Recipes from the Herbalist’s Kitchen: Delicious, Nourishing Food for Lifelong Health and Well-Being

Nickerson, a professional cook specializing in herbal medicine, offers an insightful look into the healing properties of herbs, showing how to incorporate them into the diet for better health. Nickerson doesn’t view herbs as a miracle cure but instead argues that they help the body to better heal itself, for example by helping the immune system to fight off colds or acting as an aid in reducing anxiety. She highlights numerous herbs and explains the benefits of each—such as basil, which helps fight infection and relieve fatigue, and oregano, which helps with a fever and chills and can be used to treat whooping cough. She also explains which foods pair well with each herb and shows how to use herbs in the kitchen. She explains the differences between fresh and dried, how to store both, and how to dry fresh herbs. Recipes for tinctures and herbal vinegars, butters, and oils offer a variety of methods to incorporate herbs into meals. She includes a wealth of appetizing recipes—baked eggs with parsley pesto, ratatouille, vegetable curry with Thai basil, spicy black-bean salad—and while some call for unusual ingredients such as chive blossoms or burdock root, most use familiar components. The book includes informative sidebars on a wide range of topics including fermentation and lavender salt scrubs. Packed with valuable information and tasty ways to put it all to use, this guide offers curious readers herb-based methods for achieving better health and well-being. Agent: Sally Ekus, Lisa Ekus Group. (June)