Cooking with Fresh Herbs

If you start cooking with herbs regularly you will not only boost flavor, you’ll also boost nutrition. Historically, herbs have been used for adding flavor to foods but research now proves herbs pack a powerful phytonutrient-punch that can slow aging, lower inflammation, assist with detoxification and improve health.

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

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

Also, just 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, 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried (although I often find myself using way more!)

Read the full article with recipes for salads, salad dressings, salsa and toppings, and green fruity smoothies at clean cuisine and more.