Add more herbs to your diet for healthy results

Supermarkets in Moncton and Riverview as well as local nurseries are now offering little pots of fresh herbs for sale. It's a wonderful invitation to add an element of freshness and taste to your meals.

Simply line up a few choice selections by your kitchen window, and cut in a whole new dimension each time you cook.

Not only will the taste of your food be enhanced, but you may find fresh herbs an excellent choice over traditional flavouring agents like salt, fat and sugar.

And speaking of health, remember that many of these fresh herb offer the additional benefits of containing their own antioxidants that may help protect against such diseases as cancer and heart disease.

As a general guideline, if you are substituting fresh herbs for dried ones listed in any recipe, add three times as much of the fresh herb as the amount designated for the dried herb.

If instead of growing your own herbs on a kitchen windowsill, you simply purchase a package of fresh herbs, you can store it in an open or perforated plastic bag in your refrigerator crisper drawer for a few days.

To make purchased fresh herbs last even longer, snip off the ends of the stems on the diagonal and place the herbs in a glass holding about an inch of water, just as if they were a bouquet of flowers.

Cover the top of this "bouquet" loosely with a plastic bag and store it in your fridge. Change the water daily, and the herbs will keep up to a week.

When you are ready to cook with your herbs, wash them thoroughly in the same way you would salad greens.

Don't forget if you have a recipe you are willing to swap to send it to thisweek@brunswicknews.com. I'll feature them in this column, which runs in This Week. Don't hesitate to send in requests for specific recipes either.

Here are this week's recipes:

Triple Lemon-Aid

Ingredients:

1 generous bunch of each, all with long stems:
Lemon Balm
Lemon Verbena
Mint
1 large can of frozen lemonade concentrate Juice of 2 large lemons
1 lemon cut into thin slices
3 cups of water 750 ml

Method:

Rinse and pat dry the herbs. Place herbs in a large glass pitcher and cover with the juices. Gently stir and bruise the leaves with a large wooden spoon. Add water and lemon slices. Chill overnight, stirring occasionally, pressing down on the herbs with the wooden spoon. Pour into tall iced glasses. Garnish with a sprig of lemon balm and edible flower. Serves eight.

Basil Tomato Pie

Ingredients:

2 cups flour 500 ml
1/2 tsp salt 2 ml
2 tsp baking powder 10 ml
1/2 cup unsalted butter 125 ml
1/3 cup milk 75 ml
3 lb sliced ripe tomatoes 1.4 kg
2 tbsp finely chopped chives 30 ml
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh sweet basil 60 ml
3/4 tsp salt 3 ml
1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese 125 ml
2/3 cup mayonnaise 150 ml

Method:

Combine flour, salt and baking powder in food processor container. Process briefly. Add butter; process until crumbly. Add milk. Process until dough forms. Divide into halves.

Roll on floured surface. Fit half the pastry into a 10 inch pie plate sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix tomatoes, herbs, salt and 1/2 cup cheese into bowl. Spoon into prepared pie plate. Spread mayonnaise over tomato mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining pastry, sealing edge and cutting vents.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Yields 6 servings.