HERBS A NATURAL FOR BETTER HEALTH

Aromatic, some in early summer bloom, the herb plants in Jane Kniestedt's backyard will add flavor to her cooking year around.

Long before Kniestedt of Frohna uses in recipes the dozens of herbs she grows, she is enjoying the beauty of the plants. Kniestedt's circular herb garden, complete with inlaid bricks to form a path, boasts dozens of herb varieties all labeled and carefully grouped. Along her backyard fence, herbs are intermingled with other flowering and border plants. Herbs also share garden space with vegetable plants.

Certified a master gardener through the University of Missouri Extension Master Gardener Program, Kniestedt uses fresh herbs in her cooking and also dries herbs with an electric dehydrator, storing them in labeled baby food jars. Dried herbs will maintain their flavor up to two years, she said.

"I love working out here. It's so fragrant," Kniestedt said, kneeling to point out another of the myriad facts about herbs that she has learned through hands-on experience.

She's also well aware of the health benefits herbs lend in the kitchen. "When you take the fat out of foods, the herbs will enhance the flavor," she noted.

While the nutritional value of herbs is not significant because of their limited use in cooking, that ability to please the palate is a wonderful benefit because it promotes a healthier diet, explained Lori Pettet, registered dietitian with St. Francis Medical Center.

"Herbs allow us to lower sodium and fat intake by enhancing the natural flavor of foods," said Raina Childers, a registered dietitian at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Herb-based marinades and rubs, for instance, bring natural spark to meats and vegetables, she noted, and eliminate the desire for extra oils or salt.

Reared on a farm in St. Genevieve, Kniestedt learned early the impact a garden can have. Gardening, she said, has always been part of her life. "I love to cook. The more I cooked, I kept remembering how good food tasted at Aunt Mary's house," she said. Her aunt grew the vegetables and herbs she used to cook with. Vegetable and herb gardening, she said, go hand in hand.

She has not only followed in her aunt's footsteps, but made paths of her own.

Kniestedt designed and maintains an heirloom herb garden at the Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna. The garden beside the memorial reflects the kind of herb garden the immigrants might have had.

Those gardening traditions are being renewed by families daily.

Kniestedt and Childers agree there is rapidly increasing interest in learning about herbs, their uses in the kitchen and otherwise.

"People are trying to get back to the basics again," Kniestedt observed.

Outside the kitchen, just what some of those basics are is a hot topic.

While some herbs are promoted in some quarters for their health benefits beyond flavor enhancers, in medical literature and the medical establishment in this country, the verdict is still out, Childers said.

"In Asia and other parts of the world, herbs are part of the medical treatment, but in America we have to prove and reprove," she said. But that's good, she stressed, noting, "just because it's natural doesn't mean it's good for human consumption."

The increasing interest in alternative medicine is sparking more study of herbs and their possible roles as natural remedies. "Research in the area is coming to prove or disprove health benefits," Childers said.

While the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate nutritional supplements, many groups are looking to the legislature to provide for some type of regulation of the industry, Childers explained. Regulation is being sought not only to reduce the opportunity for quackery or fraud, she explained, but "to establish safe and appropriate use of herbs and other natural remedies."

Meanwhile, the flavor herbs add to food is unquestionable.

And, they're so easy to grow, Kniestedt said. "Herbs do better in poor soil. They don't like to be fertilized. If you do fertilize them, they will have lovely foliage, but little flavor," she said.

To get started with an herb garden, simply "pick out the herb you use most," and grow them as potted plants or in a flower bed, Kniestedt advised. "Just begin experimenting."

TIPS FOR USING HERBS AND SPICES

courtesy of St. Francis Medical Center

-- Spices and herbs should be stored away from heat and sunlight.

-- Do not combine too many herbs or spices at one time. Begin with one or two.

-- A rule of thumb: Use 1/4 teaspoon of dried herbs or 3/4 teaspoon of fresh herbs in a recipe that makes four servings. Adjust to taste.

-- To soups and stews that are to be cooked for a long period of time, add herbs during the last hour of cooking.

-- To hamburgers, meat loaf and stuffing, add herbs before cooking.

-- To meat that is to be baked or roasted, rub the herbs and spices on the surface of the meat before cooking.

-- To foods that do not require cooking: add herbs several hours before serving. Store in refrigerator.

SEASONING GUIDE

-- Green Beans -- basil, bay leaves, curry, dill, marjoram, mustard, oregano, savory, sesame seeds, tarragon, thyme

-- Lima beans -- celery seed, chili powder, curry, oregano, thyme

-- Baked beans -- cloves, ginger, oregano

-- Broccoli -- caraway seed, mustard, nutmeg, sage

-- Cabbage -- allspice, basil, caraway seed, celery seed, dill, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, savory, tarragon

-- Carrots -- allspice, bay leaves, caraway seed, celery seed, chives, curry, dill, ginger, mace, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, savory, tarragon, thyme

-- Corn -- celery seed, chili powder, chives

-- Mushrooms -- rosemary, tarragon, thyme

-- Peas -- basil, chili powder, dill, marjoram, mint, mustard, oregano, rosemary, sage

-- Sweet potatoes -- allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg

-- White potatoes -- basil, bay leaves, caraway seed, celery seed, chives, dill, mace, mustard, oregano, rosemary, savory, sesame seed, thyme

-- Summer squash -- basil, bay leaves, mace, marjoram, mustard, rosemary

Main Dish Seasoning Guide

-- Beef -- allspice, basil, bay leaves, caraway seed, celery seed, chili powder, cumin, ginger, mace, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savory, thyme, tarragon

-- Veal -- bay leaves, ginger, mace, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, savory, thyme

-- Pork -- bay leaves, caraway seed, chili powder, cloves, curry, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme

--Poultry -- bay leaves, curry, ginger, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, saffron, savory, tarragon, thyme

-- Fish -- allspice, bay leaves, celery seed, curry, marjoram, mustard, oregano, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme

-- Eggs -- basil, celery seed, chili powder, cumin, curry, marjoram, mustard, rosemary, savory, tarragon, thyme