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List of Kitchen Herbs: These Herbs Should Not Be Missing in any Kitchen

Fresh kitchen herbs unfold a much more intense aroma than dry spices – and you can grow them yourself. Here is our top 10 list for refining your food.

What would tomato and mozzarella be without basil leaves or pizza sauce without oregano? Freshly cut kitchen herbs give your dishes a lot of flavor. On top of that, you can be sure that no pesticides will get into your home-grown herb.

Top 10 list of kitchen herbs: treats with medicinal properties

There are hundreds of different kitchen herbs and so the list of personal favorites will vary greatly for everyone. The following selection of kitchen spices will give you inspiration for your own kitchen.

The biennial parsley is one of the most popular herbs in German kitchens. So that it does not lose its spicy-intensive aroma, it should be cooked for a maximum of a short time. The spice from the umbelliferae group is extremely rich in vitamins and is said to be good for the bladder and digestion. Parsley grows best in bright locations without direct sunlight. You should avoid waterlogging.
The strong, spicy chives not only refine dishes with their slight spiciness, but are also said to keep pests away in the garden due to their strong smell. For a bountiful harvest, you should remove the flowers regularly and divide the plant every spring as it needs space to grow.
Dill is a spicy-tart, slightly sweet kitchen herb. It is particularly suitable for the preparation of fish and salads. The annual umbellifer needs sufficient moisture for its growth and you can harvest it continuously from a growth height of 15 centimeters.
The refreshing, aromatic basil goes well with refining tomatoes and salads. However, the plants available in the supermarket usually do not last long because they are planted far too closely together in nutrient-poor soil. It is best to repot the basil into a larger pot or into the garden immediately after purchase.
Oregano is a staple pizza spice for most. The essential oregano oil can have an antibacterial effect on wounds. If you want to plant oregano yourself, you should pay attention to a warm and sunny place. As with all kitchen herbs, it is important to keep sufficient distance between the individual plants.
The spicy, slightly smoky thyme is particularly suitable for Mediterranean dishes and can help as a home remedy for coughs. Thyme likes it dry, sunny and occasional fertilization.
Mint not only freshens breath as a tea, but also gives sauces, marinades and desserts a piquant, spicy-fresh note. You can also use it for homemade lemonade. As a kitchen herb, it likes partial shade, well fertilized and moist.
Lemon balm leaves are known as a calming tea. But the lemony-tasting medicinal herb is also suitable for refining sweet and savory dishes. The perennial kitchen spice likes it sunny and nutritious. You should avoid waterlogging.


The sour-fruity taste of sage is ideal for vegetarian dishes. Sage also has an anti-inflammatory effect and is popular as a tea during the cold season. The spice likes it sunny and dry.
Lemongrass is a herb from Asian cuisine and gives dishes a lemony aroma. So that it grows well in the kitchen, you can use potting soil mixed with a little sand as a substrate. Lemongrass likes it bright and moist, but it does not tolerate waterlogging.

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Food

These Foods Should Not Be Missing in the Pantry

With a newly published civil protection concept, the federal government has triggered a discussion about the sense and nonsense of buying hamsters. Everyone has to decide for themselves how useful they think the government’s checklist is. EAT SMARTER has put together a smart shopping list for you, with which you are always well prepared, at least for culinary emergencies.

Who doesn’t know this – it’s 9:30 p.m. on Saturday evening and the supermarket around the corner is closed. Or we are sick, have no strength to get out of bed, but have nothing left to eat in the house. So we order the pizza service. That’s not smart. But a well-stocked pantry can prevent cravings and frustration orders.

With a sensible selection of supplies, we are well prepared for culinary emergencies and can conjure up our favorite dish at any time.

Grain

A certain selection of different dried grain products should not be missing in any pantry. The products do have a best-before date, but according to Stiftung Warentest, this can be exceeded generously. As long as the food tastes impeccable, it is edible. Store grain products in airtight screw-top jars or plastic containers to prevent pests from attacking them.

These grain products belong in the pantry:

  • flour
  • pasta
  • rice
  • polenta
  • couscous
  • millet
  • quinoa
  • crispbread
  • oatmeal

Legumes

Legumes are super healthy because they provide plenty of fiber, protein, and minerals such as iron and potassium. They also provide variety in the kitchen. Dried lentils, chickpeas, and co. can be kept for over a year. Ensure optimal storage conditions by storing the food in an airtight container in a dark, cool, and dry place. If you are in a hurry, you can also buy canned cooked legumes and use them in stews, curries, or sauces.

These legumes belong in the pantry:

  • Chickpeas
  • lenses
  • different types of beans (e.g. kidney beans, white beans, or azuki beans)

Canned goods and jars

Of course, fresh food is always the better choice. Still, it makes sense to stock up on a selection of jars and jars that you can use to cook dishes when you need them. Tomato cans are essential. They often even contain more phytochemicals than fresh tomatoes. But dishes can also be easily spiced up with pesto, olives, and the like.

These preserves and jars should not be missing in the pantry:

  • chopped/peeled tomatoes
  • Pesto
  • olives
  • Sun-dried tomatoes
  • artichokes
  • capers
  • Corn
  • Peas
  • pickled cucumbers
  • Beetroot
  • tuna
  • vegetarian spreads
  • nut butter

Nuts and dried fruits

Whole, unshelled nuts and dried fruits can be kept for several months if stored correctly. As with grains and legumes, nuts and dried fruit should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place.

These nuts and dried fruits are perfect for storage:

  • unshelled walnuts
  • unshelled hazelnuts
  • unshelled peanuts
  • Apple crisps
  • dried apricots, prunes, or dates to taste
  • raisins

Spices

Without spices, the food would taste pretty monotonous. We, therefore, recommend that you always have a supply of different spices at home. Dried herbs and spice mixtures have a long shelf life and give even the simplest dishes that certain something.

These spices should not be missing in a well-stocked pantry:

  • Salt
  • pepper
  • dried vegetable broth
  • dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil
  • garlic powder
  • curry powder
  • coriander powder
  • nutmeg
  • paprika powder
  • Cinnamon

6. Vinegar and Oil

Cold-pressed oils can be kept unopened for up to twelve months. Refined oils can even be stored and sealed for a year or two. Sniff the oil to see if it’s still good. It is relatively easy to tell whether oil is rancid by smell. You can also try a small drop of the oil to make sure your nose was right. If it tastes bitter, throw it away and stop eating. Vinegar is sealed, stored in a dark and cool place, and can be stored almost indefinitely.

  • rapeseed oil
  • olive oil
  • sunflower oil
  • dark balsamic
  • light balsamic
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
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Vitamin C: What it Does, When It’s Missing, Where It’s in

The water-soluble vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is known to everyone and experiences a revival every year when the weather is bad. But why vitamin C at all? “It helps against a cold,” is the popular opinion. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Vitamin C strengthens the immune system. However, it has not been scientifically proven that it really has a preventive or healing effect on colds. And if the cold is already there, it comes, stays and goes (as a rule of thumb) for three days each – with or without the administration of ascorbic acid.

Vitamin C: effect

However, vitamin C not only helps the immune system, it can do much more:
As a radical scavenger and antioxidant, it protects cells from premature aging processes
necessary for the formation of collagen (component of connective tissue, teeth, skin, hair and nails)
important for cholesterol metabolism
important for fat metabolism
important for optimal absorption of iron
can increase sperm count
inhibits the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines during digestion
it helps in the formation of messenger substances and hormones

Vitamin C: deficiency

We humans cannot produce ascorbic acid ourselves and therefore have to get it from food. If our body doesn’t get enough of it, it can even lead to a disease: This is how scurvy occurs due to a vitamin C deficiency. Scurvy used to be the leading cause of death among seafarers who lacked access to fresh food at sea. Even today, scurvy still occurs wherever people eat too little C-containing food. If infants are affected, the disease is called “Möller-Barlow syndrome”, but the cause is the same.

Vitamin C deficiency manifests itself as follows:
bleeding gums
susceptibility to infection
poor wound healing
Joint and bone pain due to bleeding under the periosteum
Bleeding of the skin and mucous membranes, organs, muscles
tooth loss
Fatigue, dizziness and exhaustion
muscular dystrophy
joint inflammation
severe diarrhea
cardiac insufficiency
depressions
However, these symptoms can also have other causes.

Vitamin C: overdose

If you take too much vitamin C, you will get digestive problems such as diarrhea from about three to four grams per day. However, such a high intake can only occur through incorrect dosing of food supplements and cannot be achieved with natural foods. To clarify the amount: a heaped teaspoon of powder corresponds to about one gram.

People who are prone to kidney stones or have damaged kidneys should be particularly careful not to overdo it with ascorbic acid-containing remedies. After all, even a dose of one gram per day can lead to side effects.

Vitamin C: the daily requirement

The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) revised the reference values ​​in 2015, so that other information can be found in older literature. The DGE differentiates between the requirements for men and women, since the daily requirement also depends on body weight. According to the new guidelines, women should take in 95 mg and men 110 mg of vitamin C with food per day. The requirement increases to 105 mg for pregnant women and 125 mg of vitamin C per day for breastfeeding women. Smokers and also passive smokers have a significantly higher daily requirement of 135 mg (women) or 155 mg (men) per day.

Vitamin C: in which foods?

When it comes to vitamin C, everyone immediately thinks of citrus fruits. But even before lemons, oranges and tangerines ended up in our fruit basket, it was possible to have enough of them all year round. There are many locally grown fruits and vegetables that we can use to meet our daily needs.

The star among the local vitamin C bombs is the sea buckthorn. It originally comes from Central Asia, such as Mongolia. To this day, he ensures that people in barren, hostile regions are always well supplied with it. With 450 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, sea buckthorn is a local superfood that is only surpassed by the almost twice as high C content (1250 mg/100 g) of fresh rose hips and makes acerola superfluous.

Citrus fruits come a long way behind with only around 50 mg/100 g. Far better performers: blackcurrants (189 mg/100 g), peppers (139 mg/100 g), kale and Brussels sprouts (105-110 mg/100 g) or strawberries (63 mg/100 mg).

Unfortunately, much of the vitamin content of food is lost during preparation and storage. So make sure you buy food as fresh as possible – preferably directly from the producer – only store it for a short time and wash it undivided. Only cut fruit and vegetables just before eating to get the largest possible portion. Because ascorbic acid is heat sensitive, make sure you keep cooking times as short as possible.

By the way: It is also added to food as a preservative under the E numbers E300 to E304, E315 and E316. Manufacturers use this to protect, for example, apple juice from oxidation and browning; Cooked sausages can be made appetizingly reddish with it. It is also sometimes added to flour to improve its baking properties.

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