Tumeric is everywhere. I can’t get away from it.
My mother-in-law was here visiting for two weeks and she
told me how she takes it daily for her arthritis. I took a pottery class last
week and the teacher said the same thing. I can’t open a magazine without
seeing mention of it and many of the blogs and websites I follow fall over
themselves to fawn over it.
To be honest, turmeric is new to me. I hadn’t heard of it
until it started turning up in processed food as a natural coloring to replaced
artificial colors. It’s bright mustard yellow. I could sort of remember seeing
it in Indian food recipes. I’m not a big fan of Indian food, so the tiny little
jar of turmeric I found in the back of my cupboard was from the original set of
herbs I got at a wedding shower 20 years ago. I opened it and sniffed, but it
smelled like the plastic jar it was in.
So I stopped by one of my favorite sources for spices (Park
Street Pantry) and bought a fresh jar in a glass container.
But
what do I do with it? And what’s so great about it?
Tumeric is a tropical plant. It grows from root cuttings,
not seeds and takes 250 days to harvest! It won’t stand for temperatures below
65 degrees, so that leaves out New Freedom, PA so I guess there will be no
forthcoming post How-to-grow-your-own-tumeric-and-make-a-million (It’s the top
selling herbal supplement as of press time).
Tumeric is closely related to ginger. In fact, it’s taste is
described as “peppery, warm, and bitter” while it’s scent is similar to ginger.
When I open the lid of my little jar, I smell Indian restaurants.
I searched in vain for a recipe for dish that my little
finicky family might enjoy and finally opted for simply sprinkling it in
recipes we already eat. You don’t even notice the taste. During our Super Bowl
Commercial viewing party, I made this dip which was scrumptious with carrots,
lightly steamed green beans, pretzels, cheese sticks, and tortilla chips.
Yummo Mustard Dip
¾ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon agave nectar
3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard (less if you can’t handle the
heat!)
1 teaspoon turmeric
Mix ingredients together and serve with pretty much
anything!
Next I slipped a teaspoon in to the mac n cheese and
although the color was shocking yellow, no one noticed anything odd (except me,
I was certain I could taste it and had to work very hard on my nope-it-wasn’t-me
face).
