The Topinambur is a fantastic plant with multiple beneficial properties. During my childhood living in the countryside, I was surrounded by these plants, grew everywhere, the sides of the roads, fallow land and the ruins of abandoned houses.

I gathered the flowers of this plant as gifts to my girlfriend, not yet know the properties of this plant, but I was hoping to win it with flowers. If only I had imagined the beneficial properties of this plant and its tubers are delicious to eat, Instead of flowers I could give him the tubers, maybe things would have ended differently.

It is only after many years, in my work as a chef I discovered the virtues of this plant and its use in the kitchen, and are now continuously to its research, not more than flowers but his precious tubers.

The Jerusalem artichoke Properties

Its scientific name is Helianthus tuberosus, is also known by the name of truffle brown, the Jerusalem artichoke (Jerusalem artichoke), for many years was a valid substitute of modern American potato.

Perennial, blooms in late summer, has beautiful golden yellow flowers. There are two types: the white early, commercially from August, and type burgundy available from October to late spring.

Its tubers you get a very good meal food.

It does not contain gluten, therefore perfect for those suffering from celiac disease, with its flour can make delicious pizzas for celiac.

Its tubers, once collected should not be peeled, but only brushed and washed, the cuticle that covers them is very digestible.

Its tubers can be consumed in the same way in which usually consume potatoes.

80% water, protein, sugars, carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Vitamin A, some of the group B, Minerals: potassium, magnesium and iron. Amino Acids: Asparagina, hill, arginina.Contiene inulin, a molecule with excellent nutritional properties. Perfect for diabetics, has the property of lowering the level of absorption of sugar and cholesterol from the intestine.

It has a pleasant flavor, a mix between artichoke and potato, it is advisable to consume it raw if you want to keep intact its properties.

Vitamin A that contains useful functions of sight, B vitamins are helpful in case of fatigue, anemia e stress. Possesses great energy properties, it is therefore recommended in the diets of the elderly and children.

you can grow it in pots on the balcony or in your garden, in the same way in which the potatoes grown.

The Jerusalem artichoke in the kitchen

As the title of this post, 10 recipes with .... Well actually are many more than ten, it is possible to prepare in the same way in which the potatoes prepared, boiled, fried, baked, stir fry, Steamed. Finally, you can use it raw, grated into your salad, or slice it finely and seasoned with lemon. The next time you go to the supermarket, buy the meal of Jerusalem artichokes and a pizza preparateci!!

Know Jerusalem artichokes? Leave a suggestion for a recipe in the comments of this page.

If you want to learn more about this plant, consultation wikipedia by clicking here.

Mallow Guide Collection and Use in Cooking. Mallow is a very common plant in the whole Mediterranean area and submontane. You can find it in uncultivated grasslands in the ruins of old abandoned houses and along the country roads.

It was one of the first plants that I have learned to recognize, and with great pleasure I remember my childhood, at the age of 7-8 years my grandmother asked me to go and pick mallow to make a decoction to feed the pigs, remember that put on the fire this big pot and threw us into the mauve I had collected, brought to a boil and then was fed to pigs with bran. The grandmother was not aware of the active technical, but as the tradition that had been handed down from generation to generation knew that was good and disinfected. Internet did not exist yet, and the phone and the encyclopedia paper came many years later.

Mallow Guide Collection and Use in Cooking

Today everything is easier, mauve and just type "submit", and is pssibile know everything about this plant, shame that many people do not know at all this beautiful plant with 1000 beneficial properties.

Mallow Guide Collection and Use in Cooking

Properties mallow

It is a herbaceous plant, can reach one meter in height, the stem is covered with hair. The leaves are scattered and petiolate, of different shapes, the flowers are gathered in bundles of the leaf axils, pedunculated with a corolla with five petals pinkish or rosy-purple striae with more charges.

For use in the kitchen or herbal gather leaves and flowers. The leaves are left to dry in the shade then preserved in paper envelopes, the flowers are preserved in glass jars away from direct light.

It is rich in mucilage, contains potassium, calcium oxalate, pectin and vitamine.

Leaves and mauve flowers have the same properties and home treatments can be used separately or blended. Property: lassativa, antiflogistica,emollient, bechica, OFTALMICA.

Preparations mallow attenuate the state of inflammation of the mouth and throat, are expectorants in case of bronchitis and phlegm, soothe inflammation, regulate the intestines and it soothe the pains. They are suitable for the delicate organism of children and the elderly.

The Malva in the kitchen

Very famous since the time of the Greeks and Romans mallow has maintained its reputation until today. You can eat it raw in salads or mixed with other vegetables. It is really outstanding in soups, risottos and pasta sauce with its slightly sweet flavor. The flowers can be used to soften the dishes, as being edible leaves.

In the kitchen, you can add it to your creations by chopping the leaves and flowers and adding it with the onion, parsley garlic celery and carrots.

Here are some recipes that you can carry with mauve:

Rice soup and mauve, broth with herbs, broth with mallow, spaghetti with herbs, Gnocchi with mallow, fettuccine with herbs, soup mallow meadows, soup and mauve daisies.

The pizza is delicious mallow, should be treated as a simple vegetable, blanched and rebuilt a few minutes in the pan along with garlic, Tomato, mozzarella and mauve, A delicious pizza with the flavors of the past.

If you prepare the ice for an upcoming party at home, I suggest you put a flower mallow in each ice cube. The result will be very nice to see.

 

PS: The news published here simply for informational purposes, do not want to lead you to self-diagnosis or self-treatment, for health problems is always advisable to consult a doctor.

To learn more about the mallow, you can consult wikipedia

If you already use the mauve in the kitchen, post your recipe in the comments.

After devoting ample space to wild chicory in the previous article, Today we will talk about another type of radicchio: The Dandelion, wild radish edible by 1000 beneficial properties.

If looking at the flower might have doubts in recognizing this plant, just look at the next picture to understand with certainty what plant we're talking about.

The Dandelion (Scientific name Taraxacum officinale) is widespread in the Mediterranean, Also commonly called Dandelion or Dandelion. It is easily recognized for its flowers intense yellow color, that are closed at sunset and reopen at sunrise, At the end of the flowering form a globe feathery white-silver has numerous achenes, is here comes the name of head.

It grows everywhere, the gutter, in fallow fields, in the vineyards and along the paths.

Use in herbal medicine

The extracts of dandelion and wild radish are used for the treatment or prevention of:

Edema and fluid retention, cellulite, obesity, gotta, High Cholesterol, dermatosi, stipisi, hemorrhoids, intestinal fermentation, flute line, liver diseases noninfectious, rheumatic and arthritic, dyspepsia, Food poisoning from abuse, hyperglycemia.

Use in the kitchen

The plant is used as a vegetable, boiled, goes sauté with a clove of garlic. Excellent for omelettes with addition of grated cheese, delicious if you use the leaves to make a pesto as a sauce for pasta, the vegetables in the pan redone is delicious on pizza.

Its buds you can blanch vinegar and keep as capers.

Picking the flowers you can make a delicious jam, here doses: 100 grams of flowers, 200 grams of water, boil for 20 minutes then strain. Put it back in the pot to boil on the stove and add 100 grams of sugar. Let it boil until it reaches the density you want. The result will be a yellow cream flavor and smell of honey, not bad.

With the roots of dandelion was preparing a roasted coffee substitute, let's keep this as the hard times they run.

Great risotto dandelion, dandelion and beans, delicious soup dandelion and chickpeas.

The dandelion was called in by the name of piscialetto, renowned for its diuretic properties, Try a herbal tea of ​​dandelion flowers.

If you are interested in the use of herbs in the kitchen, download my free guide to herbs.

If you want to know more about the dandelion can consult wikipedia.

Wild Rocket in the Kitchen and On Pizza. In recent years, the use of arugula it is particularly widespread and is finding wide use on our tables. There are two types of rocket, the success it is having the cultivated arugula, widespread, has meant that we began to know and appreciate the wild rocket flavor more pronounced and very much appreciated by connoisseurs, who are prepared to pay a higher price just to have it. In my morning walk through the fields fallow, I collected a bunch of wild rocket to prepare for lunch the sauce for pasta: Wild rocket pesto.

Wild Rocket in the Kitchen and On Pizza

We learn to recognize.

E 'everywhere, you will be surprised to recognize it in every corner of the land fallow, even in the midst of the stones. And 'possible to find all year, darker sister cultivated, and the leaves have a more jagged, but what gives us the certainty that it is the right plan to collect, are its flowers, I would say only: Bright yellow and 4 petals and can even reach 50 inches tall.

Do not cut the plant at the base, but only ripped the leaves that will serve you, respect nature.

The rocket is delicious in salads of mixed, great on pizza and excellent as a sauce for pasta if you are going to prepare by following our recipe wild rocket pesto, Original and fast alternative to the classic pesto sauce, but strong flavor and unique.

Wild Rocket in the Kitchen and On Pizza

Ingredients:

100 grams of wild rocket

50 grams of Parmesan or pecorino

20 grams of pine nuts

Some walnut kernel

Half a clove of garlic

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation of wild rocket pesto

Wash the rocket you have gathered and put in a blender with the other ingredients and blend it all gradually add the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Variants: To give more creaminess to your pesto, you can add in the mixer some type of fresh cheese, like cottage cheese or a cream cheese type Philadelphia.

Warnings on the consumption of cultivated and wild rocket: From its strong flavor and pungent one senses that this plant has some limitations in being consumed: Given the large amount of mineral salts and erucic acid in it, it is advisable not to overdo it with the doses, a punch for the kids and two fists for adults.

If you love healthy cooking, download my free e-book "Guide to herbs in the kitchen", A well-made useful guide for those who like to take long walks outdoors and gather wild herbs.

If you want to know more on the rocket, you can consult wikipedia.

Rosemary, Also good to Smoking. From small, I have always believed that rosemary was a plant from smoking. Listening to the speeches of the smartest guys and bigger than me, I often say: I have a great rosemary, This lo fumiamo? It took me several years to understand that what they were smoking in secret from me, really was not rosemary, but something else!!!!

We know this plant

Rosemary is one of the oldest herbs, its properties were already known by the Greeks and Egyptians. Today you can find it anywhere, along the roads in the countryside, in gardens and in pots on balconies of our house.

The leaves of rosemary contains an essential oil prized, its main properties are to be referred to some composite content: Il pinene, borneol and cineol. In addition to these substances the leaves contain saponins, rosmarinic acid, flavonoids and tannins.

Rosemary, Also good to Smoking

According to recent research, regular use of rosemary keeps you young and improves through the blood. Thanks to its antioxidant plays a protective role of the liver.

The Romans used it to cure toothache, sprains and stiff neck, Today it is used to treat ulcerative, to fight rheumatic pains, the dense heart and is indicated for those with digestive problems.

It is used in cosmetics for its deodorant properties, invigorating and purifying. It 'a very common ingredient in shampoos.

During the Egyptian, Rosemary was the symbol of eternity, and is found in some of the tombs of the pharaohs.

In the Middle Ages, this plant was used during exorcisms to drive away evil spirits from possessed people.

Rosemary, Also good to Smoking

Present Day, many people place in drawers and closets sprigs of rosemary, to keep moths away and to scent linen.

Due to its properties to strengthen memory, Rosemary is also called "the plant of remembrance"

In kitchen and pizzeria it makes extensive use of rosemary, inevitable in all the roasts and, does not exist cake which does not have the rosemary as an ingredient.

Are you interested in herbs? Download for free from our website my guide to herbs in the kitchen.

We recently published interesting updates on the rosemary. 2 delicious recipes that will certainly help in the kitchen or pizzeria:

How to prepare rosemary oil

How to prepare the salt flavored with rosemary

If you want to know more about the rosemary, you can consult wikipedia.

The Chicory.

After the lessons I've learned in the fields picking herbs with her mother, aunts and some old lady of the country in which I live, I felt almost a professional herbs this morning while I was doing my usual walk in the fields. Chicory everywhere, this plant seems to have no seasons. The ladies, My instructors, (320 years the sum of their age 4)did nothing to settle the properties of this plant, seems to be a natural remedy for many diseases. What most impressed me their stories is that during the war, in complete poverty, toasted the roots of this plant and there were a coffee substitute.

Its Latin name "Chichorium intybus" composite family. There are different types, all more or less due to the bitter alkaloid substances contained.

Good for bowel, liver, gallbladder, Skin and hair. Stimulates concentration, helps combat drowsiness, has a laxative, stimulates the pancreas and liver, good for diabetics as it helps to regulate the amount of glucose and cholesterol in the blood. A lot of other things that I omit not to bore, if you are interested in learning more please see wikipedia, but a particular deserves to be quoted mandatorily: According to popular belief, chicory reawaken eros, In fact, it is actually a natural vasodilator, able to increase the blood supply to the male sex organs. A natural viagra.

Excellent as a side dish or as a main dish, there are many ways to cook the chicory. A recipe of all: Chicory garlic. Wash the chicory and put to boil in water for 10 minutes. In a large frying pan fry of garlic with olive oil and some red pepper, pour the vegetables after draining and toss in the pan. Delicious.

If you are a nature lover and often go for walks in the fields, download my free guide to herbs in the kitchen, is called: "Herbs? Not only Coca and Marijuana, click here.

How to prepare this vegetable to your house? Leave your comment on this page.

This morning I woke up early, seeing that it was a beautiful day I decided to do my usual walk in the fields in search of edible herbs. To my amazement, I noticed a large amount of beets that were just waiting for someone to gather. I'm talking about large beets to coast, no sugar beets or turnips. There are many varieties of spinach, the man cultivated for thousands of years, then they have developed many subspecies. A bit 'of clarity Beta vulgaris (this is its Latin name):

Beta vulgaris, vulgaris subspecies sub cycles variety cycles are the beet leaves, with green leaf and thin ribs.

(those that I found I) Beta vulgaris, subspecies vulgaris, sub-cycles, variety flaviscens are chards, with green leaf and white thick ribs, more or less fleshy.

Beta vulgaris, subspecies vulgaris, sub vulgaris are the beets grown for their roots:

– variety = high sugar beets, similar to large carrots white.

– variety vulgaris = red beet and turnip.

In addition to these sub and subspecies, There are several hybrids with longer roots, or larger or particular colors, and larger leaves, fuller, or ribs of colors bizarre.

In this period, if it happens to you to take a walk in nature in fallow fields, you will find many chards, white and fleshy, delicious to cook at home. Take care not to tear the roots, but to cut the leaves with a knife 2 inches from the base, so other leaves grow back later. Go blanched 10 minutes then sauté with garlic and other herbs to your taste. A great dish, the flavor of wild beets not treated with any pesticide or fertilizer, is far superior to those that we can find in any supermarket, and if that were not enough all this .... the you will find you and you will have breathed fresh air walking in the fields saving surely many euro.

Always remember that when you go in search of edible wild herbs, it is always advisable to follow a few simple rules:

1. Do not pick herbs on roadsides or in parks frequented by dogs or other animals
2. Do not pick anything you do not know
3. Do not let the grass collected in plastic bags and not keep it crowded: arrived home distributed grass that is not consumed immediately on sheets of newspaper or wood panels, better yet let it dry in the sun. In any case smuovetela frequently.
4. Do not pick up diseased plants or moldy

If you are a nature lover and often go in search of wild herbs, subscribe to our site and download my free e-book: "HERBS? NOT ONLY COCA AND MARIJUANA " A complete guide to the collection of edible wild herbs to use in the kitchen.

If you want to learn more about the beets, you can consult the encyclopedia wikipedia.