Jun. 24, 2009 - ~There are Herbs and then there are Bitter Herbs
Here's a recent photo of our herb garden.
In the yard and on the back hill are several wild herbs that grow as well. They are quite bitter, but.....extremely healthy.
I've noticed that several of my lettuce variety are bitter and are classified as bitter herbs. Isn't that interesting?! One way to eat bitter herbs, or bitter lettuce, is to use the leaves to wrap tuna salad. This is very yummy and I do not taste the bitterness at all when I do this.
The leaves of garden lettuce are often bitter when unbleached. Picking your lettuce young and/or growing one of the a new varieties gives you less of that bitter taste, but I have to wonder how many health benefits we might be side-stepping when we go to great lengths to erase the bitterness of the lettuce. Many interesting thoughts.....
Here's a short list of some of the more popular bitter herbs:
Barberry
Boneset
Centaury
Chamomile
Dandelion
Gentian
Golden Seal
Horehound
Mugwort
Rue
Southernwood
Tansy
Wormwood
Yarrow
In the yard and on the back hill are several wild herbs that grow as well. They are quite bitter, but.....extremely healthy.
I've noticed that several of my lettuce variety are bitter and are classified as bitter herbs. Isn't that interesting?! One way to eat bitter herbs, or bitter lettuce, is to use the leaves to wrap tuna salad. This is very yummy and I do not taste the bitterness at all when I do this.
The leaves of garden lettuce are often bitter when unbleached. Picking your lettuce young and/or growing one of the a new varieties gives you less of that bitter taste, but I have to wonder how many health benefits we might be side-stepping when we go to great lengths to erase the bitterness of the lettuce. Many interesting thoughts.....
Here's a short list of some of the more popular bitter herbs:
Barberry
Boneset
Centaury
Chamomile
Dandelion
Gentian
Golden Seal
Horehound
Mugwort
Rue
Southernwood
Tansy
Wormwood
Yarrow
