Category: Health benefit

Best Fresh Herbs Every Home Cook Should Use

Best Fresh Herbs Every Home Cook Should Use

by | Dec 14, 2018 | Farms, Health benefit, Locally grown

How to Use Fresh Herbs
What would pesto be without basil, or salsa sans cilantro? Whether used by the pinch or by the bunch, fresh herbs pull a recipe together by infusing the dish with unparalleled aromas and flavors. For example, basil’s faint licorice flavor brightens lemon sorbet, while rosemary’s piney zing complements chicken-zucchini skewers. Sometimes, when the effect you seek is subtle, refined, and delicate, a hint of herbs is enough; other times, handfuls are required.

Basil
Basil is one of the most important culinary herbs. Sweet basil, the most common type, is redolent of licorice and cloves. Basil is used in the south of France to make pistou; its Italian cousin, pesto, is made just over the border. Used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, and salads, basil is in top form when married to tomatoes, as in the famous salad from the island of Capri—Insalata Caprese, made with tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil, and fruity olive oil.
See More: Fresh Basil Recipes

Mint
Mint isn’t just a little sprig that garnishes your dessert plate. It is extremely versatile and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. In the Mediterranean, mint is treasured as a companion to lamb, and is often used in fruit and vegetable salads. Though there are many varieties, spearmint is preferred for cooking. You can add it to a bevy of dishes and drinks—lamb, peas, carrots, ice cream, tea, mint juleps, and mojitos. Spearmint’s bright green leaves are fuzzy, very different from the darker stemmed, rounded leaves of peppermint.
See More: Fresh Mint Recipes

Rosemary
In Latin, rosemary means “dew of the sea”—appropriate since it is indigenous to the Mediterranean. Rosemary is one of the most aromatic and pungent of all the herbs. Its needlelike leaves have pronounced lemon-pine flavor that pairs well with roasted lamb, garlic, and olive oil. Rosemary is also a nice addition to focaccia, tomato sauce, pizza, and pork, but because its flavor is strong, use a light hand.
See More: Cooking with Rosemary

Oregano
Oregano grows wild in the mountains of Italy and Greece; its Greek name means “joy of the mountain.” The Greeks love oregano sprinkled on salads, while the Italians shower it on pizza and slip it into tomato sauces. Add chopped oregano to vinaigrette, or use it in poultry, game, or seafood dishes when you want to take them in a Greek or Italian direction. Oregano and marjoram are so similar in looks and flavor that they are often confused. Oregano, however, has a more potent taste and aroma; marjoram is sweeter and more delicate. Try it out in these Oregano Recipes.

Thyme
Thyme comes in dozens of varieties; however, most cooks use French thyme. Undoubtedly thyme is one of the most important herbs of the European kitchen. What would a bouquet garni be without it? This congenial herb pairs well with many other herbs—especially rosemary, parsley, sage, savory, and oregano. Its earthiness is welcome with pork, lamb, duck, or goose, and it’s much beloved in Cajun and Creole cooking. It’s also the primary component of Caribbean jerk seasonings. Because the leaves are so small, they often don’t require chopping. Get started with these Fresh Thyme Recipes.

Cilantro
Some call it cilantro; others call it coriander, or even Chinese parsley. Whatever you call it, chances are you either love it or hate it. This native of southern Europe and the Middle East has a pungent flavor, with a faint undertone of anise. The leaves are often mistaken for flat-leaf parsley, so read the tag. One of the most versatile herbs, cilantro adds distinctive flavor to salsas, soups, stews, curries, salads, vegetables, fish, and chicken dishes.
See More: Cooking with Cilantro

Parsley
No refrigerator should be without parsley. It’s the workhorse of the herb world and can go in just about every dish you cook. Parsley’s mild, grassy flavor allows the flavors of other ingredients to come through. Curly parsley is less assertive than its brother, flat-leaf parsley (often called Italian parsley). Flat-leaf parsley is preferred for cooking, as it stands up better to heat and has more flavor, while the more decorative curly parsley is used mostly for garnishing.

Reach for either when a dish needs a little burst of color. Sprinkle a little persillade, a mixture of chopped parsley and garlic, on roasted lamb, grilled steaks, fish, chicken, and vegetables as they do in France. Add lemon or orange zest and you get gremolata, a blend used in Milanese cooking, especially as a final garnish on osso buco.
See More: Cooking with Fresh Parsley

Try these recipes:
• Parsley Red Potatoes
• Seared Scallops with Parsley-Thyme Relish
• Fennel, Parsley, and Radicchio Salad with Pine Nuts and Raisins

Chives
Toss chives into a dish at the last minute, because heat destroys their delicate onion flavor. Thinly slice them to maximize their taste, or use finely snipped chives as a garnish. Chives are great in dips and quesadillas, and on baked potatoes.

Dill
Since ancient Roman times, dill has been a symbol of vitality. In the Middle Ages, it was thought to provide protection against witches and was used as an ingredient in many magic potions. In the kitchen, its feathery leaves lend a fresh, sharp flavor to all kinds of foods: gravlax, cottage cheese, cream cheese, goat cheese, omelets, seafood (especially salmon), cold yogurt soups, potato salads, and all kinds of cucumber dishes (including, of course, pickles).

Sage
Sage is native to the northern Mediterranean coast, where it’s used frequently in cooking. Sage’s long, narrow leaves have a distinctively fuzzy texture and musty flavor redolent of eucalyptus, cedar, lemon, and mint. Italians love it with veal, while the French add it to stuffings, cured meats, sausages, and pork dishes. Americans, of course, associate it with turkey and dressing. Use it with discretion; it can overwhelm a dish.

Try These Recipes
• Sautéed Chicken with Sage Browned Butter
• Quick Walnut-Sage Bread Knots
• White Bean, Sage, and Sausage Soup

Tarragon
Though this herb is native to Siberia and western Asia, tarragon is primarily used in France. It’s often added to white wine vinegar, lending sweet, delicate licorice-like perfume and flavor. It pairs well with fish, omelets, and chicken cooked with mustard, and it’s a crucial component of béarnaise sauce. Fresh tarragon isn’t always easy to find, but when you get it, you’ll love the bittersweet, peppery taste it imparts. Heat diminishes its flavor, so add tarragon toward the end of cooking, or use it as a garnish. A little goes a long way.

Keeping Fresh Herbs Fresh
• Loosely wrap herbs in a damp paper towel, then seal in a zip-top plastic bag filled with air. Refrigerate for up to five days. Check herbs daily, as some of them lose their flavor after a couple of days.
• Store herbs bouquet-style when in bunches: Place, stems down, in a jar with water covering 1 inch of the stem ends, enclose in a large zip-top plastic bag, and change the water every other day. Most herbs will keep for up to a week this way.
• Many supermarkets carry herb plants in their produce sections. Snip off as much as you need, and the plant will last for weeks or even months.
• To revive limp herbs, trim 1/2 inch off the stems, and place in ice water for a couple of hours.
• Wash herbs just before using; pat dry with a paper towel.
• In most cases, heat kills the flavor of fresh herbs, so they’re best when added to a dish at the end.

For more
https://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/all-about-herbs-slideshow#scb-basil-0606p117

It’s Healthier & Taste Better

by | Nov 25, 2018 | Health benefit, Locally grown

 

Why Buy Local Food? For One Thing, It May Be Better for Your Health

Local food can be better for your health for a few reasons. To begin with, local foods often retain more nutrients. Local produce is allowed to ripen naturally, while food that travels long distances is often picked before it’s ripe. And food picked fresh and in season doesn’t have far to travel before being sold.

Choosing fruits and vegetables grown in season may also be healthier. When researchers at Montclair State University compared the vitamin C content of broccoli grown in season with broccoli imported out of season, they found the latter had only half the vitamin C.

Another study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that the levels of health-promoting anthocyanin pigments more than quadrupled as blackberries became fully ripe.

In addition, locally grown produce may be safer. When they are imported and out of season, fruits like tomatoes, bananas, and pears are often picked unripe. And then, they are artificially “ripened” with ethylene gas.

Also, foods from local growers may contain less (or no) pesticides. Farmers have to pay an extra fee to become certified organic. Some small-scale farmers use organic methods but aren’t certified because they simply aren’t big enough to be able to afford the certification fees. Even if they aren’t organic, small farmers tend to use fewer chemicals than large, industrialized farms.

If you can, talk to your farmers at your local market and ask them what (if any) pesticides they use. And be sure to wash your produce thoroughly to reduce your exposure to pesticides — which is especially important for pregnant women and children.

Better For Environment and Local Economy 

Eating more local food reduces CO2 emissions by reducing food miles — the distance food travels from farm to consumer. The average piece of produce in the U.S. travels 1,500 miles, while local food may only travel 100 miles (or less), according to researcher Rich Pirog at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.

Local food helps preserve green space. When local farmers are well compensated for their products, they are less likely to sell their land to developers. Likewise, with growing consumer demand, young farmers are increasingly likely to enter the marketplace by developing unused space, such as empty lots, into thriving urban gardens — many of which are grown organically.

Eating more local food can be one part of the solution. But, local is not the whole picture of food sustainability. The impact our food choices have on the environment includes many factors.

In some cases, food produced farther away may be more sustainable if it’s grown more responsibly, if it carries a smaller ecological footprint, or if it’s in season.

Choosing more plant-based foods is an important part of the equation as well. If you want to eat a more sustainable diet, look for foods that are local, organic, and low on the food chain. The higher the percentage of your protein intake that comes from plant foods, the more earth-friendly and healthful your diet will be.

From <https://foodrevolution.org/blog/why-buy-local-food/>