A Pinch of Lov(age): Preserving Herbs with Salt

If you found yourself with the happy problem of having an abundance of fresh garden herbs this season, you might be scrambling to find ways to use or store them before the cold weather rolls in.

Air drying, freeze drying and freezing are common ways to preserve fresh herbs, but there’s another way. An easy way… herb-infused salts!

Anatomy of Fire Cider

Are you ready to spice up your wellness routine? Created in the early 80s by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, fire cider is a traditional herbal tonic that combines a base of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar and local honey infused with a variety of stimulating herbs and spices. The fiery concoction is designed to boost digestion, improve circulation and support overall immune function. Over the years, fire cider has taken on a life of its own, gaining popularity among herbalists and natural health enthusiasts alike. It’s one herbal preparation I try to always keep on hand!

Got Garlic Scapes?

I just love garlic scapes! They add visual interest to a vegetable garden with their whimsical, Dr. Seussian spirals. But while they look charming and I’m always a bit sad to cut them off, removing the curly green stalks dramatically improves the development and flavor of the garlic bulbs forming below the soil. There’s another reason to remove the scapes… They’re delicious! ♥

Garlicky Sunchokes with Lemon Butter

Sunchokes are crunchy, nutty and mildly sweet and tend to take on the flavor of whatever you cook them with. To me, they resemble a cross between a potato and a water chestnut, so we use pretty much any way we would normally use water chestnuts or potatoes. You know… “Boil ʹem, mash ʹem, stick em in a stew.”

Quick Fermented Garlicky Beets

In addition to the standard perks of transforming a vegetable into a probiotic food rich in beneficial microbes, fermenting beets also reduces oxalates, which improves the bioavailability of minerals. It also preserves the beet’s vitamins C and reduces its sugar content as the lactic acid bacteria consumes beet sugar during the fermentation process.

Fermenting stabilizes and preserves the precious betalains we talked about earlier. Studies suggest that lacto-fermentation can preserve betalain levels for up to a month with no degradation.

‘Putting By’ Fermented Garlic for the Winter

It’s that time of year again! Temperatures are finally starting to cool off a bit and leaves are getting their first red and gold tinges, signaling that summer is on its way out the door.

At my house, that also means it’s time to load up on our favorite culinary flavoring, medicinal herb and vampire repellant: fermented garlic.

Simple Garlicky Goat Cheese Nettles​

jump to the recipe Thanks to an unseasonably cold, wet spring, my nettle patch was starting to get very leggy, reaching skyward for every little bit of sunshine they could grab onto. You know it’s been a damp spring when your vegetable garden is starting to resemble Super Mario Brothers: Cutting back plants is an […]

Make-Ahead Fresh Garlic-Infused Olive Oil (Minus the Botulism)

As our days get busier, we are far more likely to reach for pre-packaged mixes and other convenience foods to lighten our load and make dinner prep a bit easier. These are some of my favorite homemade kitchen helpers you can make in advance and keep handy for those extra-hectic evenings… or even the non-hectic ones. Work smarter, not harder! Fresh […]