Nutritive Green Herb Salt: A Nutrient-Packed Seasoning You’ll Love

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I love salty foods. Far more than sweet, salty food is my weakness. I have a habit of adding salt to any dish I eat before I even taste it. Even when I’m the one who prepared the dish and know how it’s seasoned. And while the risk of excess sodium in the diet is more likely to come from processed and restaurant foods as opposed to food made at home, I could probably stand to cut back on my salt habit. Which is why I love this nutritive green herb salt blend as a replacement for my go-to sprinkling salt. 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s a great way to reduce added salt in your diet if you’re the type who likes to add a bit of salt to everything. (It’s me, hi.)
• It’s delicious on just about everything. The flavor is the herbs is subtle enough that it won’t detract from or compete with anything you add it to. 
• It’s loaded with mineral-rich, nutrient-dense herbs like alfalfa, nettles, and seaweed. 
• Speaking of seaweed, it’s an easy way to incorporate this natural source of iodine (an essential trace mineral) into your diet.

Making Nutritive Green Herb Salt

This recipe is hardly more difficult than tossing everything together and getting to sprinkling. You can use a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle – which I do sometimes if I’ve forgotten to clean my spice grinder. The spice grinder is quicker and you’ll want to be careful to pulse the herbs rather than just letting the grinder run so you don’t end up with completely powdered herbs (unless that’s your preference, I suppose). 

The mortar and pestle takes more time and elbow grease but I have to admit that I often like the final texture of ground herbs this way. You’re able to control the grinding, focusing on the stubborn bits of herbs that aren’t breaking down and leaving the pieces that are the right texture. 

But, honestly, if you purchase cut and sifted herbs, you could just crumble each of these with your hands for a coarser texture. The bigger bits of herbs won’t blend as evenly with the salt but they make for an awfully pretty finishing salt. 

Where To Purchase Herbs

When it comes to purchasing dried herbs, it’s important to make sure you order from a trusted source. I get most of my herbs either from my local herb shop, Natural Law Apothecary or from Mountain Rose Herbs. They have a great selection of organic and wildcrafted herbs and have a sustainability rating for each herb. The only drawback is that the smallest quantity of dried herbs you can purchase is 4 ounces, which may not sound like a lot but can actually end up being way more herbs than you need. 

Regardless of where you decide to purchase your dried herbs, just be make sure it’s a trusted source so you know you’re getting high-quality, unadulterated herbs. 

How to Use Nutritive Green Herb Salt

• Any time you normally grab your salt shaker, reach for this instead. The flavor is more complex than regular salt—a bit umami from the seaweed, a bit fresh from the nettles and alfalfa—but subtle enough that it won’t overpower the dish. 
• It’s delicious used as a finishing salt on any roasted vegetables but especially potatoes.
• Add it to soups for added depth of flavor.
• The flavor of seaweed is particularly well matched with eggs, so sprinkle a little on your favorite egg dish. 
• It’s also amazing on avocado toast (and you know the millennial in me cannot get enough avocado toast). 
• Add it to homemade dips, spreads, and dressings for extra flavor and a kick of nutrients and minerals. 

The Health Benefits of Nutritive Green Herb Salt

Seaweed

Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine, which is a trace mineral that supports thyroid health. Your thyroid is in charge of regulating a number of critical bodily functions, like metabolism, temperature control, and menstrual cycles. And since our bodies can’t make iodine, we have to get it from food or supplements. And seaweed is, by far, the best source of natural iodine. 

It’s worth noting, however, that it is possible to consume too much iodine. And some people, like those with hyperthyroidism, may want to avoid adding iodine into their diet. This nutritive green herb salt is meant to be consumed in quite small doses. So the risk of overdoing it with iodine is very low. But it’s something to keep in mind if you’ve been told to avoid iodine. 

In addition to iodine, seaweed is a good source of other nutrients like vitamins A, B2, B5, C, and E as well as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc. 

Nettles

Nettle is a deeply nourishing herb that’s rich in nutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, and protein. Because they’re so rich in nutrients, particularly iron, nettles can be an excellent remedy for anemia and support recovery after long-term illness. (1) 

In herbalism, nettles are classified as an alterative, which means they support the body in purifying the blood by assisting in nutrient and protein assimilation, neutralizing acid, and eliminating waste. (2)

Alfalfa

Another nutritional powerhouse, alfalfa is high in vitamin K, beta carotene, fluoride, calcium, and protein. What’s better, alfalfa provides these nutrients in a form that our bodies can easily absorb and use. (3) 

In herbalism, this nutrient-dense herb is often worked with to provide support for those recovering from illness or struggling with poor appetite. (4) There’s also some evidence that alfalfa may help with managing diabetes and healthy cholesterol levels.

Nutritional Yeast

Fortified nutritional yeast, which is the type of nutritional yeast commonly found at the grocery store, is a complete protein and a good source of B vitamins. It can also help support healthy immunity, bone density, cholesterol, blood pressure, and inflammation thanks to its beta-glucan content. 

Sesame Seeds

Sesame seeds are another complete plant protein and provide essential fatty acids. The main antioxidant in sesame seeds, lignans, has been connected to a number of health benefits, from supporting liver and kidney function to anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects. 

As you can see, this unassuming green herb salt blend is packed to the brim with health-supporting herbs and ingredients. Give the recipe a try and see how fun and delicious kitchen herbalism can be. 

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References

1. Thomas Easley and Steven Horne (2016), The Modern Herbal Dispensatory
2. Peter Holmes (2003), The Energetics of Western Herbs
3. James Green (2007), The Male Herbal
4. Andrew Chevallier (2016), Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine