5 herbs that will change your life

My vegetable patch is looking decidedly poor. While I admittedly feel a little guilty for not planting more fresh veg this year, I’ve spent so much time working away over the summer I’m not sure the seeds would have stood the chance to grow. Meanwhile, my garden herbs have gone crazy! That’s the great thing about the herb garden, once it’s established the plants seem to take on a life of their own.

My little rosemary plants always do well, but this year I’ve also got tons of fresh thyme, mint, marjoram and sage. Buying cut herbs at the supermarket can be pretty expensive, and the potted ones never seem to grow too well for me. Whether you’ve got a garden with lots of room, a decking area with a few plant pots, or a small balcony or windowsill, buying a few select herbs from the local garden centre means you’ll never be stuck for fresh flavours, which can completely transform a recipe.

Not only do herbs and spices mean you don’t have to add a ton of salt and sugar to a dish to bring out the flavours, seasoning this way can also add a ton of specific health benefits. I’m also a big fan of adding herbs to freshly pressed juices. Plants such as mint, parsley and tarragon not only add a unique flavour to your juice, they can also offer some awesome healing properties. Mint, for example, can prove beneficial for combating IBS and indigestion, while tarragon can work brilliantly to relieve water retention.

Here are five of the most beneficial herbs to try in dishes…

Thyme

I’m in love with this little herb at the moment. I have a ton of it growing just outside the kitchen door. It smells heavenly and adds a real warmth and flavour to food. My plant has lots of flowers on it right now, so I love chopping them up and decorating my scrambled eggs with them each morning.

Turmeric

Turmeric is an awesome, bright yellow spice with a peppery taste and a pleasant aroma. Apart from being used in curries, turmeric has long been used as an important ingredient in traditional Indian medicine. Not only does it add a lovely flavour to food, it offers some fantastic health benefits for immune system-related, inflammatory skin problems such as psoriasis.

I add the root to juices, or use the juice extracted from it to make turmeric milk. The powder is also great to use in omelettes. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, which isn’t easily absorbed by the body, so it’s important to use turmeric together with black pepper. Pepper contains a compound called piperine, which increases our body’s absorption of curcumin by an incredible 2000%!

Ginger

I’m a huge fan of juicing and the incredible benefits of food as medicine. As medicinal properties go, ginger has a ton of them. Widely used throughout the world for treating loss of appetite, nausea, morning sickness, vomiting, travel sickness, stomach upsets and colic, not only is this little spice incredibly beneficial, it tastes amazing too. Ginger contains some very potent anti-inflammatory compounds called gingerols, so try adding it to juices and smoothies to help reduce internal inflammation, which will in turn calm skin problems and help alleviate the pain associated with arthritis and osteoporosis. Plus, if you workout a lot, ginger is also brilliant for reducing exercise-induced muscle pain.

Rosemary

One of the few herbs in my garden that seems to grow well all year round, regardless of the weather. I always keep a little pot of dried rosemary in the kitchen just in case, but a few sprigs of the fresh stuff on root vegetables before they go in the oven adds a terrific flavour and makes the kitchen smell all warm and homely.

Basil

It’s the one herb I’m admittedly terrible at growing, but I just love the stuff. I just think it needs more sunshine to grow well. Basil has an initial subtle, peppery flavour, the taste then evolves to become ever so slightly sweet and fragrant. Try it chopped and tossed into salad or blitz with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and fresh lemon to create a healthy, homemade pesto.