After many critter horror-stories, I am mostly immune to the ick factor of stuff in my food. It's kind of the risk we run by not eating something drenched in pesticide and then wrapped in plastic, you know? But since these were innocent little moths with no designs on destroying anything beyond yucca blossoms, I did feel bad for them. Grain moths in the pantry look about the same, but I know they're pure evil and feel no shame in killing them.

But... how was it?

Really, it was quite good. Raw yucca blossoms have a slightly bitter taste, but either cooking or a pinch of salt neutralized that and they ended up working very well with the flavor of basil. The soup is thick (I actually added a cup more water to keep it from becoming a pulp), but it's not stock-based so all the flavor comes from your fresh ingredients. There's a spoonful of sugar in it, too, so it's slightly sweet, but again that worked with the tomato and basil. I guess I'll add the recipe to the main post, under a cut. It's a refreshing summer soup, totally vegetarian and technically vegan if you don't count the caterpillars.

Your interest in cooking with flowers is really interesting, because it never occurred to me to try, beyond adding petals to tea or using flower waters.

Thanks. Use of flowers as an actual vegetable is great fun-- it's daylily season right now, and those are great in stir-fry, especially with pork or tofu. You can pickle them, too, but I haven't tried it yet. Chrysanthemums are another flower with savory applications, especially in Chinese food.