If you’ve never tried a squash blossom, now is the perfect time. Anthony and I went to the Scranton Farmer’s Market last week, and I was so excited to see them at one of the stands. If you have a local farmer’s market, one of the farmers there probably have some too. Ours were 10 for $2.50.

You can make the squash blossoms lots of different ways – some people chop them off and toss them with pasta and olive oil, some people bread and fry them. Since we can only really get them once a year or so, I decided to go all out and stuff them with crab.

First I prepped the blossoms by separating the leaves and pulling out the stamens inside. The petals are pretty delicate, so you need to be very careful not to tear them. I also trimmed the stems. If you have allergies, it’s a good idea to wear gloves or wash your hands a ton during this point, as the pollen can definitely bother your eyes.

Then I made a mixture with some jumbo lump crab meat, chives, parsley, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. I stuffed each blossom and gently twisted the tops closed.Once the blossoms were stuffed, I heated up some oil in a big frying pan and made a basic tempura batter. I dipped the blossoms in the batter, then fried them in the hot oil until they were golden.

While they were frying, I made a simple dressing of 1 part olive oil, 1 part lemon juice, and some chopped chives. We ate the fried blossoms with some arugula and the dressing. It was a perfect dinner for the end of summer.