Natural Herb

Taste-a-likes – herbs that “taste like” a vegetable, spice, or flavoring and sometimes, even a fruit! Here are some of my favorites that are easy to grow and wonderful to add to foods instead of high amounts of fat and sodium. All of these herbs have healthful qualities!

The great thing about these herbs is if your tummy is bothered by, say, onions and garlic, but you love the flavor, eat the companion herb, such as onion and garlic chives – the flavor will be more mild and your tummy will be happy.

BORAGE: This is a wonderful cucumber-like herb. The young leaves can be added to spring salads. The leaves are hairy, but the hairiness dissolves when you eat the leaf. Older leaves are too fuzzy to eat raw, but can be added to vinegars, summer soups. Add borage stems to an apple and pear salad. Borage flowers are beautiful garnishes. They bring a flash of blue to salads, soup0s and veggies.

SALAD BURNET: Another cucumber-like herb that is a consistent perennial in my garden. The leaves are dark green and lacy looking. Very good anytime you need a mild cucumber flavor.

CHIVES: Both onion and garlic chives are good for your heart, as they help lower cholesterol and blood pressure and can help prevent certain types of cancer. Eat chives uncooked for the most nutrition.

FENNEL, TARRAGON AND TEXAS “TARRAGON/MEXICAN MINT MARIGOLD”: All three of these herbs have a good licorice-like flavor, but in a more savory way than licorice candy. Fennel is unparalleled at relieving intestinal gas; tarragon lowers your blood pressure. True French tarragon is propagated by cuttings, so don’t buy the seeds labeled tarragon. You’ll be buying Russian tarragon, which looks identical but has no culinary use. True French tarragon numbs the tongue for a few seconds – fun to have kids take a bite.

LEMON GRASS, LEMON BALM, LEMON VERBENA: Terrific lemon herbs. If you put the zest of a lemon next to chopped lemon verbena, the lemon verbena will have a more lemony aroma. Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, so it has a clean taste. Lemon grass is a lemon herb with no acid, very sweet, used in Thai cooking and in teas. It’s a great mood elevator.

LOVAGE: Another good perennial, lovage tastes and looks just like celery without the thick stalk. Use anywhere you want a celery flavor. Lovage is a wonderful salt substitute. Try adding some minced fresh lovage leaves to your soup or vinaigrette. You’ll never miss the salt. Lovage is a strong tasting herb, so go easy on amounts.

STEVIA: A true sugar substitute, this tender perennial from South America is non-caloric, diabetic safe and 30 to thousands of times sweeter than sugar. A few leaves will sweeten a whole pitcher of tea or lemonade. Use in stovetop cooking, some baking. Stevia is available in liquid, granulated and powdered form in the health food departments and most likely, your favorite grocery.

SAMPHIRE: Now here’s an herb you may not know. Actually a member of the seaweed family, samphire grows wild on rocky seaside coasts in the US and Europe. It contains great nutrients. When you plant samphire, work a teaspoon of sea salt around the roots. All summer long the plant takes up that flavoring, and gives a spicy taste to foods. One teaspoon of salt for summer cooking: WOW!

ROSE GERANIUM: Smells like a rose, you can eat the leaves and flowers just as you can eat rose petals. This sweet herb is a great sugar substitute in fruit salads, etc.

MARSHMALLOW: No, this member of the hollyhock family does not taste like marshmallow, but in the old days, the roots were cooked with sugar to make the original marshmallow! Ditto with real licorice plant – the roots were used to flavor candies and medicines and that practice is still in use today.