Cooking with Dill

I'm chin deep in report cards and end-of-the-year school stuff, so I'm borrowing this post I did for the Healthy Writer Blog a few years back. Dill seems like a wonderful herb to add for summer cooking, so it felt like a good one for today.

Enjoy!


Last winter I was reading of the value of selenium to help fight off the flu (or at least prevent it from morphing into a more serious version). Salmon is considered a good source of selenium so I decided to cook some tonight. I wanted to add dill and that got me to wondering if it had any value other than adding flavor.
Turns out it does have some very beneficial properties.

According to HealthDiaries.com:

• Promotes Bone Health
• Has Anti-Bacterial properties
• Provides Free Radical Protection
• Offers Digestive Benefits
• Is a Headache remedy
• Has a Calming Effect;
• and is a Sleep Aid

For more about each benefit, check out the Healthdiaries website.

Livestrong touts some additional benefits:
Dill weed may be effective in helping diabetics regulate insulin levels, although studies to date have only been performed on laboratory animals.

Dill weed leaf extract was given to rats for 14 days at Iran’s Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, reducing their triglyceride levels by up to 50 percent and total cholesterol by 20 percent.

Read more at Livestrong.

World’s Healthiest Foods suggests: A Few Quick Serving Ideas

• Combine dill weed with plain yogurt and chopped cucumber for a delicious cooling dip.
• Use dill when cooking fish, especially salmon and trout, as the flavors complement one another very well.
• Use dill weed as a garnish for sandwiches.
• Since dill seeds were traditionally used to soothe the stomach after meals, place some seeds in a small dish and place it on the dinner table for all to enjoy.
• Add dill to your favorite egg salad recipe.
• Mix together chopped potatoes, green beans, and plain yogurt, then season with both dill seeds and chopped dill weed.

Do you like to add dill to your food? Does knowing it’s healthy intrigue you enough to start cooking with dill?

Recipes from boyfriends past

Hi, all of you out there! It's the Fresh Pioneer again and I've got a fun little recipe up my sleeve that showcases a few Northwest staples. Can you guess the first one? Need a hint?

 

SALMON!!!

Now, I know that Missy already did a post on salmon but this one is a bit different so bear wth me.

 First we're going to wait until salmon goes on sale, because even here in the NW, where we get salmon pretty cheap and fresh, it still runs about $3.99/lb.

Oooooh, 50% off! Nifty. I'll take it.

So, plop it in a pan, skinside down. Chopped garlic on top, in about 2 cups of water and 2 tsp of salt. Set to medium heat, put on a lid.

 

Now you're probably wondering where the boyfriend part comes in, right? Well, once upon a time, I dated a guy who could cook like nobody's business. He could make ANYTHING. And IT WAS GOOD. One day he made a recipe that had slow cooked lamb on a Greek sauce. *swoon*

( I never really liked the idea of eating baby sheep, so here's my take on it.)

Two cucumbers, peeled, reserve the peel of one. Chop, chop, chop. Nibble a little. If these are from your own garden, pat yourself on the back.

Two small sweet onions (these are field leftovers, you can use scallions, or just a bit of sweet onion). A bunch of dill, to taste. I'm not a big dill fan so I only chopped about two sprigs. (Excuse my pallid dill. It is not enjoying the heat. Nor am I.)

Half a lime, squeezed.

Add to one cup Greek yoghurt. Add salt and pepper. Taste. Add some more. Taste. Stop when you're happy. (Looks a mess, doesn't it? But I promise it's good.) Put it in the fridge for a bit while we work on the other stuff.

Let's check our salmon. It should flake apart easily. MMMM.

A slice of crusty sourdough bread, one for each person. Some people prefer wild rice with their salmon, which has great fiber, but this bread was getting stale, so we'll make open faced sandwiches instead. (This is from a bakery down the street from me. I love those people. Just love them.)

Guess what else was on sale? Bell peppers! Sweet!! These are the perfect pairing to the lemony-dill salmon.

Spread about 2 TBS of the cucumber sauce on the bread, then (after removing the bones!!) place chunks of salmon on the top. Add little sweet pepper on the side. Now I've got a cool summer dinner that was easy to prepare, didn't cost a whole bunch, used fresh local food and reminded me of boyfriends past.

 

WAITAMINUTE! I never liked that guy! He told me there were no good women authors. There were only women copying good male authors. THE NERVE.

 So, let's forget about him and enjoy this scrumptious meal. And afterward, we'll go read something wonderful. Written by a woman.