Spring’s seeds are finally turning into the fruits of summer! We’ve already worked our way through some of the leafy greens, such as chard, mustard and butter lettuce. Now we’re waiting on our heirloom tomatoes and carrots. Since last year’s blueberry success, you’re confident in this year’s prize of the garden: juicy peaches. Regardless of what specialties you’re nurturing this year, the long months of summer make us pause in gratitude for what the earth offers us each growing season.
For much of the year, our produce is trucked in from distant farmlands. Once summer arrives, though, everyone gets the chance to claim their birthright as gardeners and cultivators of their own food. What’s best, local summer harvests allow us to experiment with simple, nutritious meals. With very little effort, a meal of fresh vegetables and summer fruits can become a lavish feast. And if your simple cuisine asks for a hint of the exotic, you can harvest a bouquet of flavors from the most unlikely of places: your aromatherapy medicine chest.
When buying aromatic oils, you should always strive to use medicinal-grade oils. These oils come from huge amounts of plant material, so it’s wise to use high-quality oils from reliable sources. Of course we already consider this when we buy aromatherapy products for external use. However, committing to therapeutic-grade oils has a secret bonus: you can use these oils in food as well. If you’ve never seen your aromatherapy collection this way, just remember that smell has more control over our sense of flavor than even our taste buds do. Keeping that little fact in focus, here are some fun ways to use essential oils in your summer cuisine.
First and foremost, let’s address the issue of food safety. Essential oils are, obviously, plant-derived substances. While you may not want to eat a hunk of frankincense resin straight from the tree, frankincense is still a naturally occurring substance. It is not poisonous in small quantities, but it may make you want to brush your teeth immediately. Many essential oils are expressly dangerous for internal consumption, such as wintergreen and birch, but other oils can be used in small quantities for internal health as well as for cooking. In fact, the FDA has qualified many of the common essential oils as GRAS, Generally Recognized as Safe, substances. This means that, although they are not categorized as food additives, they can be consumed without apparent side-effects. When considering which oils to cook with, this is a good rule of thumb: essential oils of citruses, spices and other commonly-eaten foods are probably going to make excellent additions to your cuisine. Just be cautious when using essential oils that are known to irritate mucous membranes, such as cinnamon, oregano and peppermint.
How can essential oils improve your summer harvest? Let’s first consider one of the gifts of the Mediterranean region: the citruses. Oils like grapefruit and lemon blend beautifully with olive oil for simple, tangy dressings. All it takes is one drop of oil per tablespoon of oil, and your salad will be transformed. Love guacamole? Try a few drops of lime oil mixed with ripe avocado and serve it with corn chips or jicama slices. Still munching on this spring’s spinach? Mandarin orange essential oil, which smells heavenly, is refreshing drizzled on greens. How about beverages? Oils add dimension to juices and fizzy waters, too. By mixing grapefruit, mandarin and lime in equal parts, seltzer water is transformed into a healthy citrus soda without the sugar found in commercial brands. As with all aromatic oils, though, don’t overdo it. Thankfully, a little bit of oil goes a long way.
What about the bevy of essential oils derived from well-loved cooking spices? Sweet marjoram, basil, ginger, thyme, oregano and bay can all be used to enhance food. Try blending sweet basil oil in with a tomato-mozzarella-Italian parsley pasta, or put a drop of ginger oil in your summer bok choy and carrot stir fry. Like your coffee with cardamom, Arabian-style? One drop of this oil transforms regular coffee into a delectable treat (hint: try this drink iced!). Cooking spice essential oils tend to be surprisingly strong, so again, don’t be lavish with them. Too much oregano or thyme oil will definitely ruin an otherwise balanced dish, so be careful. It’s also usually a good idea to wait to throw the oils in until the food is nearly done cooking, thereby reducing the chance of evaporation before you’re able to enjoy your creation.
Essential oils can also be used when making sweets. Vanilla and cacao essential oils infuse foods with their distinctly delicious flavors without the addition of refined sugar. And, different from extracts, essential oils do not contain alcohol, the substance used to distill food flavorings out of plant matter. For many, a couple of drops of vanilla bean essential oil in a cookie recipe tastes better than the sugary, chemical concoctions we find in commercially-made desserts. The same goes for cacao. Think baking chocolate! Dark, bitter yet definitely “chocolate.” Lucky for us, the chemical constituents of chocolate that make us feel happy are best found in the darkest cacao. Toss a couple of drops of cacao essential oil in your yogurt and experience the elation of a chocolate high without the guilt!
Summer eating is something we look forward to all year. Whether it’s the promise of picnics with friends or simple feasts for two after a long day’s work, the bounty of the season makes eating a variety of fruits and vegetables easy. The addition of essential oils, an equally simple flourish, adds variety to dressings, sauces and beverages and extends our menu without necessitating a last-minute trip to the store. The next time you find yourself with unexpected houseguests and nothing fancy for them to drink, don’t despair: take fresh water over ice and a top it with a drop of orange essential oil. Now you’re savoring the ease of summer!
The author has made available much information about aromatherapy, such as using bergamot and other organic essential oil.
