Spice Up Your Cooking With Herbs

A great article that will help you create great recipes by using herbs. I wanted to share.

Whether you grow them yourself or buy them at the grocery store, herbs are a healthy and delicious way to season foods without extra calories.

By Diana Rodriguez

Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

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No one wants to eat bland food, but ladling on sauces and gravies just adds excess fat and calories to your diet. Fortunately, calorie-free herbs add flavor without all that extra baggage, and they’re easy to use.

Herbs are edible, fragrant plants that add flavor and nutrients to many types of foods. By playing with herbal variations in your recipes, you can get a completely different taste every time you cook. Stock up on dried or fresh herbs at the grocery store or farmers’ market, or grow your own herbs indoors or out.

Fresh Herbs, Dried Herbs: What’s the Difference?

The biggest differences between dried herbs and fresh herbs are the taste and the potency of the herb, says registered dietitian Sandra Meyerowitz, RD, LD, MPH, founder of Nutrition Works in Louisville, Ky. Fresh herbs have a subtler, fresher taste, and you’ll need a much greater quantity of fresh herbs than dried herbs for the same taste effect. Be sure to follow recipe directions closely.

As for nutritional benefits, dried herbs and fresh herbs are similar, but not exactly the same, says Meyerowitz. “Leaving dried herbs around for a long time can diminish their potency.” Phytonutrients, the natural components in herbs that provide health benefits, diminish with age.

When choosing dried herbs, she advises, it’s best to buy organic so you’re sure the herbs have not been irradiated. When you're buying fresh herbs, whether at the grocery store or a farmers’ market, be sure to get them as close as possible to the day you plan to use them.

Preparing Fresh Herbs

Before cooking with fresh herbs, you'll need to wash them carefully. Rinse the herbs underneath running water, then place them on a paper towel or shake them off to dry. If you're cleaning large leaves like basil or a large bunch of parsley, place them in a bowl of cool water and swirl it around. Transfer the herbs to a clean bowl of water and continue to rinse until the water stays clear. Then dry them off and prepare them for cooking. Generally, you just want to use the leaves, not the stems, of the herb.

Storing Fresh Herbs

Fresh herbs need air to keep them fresh. Store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag; just make sure that the bag is either open or that it has air holes poked in it. Keep them in the crisper for the most freshness.

Another way to keep herbs fresh is to place them in a glass or vase like flowers, making sure to cut off the ends immediately before placing them in about an inch of water. Put them in fresh water each day, and keep them stored in the refrigerator. Use them as soon as you can, as the flavor can become weaker with time.

Growing Your Own Herbs

Growing herbs is not difficult. Here are some herbs that won’t challenge your green thumb and will add delicious flavor to your meals:

• Oregano and basil for pasta dishes and sauces
• Rosemary and thyme for chicken and vegetable dishes
• Dill for cauliflower, cucumbers, and fish and fish sauces
• Parsley for fish, soups, vegetables, and tomato sauce
• Mint for salad, beverages, and desserts
• Marjoram for stews, soups, and eggs
• Cilantro for Mexican and Thai dishes
• Tarragon for yogurt and sour cream, beans, and roasted chicken

Besides being easy to grow, fresh herbs are convenient to just pluck as you need them, clean them, and add them to your dish. Try to pick herbs in the morning when the flavor will be best and the herbs will be at their freshest.

Growing your own herbs allows you to control how they’re grown — you can rest assured that they're pesticide-free and grown in organic soil when you have your own indoor or outdoor herb garden. You'll need to follow individual growing instructions for each herb because each one grows best in certain soil and temperature conditions; some may need sun while others prefer shade, and some may require more space to grow than others.

Whether you opt for fresh or dried, herbs are great ingredients in healthy recipes, allowing you to enjoy meals that are full of flavor, while sparing you the extra calories.

Shrimp Tip

Did you know that 8 jumbo shrimp have 13 grams of protein, with 63 calories and less than 1 gram of fat? The calories and fat associated with shrimp and shrimp dishes actually come from the manner in which you fix it or the sauce that you serve with your shrimp.

Superfoods for Your Diabetic Diet Part 3 Fish

Fish

"Salmon, albacore tuna, mackerel, halibut, and herring are high in omega-3 fatty acids that have been shown to be heart-healthy, as long as these [fish] are not breaded and deep-fried," McLaughlin says. One study also suggests that eating fish at least twice a week may protect people with diabetes against kidney problems.

Next: Nuts

Superfoods for Your Diabetes Diet - Part 2 Beans

Beans

Incredibly high in fiber and protein, just a half-cup of any type of beans will provide about a third of your daily requirement of fiber and as much protein as an ounce of meat. Because of this, beans are wonderful for managing blood glucose levels, giving the body nutrients to slowly digest and process. "They help control the post-meal blood sugar rise," McLaughlin says. Beans also are great sources of magnesium and potassium.

Next: Fish

Diabetic Cooking Tips

Experiment with healthier cooking techniques. One of the best ways to adhere to a diabetes diet is to use non-frying methods of cooking. Stir-fry, bake, or poach instead of frying or sautéing. Baking and poaching require no cooking oil at all. To stir-fry, you heat just a small amount of oil in a wok. Then add fish, chicken, or lean meat. When the meat is almost done, add your veggies and cook for a few more minutes.

Cut the fat. Replace saturated fats, namely butter and lard, with olive oil or canola oil when some fat is needed. Other saturated-fat substitutions for a diabetes diet include:

* Skim milk instead of whole milk
* Fat-free cream cheese instead of regular varieties
* Fat-free plain yogurt when a recipe calls for sour cream

You can often skip the fat-based toppings, too. Lemon or lime on fish and vegetables are much healthier choices than butter or sauces for people with type 2 diabetes.

Make sugar substitutions. Try some of the various artificial sweeteners, such as Splenda (sucralose), to reduce sugar in recipes. With a little creativity, many sugar-free recipes can be just as tasty as standard recipes containing sugar. Instead of sugar in baking, try sweet spices, such as ground cinnamon, or add vanilla extract. If a recipe calls for fruit, it’s best to always use fresh; the next choice is frozen. If canned is your only option, make sure that fruits are packed in their own juices or water, not in sugary syrup.

Stash the salt shaker. Flavor your foods with herbs and spices instead of salt. Try garlic salt to slash the amount of sodium. If you must use regular salt, opt for sea salt. Most sea salts contain slightly less sodium than regular table salt. Another option: If a recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt, use half a teaspoon and substitute fresh herbs for the missing salt. Your food will actually be more flavorful.

Go with whole grains. Refined grains — white bread, white rice, and white pasta — are not good choices for people trying to stick to a diabetes diet because much of the glucose-friendly fiber has been removed in the refining process. Fiber helps keep blood sugar levels under control by releasing glucose at a leisurely rate. If you eat a big meal of refined grains, your blood sugar can soar. So make brown rice instead of white rice and use whole-grain bread for sandwiches. If you’re craving spaghetti, buy whole-grain spaghetti.

Choose cheese wisely. Cheese is loaded with saturated fat, but there are ways to make cheese better for a diabetes diet. Use a strongly flavored cheese, such as sharp cheddar, blue cheese, or feta, instead of mild cheddar, American, or Swiss. A little bit of sharp cheese goes a long way. The stronger flavor will allow you to cut down on the amount you use in recipes and on burgers. And less cheese means fewer calories and saturated fat.

Prepare healthy meats. Use skinless chicken and lean cuts of meat; for example, if you like bacon with breakfast, substitute Canadian bacon or turkey bacon to reduce the fat. Make your burgers with extra-lean ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey. Or use half ground beef and substitute a non-beef ground meat, such as turkey, for the other half. Having a cookout? Use aromatic woods on the grill, such as mesquite, to help disguise substitutions.

Reduce portion sizes. King-size portions of high-carbohydrate foods can send blood sugar levels and your weight skyrocketing. To prevent weight gain and out-of-control glucose levels, cut your portion sizes. When dining out, resist the temptation to finish those generous servings; instead bring half home in a container.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 jar (7-7 1/2oz.) marshmallow cream
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter in a medium bowl with mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in marshmallow cream. When well blended, beat in confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Increase speed to high and beat 3-4 minutes until fluffy.

Changes - for chocolate frosting beat the butter as directed. Beat in 6 oz. baking chocolate that has been melted and cooled according to it's package. Then add marshmallow cream. Continue to follow the directions for Vanilla Butter cream.

Herb & Cheese Spread Pinwheels

Herb & Cheese Spread Pinwheels

1 carton (5.2 oz.) garlic and herb cream cheese
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tbl. pine nuts, toasted and chopped
Deli meats of your choice

Combine cream cheese, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, butter and pine nuts mixing until well blended. On a sheet of waxed paper lay out meat slices. Carefully spread mixture over slices to within 1/4" of edges. Roll jelly roll style. Secure with toothpick. Refrigerate.

Changes - Can be sliced and eaten as appetizers or place rolls on a baking dish, place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5-6 minutes to heat. They are really good either way. You can also add a touch of hot sauce or red peppers for added taste, change the nuts to pecans or walnuts. And of course you can really change the flavor by using different types of deli meats. This is especially good with chicken.