Herbal Sprinkles for Everyday Wellness

Herbal Sprinkles are one of the most simple and satisfying ways to incorporate more herbs into your cookery. The key to using herbal sprinkles is to take them out of the cupboard and keep them next to where you cook and eat.

I have several herbal sprinkle combinations on a Lazy Susan right next to my stove and blender and on the kitchen table. If the herbs are readily accessible you get into the habit of using them every day, pretty soon you wonder how you lived without such a pleasing array of herbal food enhancement!

I have an entire chapter on herbal sprinkle recipes in my book, The Herbal Kitchen.

I have to tell you that by far the most popular sprinkle that people have loved the most is my Red Powder Herbal Sprinkle. It didn’t start out with the name Red Powder; my family would just say, “Hey, pass the red powder, would ya?” So the name stuck. It is definitely a favorite at our table.

I love Red Powder on rice and apply it lavishly to eggs dishes. I put this herbal sprinkle in our summer smoothies and green drinks. It is a really delicious addition to rice dishes and is super yummy mixed with yogurt. You can even add it to oatmeal, granola or sprinkle it on winter squash or sweet potatoes.

Red Powder is rich in anthocyanins which are a type of flavonoid that give the plants their deep rich color. Herbs such as hawthorn and rosehips that contain anthocyanins are anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory.

There are hundreds of studies supporting the health benefits of anthocyanin rich herbs for improving neurological function, enhancing cardio vascular health and warding off colds.

Red Powder is a great way to include anthocyanin rich herbs into your diet. Herbal sprinkles bring the healing qualities of your apothecary to the center of your daily culinary experience.

Put some Red Powder on your kitchen table and see what happens! Enjoy this wonderfully creative and delicious journey!

How to Make Herbal Sprinkles

Supplies

• Salt shaker or spice storage bottle for herbal sprinkles
• Finely powdered dried herbs
• Bowl

Herbs

The herbs and spices used in shakers need to be finely powdered. Home powdering isn’t sufficient for many spices as standard blenders aren’t powerful enough to completely break them down.

There is the tendency to grind the spices for too long and the heat generated by the blender dissipates beneficial components of the spices. Also the small sticks and seeds get caught in the holes and clog up your shaker.

Storage

Salt shakers have open holes, so the herbs are consistently exposed to oxygen. This exposure breaks the herbs down more rapidly, but they still last pretty well in the shaker and usually six months isn’t a problem. I prefer shakers with lids that close over the holes when you are finished using them. If you keep your herbal sprinkles in a jar with a tight fitting lid they can last for a year and sometimes longer.

Directions:

1. Purchase powdered herbs or spices
2. Mix herbs together well in a bowl then put them into a storage container
3. You can put your herbal sprinkles into salt and pepper shakers, spice grinders or one of the many decorative spice storage bottles that are available now
4. Sprinkle them on your food. Easy!

So here’s a people pleaser sprinkle you can start out with, pass the Red Powder please~!

Red Powder

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons powdered rose hips
• 2 tablespoons powdered hawthorn berries
• 1 tablespoon powdered red rose petals
• 1 tablespoon powdered orange peel
• Dash of powdered clove