Category: herbs

Herbs and Spring

When spring is beginning, the herbs are sprouting, and the first young vegetables are harvested. Now is the time to relieve the body after the long winter – with everything that nature offers in these weeks. Wild garlic, dandelion, sorrel, chervil and parsley are among the herbs that can already be found on the markets. They not only add the special extra to many dishes, but also get the metabolism going. After all, they contain valuable essential oils, vitamins, minerals, protein and omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, they contain bitter substances that help the liver and gall bladder to detoxify the organism. Even small amounts of these aromatic plants enhance every dish in two ways. “Our food should be, above all, one thing now: light and full of vital substances,” says Silvia Bürkle, head nutritionist at Metabolic Balance.

Spring Herbal Drink

It’s time for a spring cleaning the bitter way! A spring cure rich in bitter substances stimulates the metabolism in a natural way. This wonderful herbal drink shows you how delicious it can taste.

Ingredients (1 serving):
5 dandelion leaves
Handful of parsley
Handful of chervil
5 leaves goutweed
Salt and black pepper
1/2 tablespoon of oil
1 cup (250 ml) milk, soy milk or oat milk

Preparation:
Wash, pluck and finely chop the herbs. Then add everything to a blender, season and add oil and milk. Puree the whole thing finely, serve in a beautiful glass with ice and garnish with more herbs if desired. Delicious!

Cold Remedy

Thyme is one of the best known medicinal herbs for colds. The essential oils that are responsible for its typical smell and taste make the herb one of the most effective natural antibiotics. Our secret tip for all those who have got a cold: thyme. It is the best to take it as a tea or lotion to fight every cold. 
For brewing a cup of tea, you only need a few sprigs of thyme. Simply tie them together into a small bunch and hang them into a large cup. Pour boiling hot water over it, let it steep covered for 10 minutes and enjoy a cup several times a day.

Fresh Herbs

Fresh herbs are a great way to add flavor and variety to meals! A simple tomato can taste completely different when paired with basil or roasted potatoes taste earthy and flavorful with rosemary! No matter what herbs you pick, it is hard to go wrong!

Not only do herbs add delicious flavor but they also have amazing nutritional and health benefits. Today we are showcasing a hearty, earthy, and aromatic herb: rosemary.

Rosemary has excellent immune boosting benefits as it contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances. It can increase circulation, support digestion, help eliminate toxins from the body and reduce stress. In the kitchen, it is a fabulously versatile herb and goes well with many dishes. The easiest way is simply by adding it to any roasted dish such as chicken, potatoes, or mixed root vegetables. Even simply adding lemon and rosemary on top of salmon before baking it can transform the dish! If this has not convinced you enough, rosemary is also very easy to grow in your garden or indoors in a small pot.

Dandelion: A Spring Cure

In the spring time, gardens everywhere start to fill dandelions, considered by many to be a pesky weed. What you may not know is that dandelion is actually a “bitter” herb with the amazing ability to help purify blood in the body. According to tradition, dandelion stimulates the body to flush out any undigested foods from the body – like a spring clean after the long winter! Rich in minerals, vitamins and enzymes, it has an invigorating effect on all body functions. Dandelion is a known diuretic, meaning that it helps increase the amount of water that is filtered through the kidneys, helping to filter out waste. It is also believed that the “bitter” qualities of the herb work to stimulate the liver by increasing bile flow and solubility, cleansing the liver of fatty acid deposits. Drinking dandelion tea over the course of three to four weeks is known to rejuvenate the connective tissue, improve liver function, and help with digestion.

For more information about this herb check out the links below:

Born to be a Super Herb

MB 09-18-2019
Chervil … sounds like a delicious stew from grandma’s time and also tastes like “home”. It is more at home in the European Kitchen and the popular kitchen herb belongs to the umbelliferae family. Sowing chervil in the garden begins in the frost-free period in March. It’s a fast-growing and particularly aromatic herb before flowering. If the plant is pruned back regularly, plenty of fresh aromatic shoots will grow quickly. Chervil smells and tastes of anise and fennel and can be universally used in our kitchen. It tastes particularly well in soups, sauces, fish and meat dishes.

Bay Leaves – Born to be a Kitchen Star

MB 08-25-2019

Bay leaves are a well-known and popular spice for all meat-based soups, and sauces. It goes beautifully with beef, game meat, and also for the pickling of cucumbers and sauerkraut. Want to know more? 

Bay leaves are also known as Bay Laurel and grow as a bush or tree everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its young, freshly picked leaves are dried immediately after harvesting.  You can tell a good quality supply as the leaves are dark green and healthy looking. If your shop-bought supply has leaves that are more yellow-brown and broken with a high proportion of stems, then it’s not a good quality and usually old.  

Because of its strong, prominent taste, bay leaves should be used in small quantities.  Usually only one leaf is added for cooking, which unfolds its aroma very slowly. 

In the countries of origin, tea made from bay leaves can induce sweating and help relieve blocked sinuses.

It’s important that if someone has an allergy to composite flowers, they should avoid contact with bay leaves. 

Tip: Bay leaf tea for colds – Add approximately 250-300ml of boiling water to a tablespoon of chopped bay leaves. Allow to steep covered for 10 – 15 minutes, strain and drink a cup both morning and evening.

Delicious Zucchini in Curry Herb Cream

Tastes deliciously creamy and is prepared rather quickly: zucchini in curry herb cream 

MB 08-21-2019

 

Ingredients:
1 serving cream cheese (45%)
1 serving zucchini
1 slice whole grain rye bread
spices: sea salt, black pepper, curry, rosemary (fresh), thyme (fresh), marjoram (fresh)

Preparation:
Wash and clean the zucchini and cut into fine slices, then saute them in some water. Season with salt and pepper. Wash, pluck and chop the herbs. Add the cheese, add curry and herbs to taste. Serve with roasted whole grain rye bread. Enjoy your meal!

Tip: Instead of cream cheese, you can also use goat cream cheese, ricotta, cottage cheese, yogurt or mascarpone – depending on your plan.

Jan-Philipp Cleuster’s Flower Butter

Herb butter with grilled meat, fish or vegetables is tasty, but boring. Our young celebrity chef Jan-Philipp Cleusters convinces us with his flower butter. Yummy!

MB (2019-06-26)

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
250 g soft butter
1/2 clove of garlic, chopped finely
a splash of lemon juice
Eatable flower mix, a total of approximately 40 blossoms, chopped coarsely (e.g. begonias, violets, orchids, daisies, snapdragons, rose petals, capuchin blossoms)

Preparation:
Mix the soft butter with the garlic and lemon juice and season to taste with some sea salt. Stir the coarsely chopped flowers into the mixture, place the mixture on a surface lined with plastic wrap and bring the butter into the shape of a roll. Set the roll into the fridge for a short time. Then, cut the butter into slices the width of your index finger and arrange in a bowl.

Metabolic Balance recommends to use butter only in reasonable quantity (max. 10 g).

 

Rosemary-Pesto

Since the rosemary is so wonderful, it deserves another post: Try a homemade pesto made from fresh rosemary leaves! Simply mix the needles with a blender, fill into a glass with screw cap to ¾ and then pour in virgin olive oil. To preserve, add a heaped teaspoon of sea salt to a quarter of a liter. This pesto is available all year round for use as a spread on bread, in soups, sauces and meat dishes. Just so yummy!MB (2019-06-10)