 |
It's
Spring, Time to Refresh Your Herbs
BY DANA JACOBI
FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH |
Spring cleaning is a universal
practice. In most countries, it includes emptying the pantry
by either using up or throwing out old ingredients.
In Sicily, they serve maccù,
a thick bean stew, to mark the feast of San Giuseppe on March
17. A dish with symbolic meaning, it also sensibly uses up all
the dried beans and lentils left from the previous fall’s
harvest before summer’s heat dries them out. This also makes
room for storing the new harvest to come.
The housecleaning that observant
Jews perform before Passover includes getting rid of foods for
religious reasons, but also has a similar benefit, making sure
that at least once a year grains and other items that can spoil
are discarded.
Whether or not you clean the
rest of the house, here is one spring-cleaning ritual I recommend:
Pitch out and replace most of the dried herbs and ground spices
you have.
Extravagant, you say, since
they do not spoil and can be costly? True, dried basil and other
herbs, and ground spices like paprika, do not spoil in the conventional
sense. But exposure to light and air, especially in the kitchen’s
heat, makes their pigments and the essential oils that contribute
much of their flavor evaporate or change over time. (The strength
of their health-protective phytochemicals could also be weakened.)
Paprika loses one percent of its color every 10 days at 70 degrees,
according to the American Spice Trade Association. That’s
why I keep it in the fridge, where it stays bright red and pungent
for at least six months.
Six months is the recommended
time for renewing your stock of dried herbs and ground spices.
(Whole spices like nutmeg, peppercorns, star anise and stick
cinnamon can last for years.) Doing this will help your pasta
sauce taste more like the one you ate in Rome, and your cinnamon
cookies taste like grandma’s did.
Today, many spices and herbs
are being sold in smaller amounts, so that replacing them cost
less. To prove this is worth doing, make this herb-seasoned chicken,
using half of the seasonings with what you have now, and the
other half with fresh replacements. The proof, as they say, is
in the eating.
Herb-Roasted
Chicken Breast - Makes
4 servings.
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp. ground sage
- 1/8 tsp. ground fennel (optional)
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. freshly-ground black
pepper
- 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive
oil
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 split whole skinless chicken
breast with ribs, about 1 1/2 lbs, cut into 4 pieces
- Olive or canola oil cooking
spray
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine the
garlic, lemon zest, oregano, thyme, sage, fennel (if using),
cayenne, salt and black pepper. Whisk in the oil and lemon juice.
Rub the mixture over the chicken pieces, coating the pieces well.
Place the chicken on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and set
aside for 15 minutes.
Arrange the chicken in a shallow
baking dish just large enough to hold the 4 pieces. Bake for
15 minutes. Lightly coat the chicken with cooking spray, and
bake 15 minutes more. Spray the chicken again. Bake until the
juices run clear and the meat looks white when the breast is
pierced with a knife in the center at its thickest point, about
10 minutes more. Let sit 10 minutes for the juices to settle
before serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Per serving: 188 calories, 5 g. total fat (1 g.
saturated fat), 1 g. carbohydrate, 31 g. protein, 0 g. dietary
fiber, 379 mg. sodium.
|
HOME 
Discussion
Boards
Shopping / 
WHAT'S NEW?
"Something Different" is written for the American Institute
for Cancer Research (AICR) by Dana Jacobi, author of The Joy
of Soy and recipe creator for AICR's Stopping Cancer Before It
Starts.