Friday Book Blogging

Two thumbs up for The Magic Teaspoon: Transform Your Meals with the Power of Healing Herbs and Spices by Victoria Zak (Berkley, 2006). This author has done her homework. The book is full of entertaining legends and lore about spices. But more importantly, it shows how you can use spices to improve your health by using them in place of salt and fats. Plus, spices are loaded with health-promoting substances, including antioxidants, the compounds that fight aging and disease.

The recipes alone are worth the price of the book. And one thing I learned is don’t be afraid to push the envelope. Example: Victoria suggests mixing coriander with honey for an afternoon pick-up. She was right – it’s scrumptious. But that led to the brainstorm of mixing coriander and honey into the morning oatmeal. Whoa! Try it and you’ll see why she calls coriander “manna from heaven.” The bland old steel cut oatmeal turned into an entirely new experience. Then I realized you could probably mix coriander and honey with lots of thing (yogurt, cottage cheese, tea, oatmeal cookie batter, chopped fruit salad, pancakes – okay, I’ll stop now) and end up with a winner. And that’s just one spice! A word of warning: Don’t even get me started on basil.