Cooking with Essential Oils
Cooking with essential oils and aromatic herbs in your kitchen can be a therapeutic experience. Aroma and taste are like two peas in a pod. Our taste sensory has a tremendous connection to what we smell. Without aroma, the foods we eat would have no character and would taste bland. Using these natural ingredients in your kitchen can be an all-round sensory experience. Cooking, and the pleasure you receive from it, can only be enhanced when you bring essential oils and aromatic herbs into your home.
Essential oils have been around for centuries. The Ancient Egyptians used essential oils in many ways; for medical conditions, skin and hair care, spiritual acts, in cuisine, and to prepare for the afterworld. Egyptian temples were dedicated to the production and blending of essential oils. These recipes were recorded on the temple walls in hieroglyphics. Today, essential oils are enjoyed in many of the same ways as part of our daily lives.
When using essential oils for culinary use, it is important that they are pure and unadulterated. Only use those that are specified in recipes, in the recommended amount, because they can be extremely potent. Essential oils can make your meals scream with wonderful taste. So, give your kitchen a twist and let essential oils help you explore the world of your senses.
Here are some tasty and scrumptious recipes you can try in your kitchen:
Papaya Daydream Smoothie
(Makes 2 cups. Serves 2)
Soak papaya in water overnight. Blend papaya and soaking water with apple juice and chopped bananas till smooth. Stir in grapefruit essential oil. Enjoy!
Napoleon Minestrone
(Makes 8 cups. Serves 8)
Soak beans overnight and then sprout 1-2 days till shoots begin
Bring beans to a boil with 6 cups water, scooping off white foam. Add washed barley and simmer on low heat with lid on for 1 hour. Meanwhile, chop zucchini, onion, carrots, and tomato. Grate garlic. After 1 hour, add chopped vegetables along with Rosemary and Basil essential oils. Simmer another 20 minutes with lid on. Shut off heat. Lastly add soy sauce to taste and 1 drop Oregano essential oil, stirring well.
Note: If you don't have the oils, substitute ½ teaspoon dried basil, ½ teaspoon dried rosemary, and ½ teaspoon dried oregano.
Montecello Raspberry Sherbet
(Serves 2)
- 1 basket raspberries
- ¼ pineapple
- 1 banana, frozen
- 3-5 drops Lemon essential oil
Cut pineapple into chunks and slice banana. Blend together first 3 ingredients. Stir in Lemon essential oil. Freeze to desired texture.
Optional:
- Substitute strawberries for raspberries
- For a more intense pink color, add ¼ teaspoon beet powder.
Mullet with Lavender
- 4 red mullet, scaled, gutted and cleaned
- 3 tbsp. fresh lavender leaves or one tbsp. dried lavender leaves, roughly chopped
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Roughly chopped rind of 1 lemon
- 4 spring onions, roughly chopped
Marinate the mullet in the remaining ingredients for at least 3 hours. Drain off the marinade, removing the lemon rind. Cook on a very hot barbecue for 5 to 7 minutes on both sides. Brush on extra marinade as it cooks. The fish can also be fried or grilled.
Greenfeet offers a wide selection of pure, unadulterated essential oils. Check them out for your therapeutic and culinary needs.
Papaya Smoothie, Minestrone Soup and, Raspberry Sherbet are from: The Essential Oil Cookbook, by Menkit Prince, Earth Love Enterprises
Red Mullet with Lavender is available in: Lavender, by Tessa Evelegh, ISBN 1-85967-206-X
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