National More Herbs, Less Salt Day - August 29th

[Catherine, The Herb Lady]

Dear Folks,

While this 'holiday' is sometimes added to the wacky holidays list,
there is nothing wacky about adding herbs and spices to your cooking
FIRST, and then adjust with salt.

Besides being a healthier overall way to cook, adding herbs and spices
first brings out the real flavor of food because that is what people
have relied on salt to do for the last 60 years.

With the introduction of convenience foods and TV dinners after World
War II, salt was used to enhance the flavor of already cooked or
processed foods. Then the entire nation became addicted to the easy
food already-done-for-you preparation and also HIGHLY addicted to salt
as a flavoring agent.

Is salt bad for you? In a single word - NO. It is the overuse of and
over reliance on it that has caused the problems and issues related to
salt intake. Salt takes the bitterness out of food and also helps
regulate fluid in our bodies. We need some of it, just as we need
fats -- many nutrients are not processed in our bodies well without
the presence of fat in the food.

One of the main reasons I wrote my cookbook "101+ Recipes From The
Herb Lady" was to teach people to cook with FLAVOR first using herbs
and spices and then add salt moderately after tasting.

So celebrate August 29th and every day you cook by adding herbs and
spices to the food first, then taste and then add a bit of salt.

I read a recent Q&A on the difference in the number of holes in salt
and pepper shakers. Make sure you use the one with the lesser or
smaller holes for salt. There is also available a really cute but
functional set of measuring spoons which have "dash" and "pinch"
measurements and really are accurate for the purpose.

The only dishes that need more salt proportionally are starchy ones
like rice and baked bread. But even those are flavor enhanced
substantially with herbs and spices first.

Near the end here I give you a recipe from my cookbook.

CONTAINER GARDENING:

I just posted on my blog some thoughts and ideas on container
gardening and also a project I am going to start n a modified
hydroponic garden.

http://edibleherbsandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/08/container-gardening-another-idea.html

Getting into fall preparation and planting time is a sure fire way to
get some of the wonderful cool weather herbs and greens going to ramp
up your cooking options.


COLD PASTA SALAD
(From "101+ Recipes From The Herb Lady"

This salad uses quinoa* with a "boiled" dressing. Always rinse quinoa
very well before cooking. (Boiled dressings were very common in the
WWII and pre-war households - notice there is NO fat or oil in this
dressing - only flavor.)

2-3 cups quinoa, cooked
2 ounces lemon juice
6 ounces water
1 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence
1 tablespoon corn starch (or flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Optional: Chopped tomatoes and olives.

Prepare 2-3 cups of grain, cooked according to directions, cool in
extra water to loosen grains, drain well and set aside.
Make a "lemonade" of 2 oz juice to 6 oz water, place 3/4 cup of this
mixture in sauce pan with Herbes de Provence and salt to taste (about
1/4 teaspoon), bring to a boil and simmer about 5 minutes to reduce
liquid. Mix remaining cold ‘lemonade’ with a bit of corn starch and
pour slowly into simmering liquid to make a "gravy" — cook another 3-4
minutes. Cool and toss with cooked grain. The addition of tomatoes and
olives will make this a "trip to Provence."
*Ancient grain from the same family as epazote and lambs quarters —
is a complete protein requiring no other protein for complimenting.

LOW SALT/FAT COOKING
Sauté means "to leap," and while "leaping" usually means fat, it is
not required to have a wonderful taste. A simple shrimp or crab
Provencal scampi can be made without fat if you choose. Our ‘boiled
dressing’ in our Cold Pasta Salad in the preceding recipe is an
example of a liquid base to sauté onions, garlic, etc. Any liquid
(water, wine, beer, apple juice, unsweetened lemonade — as used in our
pasta salad) can be used to sauté a variety of vegetables, onions,
garlic and, of course, herbs to produce a delicious sauce — the secret
is to start with just enough liquid to cover the "aromatics," cooking
slowly until done. Remove the aromatics and reduce the remaining
liquid by half, add aromatics back in — add the Herbes de Provence —
taa daaa, Sauce!! — which you can now use to toss with a starch of
your choice (rice, pasta, potato, etc) and shrimp, crab, or protein of
choice.

The cookbook is available through your favor book seller, also Barnes
& Noble, and Amazon or my publishers site. In print or ebook format,
for iPad, Nook, Kindle and other reader formats.

http://stores.lulu.com/herbs2u

Have a great day, thinking about the herbs you want to grow and use,

Catherine