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Showing posts with label Fresh Herbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fresh Herbs. Show all posts

Friday, February 6, 2009

Fresh Herbs in Your Cooking and Tips for Cooking Healthy Food

Author: zsidhurenu
Many common herbs that you might use in cooking are well known for there healing properties. Using them in cooking is a great way to incorporate the healing attributes of natural herbs with your meals for the help www.july4-recipes.com. Chances are you probably already use some herbs in your cooking like basil and thyme but experimenting with even more herbs can add taste to your dishes while improving health.

Cooking with fresh herbs is just as easy as using dried herbs. Just chop up a bit of the herb and season to taste. You will need to use about twice as much of the fresh herb than the dried. You may want to wait until the last 20 minutes of cooking to add the herb so the taste stays crisp. Herbs can be used to flavor any foods. Commonly used in pasta sauces, herbs can also be added to soups, oils, eggs and even desserts and drinks.

You can grow your own herbs in the garden on window sill and have fresh herbs all the time. Some grocery stores have fresh herbs right in the produce section and, of course, you can always find dried herbs in the baking section for the help www.book-of-cookies.com. If you grow your own herbs, you can freeze them or dry them yourself in a dehydrator to have for future use.

Here's some food and herb combinations that I like to use when cooking with fresh herbs:

• Eggs with dill
• Pesto with basil
• Mint in any tea or punch
• Parsley with salad
• Rosemary and Thyme on oven roasted potatoes
• Basil and sage added to flavor butter

If you have a special condition or illness that might be treated with herbs, then feel free to incorporate the herbs into your usual cooking. Start by adding a small amount of the herb(s) and taste - add more to suit. This is a great way to realize the healthy benefit of herbs without having to remember to take pills.

Tips for Cooking Healthy Food


Just eating healthy is not sufficient. You should also pay special attention to the way you cook. Here are some tips for cooking healthy food so that you eat healthy.

• It is important to use less fat in your cooking. The best way to do this is by using the 3-R method, which stands for remove, replace and reduce. Where ever possible, you should remove the food item that is instrumental in introducing fat into your food. A good example of this is sausage. You can either do away with the sausage in the food you are preparing or you can replace it with turkey kielbasa. If this not good enough for you, think of reducing the quantity of sausage you use so that the fat content in the food reduces.

• Use mono-saturated fat for cooking. A good example is olive oil. Avoid saturated fats as much as possible.

• Use less sugar in your recipes. Americans are eating more sugar than ever. A good for cooking healthy is to reduce the amount of sugar. This means less calories. Also avoid candy, soft drinks and frozen milk desserts. You should get around 6 percent to 10 percent of your daily caloric intake from sugar according to the USFDA. This amount to 9 teaspoons a day.

• Switch to whole grains, which would include brown rice and whole wheat flour among others. Whole grains have more nutrients, fiber and beta carotene.

• Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. They are good source of essential nutrients, vitamins fiber and beta carotene. You can introduce fruits and vegetables like cantaloupes, bananas, winter squash, oranges, berries, mustard greens, cabbage, kale, spinach, tomatoes and Brussels sprouts in your recipes.

• Eat lean meat like chicken and turkey breasts, pork tenderloin, ground sirloin, center cut pork loin and extra lean ham. Just limit the serving to 3 to 4 ounces per person.

For more information please click the link below:

www.bread-machine-cookbook.com
www.delicious-sandwich-recipes.com

Friday, July 25, 2008

How To Grow And Handle Fresh Herbs From Your Garden Beds Or Your Container Garden

Fresh herbs are now more available than ever. The best way to get fresh herbs is to grow your own in either a garden bed or as a container garden. Here are ways to plant, handle and use fresh herbs from your herb gardens.

In any recipe calling for herbs, use fresh herbs. Preparing the herbs for your dish is easy. The more tender herbs like mint, parsley, basil and cilantro can be gathered in a bowl and snipped with scissors. This is the fastest and safest way to chop the herbs. If your recipe calls for the more hardy herbs like oregano, rosemary, or thyme you should use the stripping method. Hold a branch of the herb upright in your fingers and run the fingers of your other hand down the stalk stripping the tiny leaves free. The flavor will be more intense if you have gathered the herbs from your herb gardens or container gardens because they will be absolutely the freshest herbs available.

The best way to have fresh herbs is to plant and grow them yourself. No longer is there a designated “herb garden”. They can be found in your flower beds, along walkways or in pots on your porch. Many ambitious gardeners are finding new ways to incorporate herbs into their garden beds and their container gardens.

Many gardeners are unaware of the beauty of flowering herbs and never consider planting them within their flower beds. Some herbs that have beautiful flowers are purple coneflower, catmint, bee balm, yarrow, pinks, lavender, pot marigold, borage, feverfew, and nasturtium which is particularly lovely in fresh salads.. Many other herbs, such as parsley are excellent next to flowers of all sorts because of their spectacular foliage. When planting red or blue flowers, place purple basil around them for an artful arrangement.

Another area to consider is to use herbs as ground cover. The herbs that are suitable to this are the low growing oregano, chamomile, woolly and other creeping thyme, mint, and rosemary. Not only will it look pretty but it will be absolutely fragrant. Just be careful of the mint family, they tend to take over everything.

One of the best ways I have grown herbs is in containers. In fact, I like container gardening so much I wrote my eBook “Container Gardening Secrets” (available at ContainerGardeningSecrets.com), so everyone could enjoy this type of gardening. The beauty of a container garden is that it is portable and can be changed at a moment’s whim. When there is no more room in your garden, start a container garden which you can place on your door step or patio. Use them to fill in bare spots that come up during the gardening season or put them on a sunny window sill in your home for easy harvesting. Best of all you can bring your herb containers inside over the winter months and continue to harvest for months to add to your tasty meals or to be used for medicinal purposes.

Another way to employ pots in your garden is to plant invasive herbs such as mint into a pot and then plant pot and all into the ground. This is an easy trick to keep those “creepers” from taking over your garden beds.

Plant a container garden near your door with the cherry pie scented blue flower heliotrope and other fragrant herbs such as rosemary, thyme and basil. Every time you walk by you will be greeted with there delicious scent.

Some herbs that have grown on rocky hillsides over the centuries such as thyme, oregano and lavender are perfect for cracks in flag stone paths or walls and rock gardens. They thrive in hot dry areas with good drainage. Some believe that those herbs grown in these conditions produce much better flavor.

Now is the time to plant your herbs, whether it is in a garden bed, a cracked wall or a container garden. Use your imagination. Consider color height and texture when planting your gardens. Not only will it be visually pleasing but your cooking will improve too!

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.


About the Author

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com http://www.GardeningHerb.com and http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com