Spice Is Nice - Great Herbs With Great Benefits
Herbs can do much more than add much needed spice to the foods you cook. Herbs also have important health benefits, and many herbs have been shown to have remarkable healing properties.
Growing Your Own Herbs
Fortunately, herbs are very easy to grow in your own home herb garden.
They are also easy and quite inexpensive to buy, either fresh or in their
dried varieties. When buying herbs, whether they are dried or fresh, however,
it is important to exercise caution and to buy only the freshest herbs,
or those dried herbs made by quality, reputable companies.
The best choice for many people, however, is to grow your own herbs in
an herb garden. Unlike many other forms of gardening, an herb garden takes
up almost no space. Most herb gardens can be grown using the smallest
flower pots set in a sunny windowsill. There are every kits which allow
the cook to grow a variety of herbs directly from seed, all in one handy
container.
There are as many ways to use herbs in cooking and in healing as there
are herbs. For instance, meats, stews and pasta dishes can all be enhanced
with basil, garlic, oregano and rosemary. Foods that are naturally sweet
can be further enhanced through the addition of herbs like cinnamon, ginger
and nutmeg, while extra heat can be added to many foods by adding a dash
of white, black or red pepper.
Herbs And Dieting
Dieters often appreciate the ability of herbs to add flavor and variety
to food without adding extra calories. When adding fresh herbs to a recipe,
the best technique is to gently crush the herbs in your hand in order
to fully release their flavor. It is best to add the herbs near the end
of the cooking process to preserve their flavor and nutritional value.
A few of the most commonly grown herbs for the home garden are:
> Sweet basil - Sweet basil (ocimum basilicum), in both the dark opal
and the green variety are quite easy to grow from seed, and they generally
germinate at 7 to 10 days. Basil can grow to a height of 18 inches, and
it provides excellent flavor to tomato paste, pastas, soups and stews.
> Chives - Chives (allium scboenoprasum) is a perennial plant which is
popular in both herb gardens and more traditional garden patches. These
tiny plants resemble spears of grass when they first sprout, but they
can grow to a height of 12 inches. Chives are great in salads, sauces
and all kinds of egg dishes.
> Dill - Dill (anethum graveolens) is another easily grown herb, and it
makes an excellent flavoring for meats. Dill is also excellent for use
in pickling.
> Lavender - Lavender (lavandula) is easy to grow as well, and it provides
a fresh scent indoors and out. While not traditionally eaten, lavender
is important in aromatherapy, and the dried leaves of the plant make excellent
sachets for sprucing up closets.
> Mint - Mint (menthe spicat) is also quite easy to grow and it can easily
be grown indoors as part of an herb garden. Mint is an excellent accompaniment
to fruit drinks and lemonade, and we all know how well mint jelly goes
with lamb dishes.
> Sage - Sage (saivia officinalis) is another perennial plant that is
grown indoors and out. This popular herb is excellent for use in chicken,
turkey and pork, and it is often used for flavoring sausage as well.
Yahoo! News Search Results for healthy foods
| Is It Healthy to Store Food Near a Microwave Oven? (New York Times) |
|
Could cooking oil, spices or canned foods stored next to a microwave oven be receiving unhealthy doses of microwave emissions?
|
| Oryana offers tips for healthy living (Traverse City Record-Eagle) |
|
Oryana Natural Foods Market offers steps for a healthy lifestyle in 2009.
|
| Healthy Habits: 5 tips to help you keep your resolutions (The Star Press) |
|
January is the month for gym memberships, ordering salad dressing on the side and eating fat-free foods. Losing weight and getting healthy is one of the most popular New Years' resolutions. I personally set a goal of losing the last few "baby" pounds that I managed to hold on to for nine years! Only about 20 percent of people who make New Years' resolutions actually keep them. So, make this year ...
|
| Children 'avoiding healthy foods' (BBC News) |
|
Students in an east London borough are skipping school lunches in favour of takeaways, researchers claim.
|
| Tyson Foods CEO Resignation Effective Immediately (KHBS - KHOG Fort Smith - Fayetteville) |
|
Tyson Foods said Monday its president and chief executive, Dick Bond, is stepping down immediately and will be replaced on an interim basis by former chairman and CEO Leland Tollett.
|