Add a Little Spice to Your Life!
Do you love to cook? Do you like to try new flavors and recipes? Or maybe you are in a cooking rut and don’t know how to start expanding your cooking repertoire. Let us help you get spicy in the kitchen. Your kit includes a pre-measured packet of ground ginger and a few recipes.
What is Ginger?
Ginger, whose scientific name is Zingiber officinale, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the Zingiberaceae family making it a close relative of cardamom and turmeric. It originally grew in Southeast Asia but is now widely available from growers around the world. The ginger plant grows from a large, knobby underground stem known as a rhizome. Both fresh and ground ginger come from the rhizome which is often called ginger root. Gingerol, the main bioactive compound in ginger, plus shogaol and zingerone, which are produced when ginger is dried or cooked, have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Some of the many health benefits associated with ginger are improving immunity, relieving nausea and upset stomach, lowering blood sugar levels, reducing swelling, and aiding in weight loss.
Easy ways to add ginger to your diet.
Fresh ginger which is pungent, spicy, and sweet can be grated, steeped, pickled, sliced and candied. Ground ginger, also known as ginger powder, is made from pulverized, dried ginger root and is less pungent than fresh ginger. Ground ginger can be used to lend a spicy, warm flavor to carrots, sweet potatoes, cake batter, smoothies or fruit salad.
- It can be used to make ginger tea. Measure 1/4 tsp ground ginger into a heat proof mug. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over it, cover, and let sit until cool enough to drink.
- Ginger tea can be used to make ginger herbal jello by adding 1/4 cup of cooled ginger tea to a 1/4 box of jello powder, stir until dissolved, then add 1/8 cup more tea. Pour into a dish or mold, refrigerate until firm.
- Make ginger syrup by starting with a strong ginger tea, 1/2 tsp ground ginger to 1 cup boiling water. While the tea is still warm, gently stir in two to three times as much honey as tea. Once the ingredients are fully incorporated, pour into a sterilized jar, and store in the refrigerator.
- Ginger Almond
- Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
- Cranberry Harvest Muffins
- Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds
Need more inspiration?
You can watch a six-part Great Courses class called The Everyday Gourmet: Essential Secrets of Spices in Cooking for free with your library card by using a Hoopla Great Courses BingePass or streaming on Kanopy.
