Cooking with Herbs: Boost Flavor and Health

If you start cooking with herbs regularly you will not only boost flavor, you’ll also boost nutrition. I love cooking with fresh herbs and always keep a fresh pot on my kitchen counter and several more outside on our grill.

I’ll also be sharing my three favorite herb recipes: Mixed Herb Dressing that’s loaded with basil and chives. Salsa Verde Recipe with 4 herbs and a boost of garlic. Plus a delicious Pineapple Smoothie made with cilantro and parsley.

Historically, herbs have been used for adding flavor to foods. However, research now proves that herbs pack a powerful nutrient-punch that can slow aging, lower inflammation, assist with detoxification and improve health.

Read more about the tremendous health-boosting benefits of phytonutrient-rich herbs.

Cooking With Herbs

Unfortunately, many chefs will insist that a good cook uses herbs the way a painter uses color. They take the “less is often more” approach. Generally, I find myself veering off from this traditional cooking model. I actually use herbs, both fresh and dried, rather liberally in my Clean Cuisine recipes.

Cooking with Fresh or Dried Herbs

Fresh herbs carry the purest flavors, with all their aromatic essential oils intact. Dried herbs are also totally fine to use too. But, you do want to make sure you clean out your dried herb spice rack at least once a year since neither herbs nor spices last forever. NOTE: Green herbs should not be brown and dried herbs should have a scent!

How Much Fresh Herbs to Replace Dried Herbs?

Here is a quick rule of thumb when cooking with herbs. If a recipe says you need 1 teaspoon of dried herbs and you want to use fresh then all you have to do is triple the amount and use the ratio 1:3.

Therefore, 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried. Here is an Herb Roasted Farro Salad Recipe that uses three whole cups of fresh herbs.

Favorite Recipes with Fresh Herbs

If you are creative you can find so many different ways to weave herbs into your clean eating recipes. Here are just a few ideas to whet your appetite and get you excited about cooking with herbs.

Salad Dressings with Fresh Herbs:

I almost always have an herb-infused jar of some sort of sensational dressing in my fridge at all times to jazz up my daily salad. You can search online for a wide number of herb-based dressings but here is one I particularly like…

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Make a Large Salad with Herbs

Every single day I eat a large fresh salad and almost always add at least ½ cup of chopped herbs. I usually choose basil, parsley or cilantro depending on the flavors of the salad I might also use mint or chives too.

Starting a little herb garden is easy. Just remember, if you’re adding 1/2 a cup a day to your recipes, you may want to consider a larger garden (wink).

Add Fresh Herbs to Rice Casseroles and Homemade Pilafs

Finely chopped herbs find their way into just about every rice, bean, corn, whole grain salad and pilaf recipe of mine too. The secret to using herbs with these dishes is to make sure they are chopped ultra-fine. I like to use my mini food processor to do this job.

If you’ve not tried our Rosemary and Spinach Rice Casserole, you must give it a try. Feel free to add in more fresh herbs. Cooking with herbs really is quite easy.

Salsas and Toppings with Fresh Herbs

Herbs are perfect for forming the flavor base of salsas and toppings for fish, chicken or grilled meats. The salsa verde recipe below is on of my favorite standbys….

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Don’t Forget About Adding Herbs to Smoothies

Believe it or not, I also use herbs, mostly basil, cilantro, parsley and mint, in my daily green fruit smoothies too.

Here’s one of my favorite green fruity smoothie recipes…

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My 3 Favorite Herbs & Tasty Tips for Cooking With Herbs

Oregano | Click for recipes

Oregano contains numerous phytonutrients, including thymol and rosmarinic acid, that have also been shown to function as potent anti-aging phytonutrients. According to a study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, oregano has forty-two times more antioxidant activity than apples. It also has thirty times more than potatoes, twelve times more than oranges and…most surprising of all…four times more than blueberries!

The warm, aromatic flavor of oregano is particularly delicious for boosting flavors of Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine. I like to whisk minced oregano into vinaigrettes or mix with olive oil, lemon slices, olives and capers to make a marinade for fish.

Parsley | Click for recipes

There are actually over 30 varieties of parsley, but the one I use most is the peppery Italian (or flat-leaf) variety. Parsley is best known for its detoxification properties and it’s the world’s most popular herb. I actually routinely put a big handful of parsley in my daily green smoothies. It’s delicious when blended with frozen pineapple, frozen mango and coconut water.

In addition to its detoxifying properties parsley is also rich in phytonutrients as well as vitamin K, calcium and a mega amount of vitamin A. And, did you know the ergosterols found in parsley are Vitamin D precursors? So eating more parsley can actually help boost your vitamin D levels…something most of us could certainly use! P.S. I often shred parsley in my food processor and sprinkle it on top of salads, soups and whole grain pilafs. DELISH!

Rosemary | Click for recipes

Rosemary is chock full of a wide variety of specific phytonutrients called flavonoids. It’s also rich in antioxidants like vitamin E. Rosemary has particularly strong anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to be helpful for people with inflammatory conditions like asthma and even heart disease.

The phytonutrients in rosemary also aid in detoxification by enhancing the action of liver enzymes responsible for metabolizing and detoxifying chemicals. One of my favorite ways to eat rosemary is to dip sprouted whole grain bread (I like Food for Life brand) in a mixture of chopped fresh rosemary, flax oil (I like Barlean’s brand), salt and freshly ground pepper. It’s also great for sprinkling on just about any vegetable just before roasting.

Hopefully I have excited you just a wee bit and enticed you to start cooking with herbs more regularly! The one drawback to using fresh herbs is that they can be costly. If you have the outdoor space, I highly recommend you consider planting a little culinary herb garden. You can read more about how to save money growing your own herbs in our upcoming article (April 19th).