 1 1/2 cups packed fresh parsley leaves
* 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus additional to cover pesto

Preparation

In a food processor blend well all ingredients except additional oil. Transfer pesto to a jar with a tight-fitting lid, covering pesto with a layer of additional oil to prevent discolouration. Pesto keeps, covered and chilled, 2 weeks.

To use pesto:

Pour off layer of oil from pesto. To boiling salted water add pasta, cook till al dente. Reserve 2/3 cup of hot cooking water and drain pasta in a colander.

In a heated serving bowl stir together 3/4 cup pesto and reserved cooking water. Add pasta to pesto and toss until coated well.

At early dawn, like soldiers in their places,
Rank upon rank the golden sunflowers stand;
Gazing toward the east with eager faces,
Waiting, until their god shall touch the land
To life and glory, longingly they wait,
Those voiceless watchers at the morning's gate.

Dawn's portals tremble silently apart;
Far to the east, across the dewy plain,
A glory kindles that in every heart
Finds answering warmth and kindles there again;
And rapture beams in every radiant face
Now softly glowing with supernal grace.

And all day long that silent worship lasts,
And as their god moves grandly down the west,
And every stem a lengthening shadow casts
Toward the east, ah, they love him best,
And watch till every lingering ray is gone,
Then slowly turn to greet another dawn.

~Albert Bigelow Paine~

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