With so many leafy vegetables and herbs now enjoying special
growing conditions to render them bug-free, it is time you
introduced yourself to some and enriched your diet.
Say `dill' and any American will conjure up dill pickles.
Dill has been used for pickling, as well as for soups, but it
can be eaten raw, cut up in salads, or in white cheese for a
tangy cheese spread.
An easy TOMATO SALAD includes cubed tomatoes, diced onion and
chopped up dill, dressed with a dash of vinegar, oil and
salt. The dill can be cut finely with a knife. Optional, or
for a change, add a teaspoon of sugar and some oregano. In
case there is someone in the family who doesn't like dill,
make a large vegetable platter with different colored pepper
rings, cherry tomatoes, sliced or diced cucumbers, sprouts,
carrot sticks, sprigs of scallions and some cut-up dill,
alternating the greens with the other colors, and with a
small dish with a dip in the middle. When reluctant children
see adults relishing the various veggies, they will learn to
dig in, too.
Suggestions for easy dips: mayonnaise and ketchup, mayonnaise
and mustard, tehina, ready-bought eggplant-mayonnaise salad,
tomato paste plus a dash of vinegar and a spoon of (brown)
sugar.
"Back To Eden," a natural health book first published in
1939, lists some of dill's medicinal uses. It is an old
fashioned stomach remedy which prevents gas and fermentation.
It is a splendid remedy for colic in babies and children and
can be used in hot milk. It is quieting for nerves, useful in
swellings and pains (I guess, when applied as a compress
soaked in homemade dill tea) and stops hiccups. Pour boiling
water over some dill, steep for about 5 minutes and drink.
Can be sweetened.
A supper guest of ours in the succa helped himself to
some dill on a platter with joy and relief. "I am somewhat
allergic to insect bites and just got this mosquito bite
which has swelled up my arm. When this has happened in the
past, I usually take a sprig of dill and pop it into my mouth
and the swelling goes down very quickly."
Being so green, dill must be chock full of iron, too! So
don't dilly-dally; try some.
