How Does This Ayurvedic Food Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

Spring Blood Thinner

Spring is softening the soil, and the promise of a lush backyard garden is sweet compensation for the dark days of winter. Are you fantasizing about your culinary herb garden, picking and choosing the green leaves that will flavor and speckle this year's coming meals?

Don't forget about the anise-flavored tarragon. Get it growing in your windowsill as the winter withers. You might need it - tarragon is your springtime friend.

Blood tends to be congested and thick in the spring. Luckily, you can look to flavorful ingredients like raw onions or bright garlicky pestos to help get fluids moving. Try a pesto made with tarragon. Tarragon's aroma relaxes and dilates blood vessels, removing any restriction to circulation. The herb's hot pungency stimulates the heart and destroys a lingering winter chill. Tarragon's drying qualities reduce spring water retention as well, releasing water weight and restoring tone to puffy skin.These blood-moving and pressure reducing properties help reinvigorate the blood and flush the lymphatic system.

Tarragon not only clears the blood and gets it moving, tarragon reduces platelet adhesion and the clogging of blood vessels. It may be beneficial in cardiovascular disorders involving clotting.Tarragon belongs to the Artemisia genus, a genus that features prominently in many worldwide herbal heritages, including Chinese medicine and Western herbalism. The delicious leaves show up in cuisines from France to Russia and beyond. It's common knowledge; tarragon is delicious and good for you.

Cleansing the Blood

Turn to beautifying bitters in springtime, which is the time of year when nature nudges us to flush and cleanse our insides. Tarragon is one bitter-flavored helper. Its bitter taste cleanses the liver, encourages the production of bile, and purifies the blood. Some herbalists recommend soaking the bruised leaves in apple cider vinegar for a few hours, and then taking a spoonful of the medicated vinegar before eating to aid digestion and detoxification.

Famed British gardener John Evelyn said of tarragon, just as it was becoming a favored culinary herb in his homeland: "'Tis highly cordial and friend to the head, heart, and liver."

Historical uses of the herb affirm Evelyn's hunch, and much more. Medieval herbalists regarded tarragon as a treatment for snakebite.The ancient Greeks chewed the leaves and wedged them near a problematic tooth to treat the pain. In Chinese medicine the herb is turned to for menstrual difficulties, digestive support, and to assist with loss of appetite.

About Tarragon

The name tarragon is a corruption of the French esdragon, derived from the Latin dracunculus, which means a little dragon.

Buying & Preparation

Make sure you get French tarragon instead of the other varieties often sold at stores. Fresh tarragon grown at home is best. It is said to be difficult to grow from seed and may be best purchased as a start. The herb is an excellent companion plant, helping to protect other plants in the garden from insects, which dislike its smell and flavor. Tarragon is a perennial that likes hot, sunny soils with minimal water retention.

Recipes with Tarragon: Tarragon and Pine Nut Quinoa

Cooking Tarragon

Tarragon is one of four "fines herbes" of French cooking, grouped with parsley, chives, and chervil. Its flavor works well in chicken and fish marinades, as well as in egg dishes. At least one master chef declared that scrambled eggs with the right amount of tarragon are a bit of heaven. Tarragon is the main flavor of the rich Barnaise sauce, and tarragon vinegar. Tarragon adds a special zing to a spring salad with radishes.

Ever drink a green soda? Tarragon flavors a bright green carbonated beverage popular in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. This popular, verdant drink captures the freshness and effervescent impermanence of spring. In Slovenia, tarragon spices a traditional sweet cake called potica. Be cautious when cooking tarragon in soups, as the Hungarians do, because of its strong flavor.

Whenever there is a call for green herbs in a recipe, turn to tarragon. The herb will bring a bright, interesting flavor - swirled into a creamy soup, as a hummus topping with olive oil, in a lemony vinaigrette, or in a Greek yogurt dipping sauce for roasted veggies.Browse Recipes