Herbs for Cooking and Broccoli, Leek and Mint Soup

Herbs for Cooking

I love to use herbs to spice up a dish.  Herbs have been used over the centuries for a variety of reasons in particular culinary herbs in the use of cooking, spiritual herbs for religious ceremonies, medicinal herbs for healing and more recently anti-ageing herbs for their use in boosting longevity.

There are many uses for herbs and any part of the herb may be deemed medicinal, this includes the leaves, roots, flowers, seeds and berries. When cooking with herbs the leaves either fresh or dried are used. Herbs are a great way to introduce flavour to a meal and enhance its taste. Medicinally it’s best to use leaf herbs at the end of the cooking process so they are not heated and their medicinal qualities are maximised.

Many herbs, including garlic, (stinking rose) are used in natural remedies. Garlic is a wonderful herb when used to enhance the flavour of food and many people are unaware of its unique medicinal properties – garlic has an antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antibiotic affect in the body and helps to stop infection in its tracks.

Garlic is useful for clearing bacterial infection, lowering fever by increasing perspiration, reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar levels and promoting cardiovascular health and has been reported to reduce metabolism of glucose in diabetes and lower the risk of heart attacks.

Garlic can be taken raw, swallowed whole or crushed with a glass of water, or taken as capsule form. Whenever I feel under the weather I take two crushed garlic cloves in water and the next day I am as right as rain!

Lemongrass is a herb widely used in Asian cuisines. Lemongrass oil has antifungal properties and in 2006 a research team from the University of Israel found that lemongrass caused cell death in cancer cells. Using concentrations equivalent to the quantity in a cup of tea (one gram of lemon grass in hot water), the researchers observed that lemongrass induces cell death in the cancerous cells, while the normal cells were left unharmed.

Dill is a digestive, pungent, cooling and diuretic herb that controls infection and dill and dill oil help to soothe the stomach after meals, it is considered to have very good anti-gas properties and is an effective ingredient of gripe water used for babies. Dill compliments fish dishes perfectly and is used worldwide particularly in Scandinavia where it is used a great deal to flavour eggs and seafood.

For a herb healthy meal, why not try this wonderful herb filled Broccoli, Leek and Mint Soup.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• 2 broccoli heads (stems included), roughly chopped
• 1 leek halved lengthways and thinly sliced
• 2 cups homemade vegetable stock
• handful mint, coarsely chopped
• handful parsley, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)
• handful slithered almonds, to serve

The How To:

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and add the leek, onion and garlic. Fry over medium low heat until the onion becomes translucent, 5-6 minutes. Throw in the celery and cook for a minute or two. Add the broccoli and pour the stock in. Bring to boil, add the mint and parsley and season with sea salt. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Transfer to a blender and add the coconut milk. Blend until smooth. If necessary pour back into the pan to re-heat. Ladle into bowls, scatter each with a few almonds and serve hot.

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See you next time  Lee