[E332]Everyday Cooking Martha Stewart

Anyone who is at least a beginner when it comes to cooking in the kitchen has more then likely already incorporated many of the elements of aromatherapy into some the dishes they have created. Making use of various ingredients such as infused oils and flavored butters can add a incredible amount of depth in flavor to the meals you cook. When you use these types of ingredients you cause your smell receptors to burst with activity and come alive from a flood of tantalizing aromatic sensations.

Many of us have a tendency to overlook the obvious fact that part of enjoying the meals we eat involves using more than just our sense of taste. Living a fast paced lifestyle is becoming the norm for many people, it is becoming more and more common that many of us never have enough time to fully appreciate the meals we do eat. The sad side effect of this constant eating on the go is we end up never giving our brains the time it needs to fully process and appreciate our dining experiences. If we would allow ourselves to slow down a bit, we could give our selves a much fuller experience incorporating more then just our sense of taste. Not only will we enjoy our food more but something many people do not realize is that giving our brains a more sensory rich experience in general helps to create new neural networks. There are many positive health and psychological benefits from expanding our neural pathways.

A majority of what we taste is greatly influenced by it's associated smells. The reason for this is simple, if we would only taste the flavors our tongues were designed to process, we would end up only able to distinguish a very small pallette of flavors. Sweetness, sourness, saltiness and bitterness. You can easily test this the next time you walk into any home or restaurant while food is being prepared. You will notice that even before we see food we can easily smell it. Not only that, but many times we are able to pick out the different aromas and we end up instantly hungry as our taste buds begin to water.

Here are a couple of easy ways to incorporate aromatherapy into your own cooking.

First any good chef will tell you, do not be afraid to experiment with your food! playing with the many different varieties of herbs, spices and edible flowers can help breathe a wonderful new life into many dishes which may have became tiered with time. Using these types of powerful taste enhancing ingredients will almost surely turn the most boring of simple foods such as plain vegetables into meals you truly look forward to eating.

One of the many benefits of incorporating aromatherapy into your home cooking is its ability to help you lose weight. A common reason why many people are drawn toward foods high in fat is the simple fact that many of these foods just taste so good. While it is true that cheese, creams, gravies and butter can help add a lot of flavor to many dishes, they also have the side affect of adding quite a bit of extra calories. Try using more vegetables, fruits and lean meats in your recipes while flavoring them with a powerful aromatic herb or flavored oil. By doing this you will not only provide your self with many additional vitamins and nutrients but also give your self a healthy alternate way to enhance flavors without using high fat ingredients.

In order to add aroma and flavor to food with mother natures treasure trove, you have got to first release the powerful oils from the various plant material. Using heat to extract a plants aromatics is a common and effective method, however if you use to much heat you will burn the plants and end up spoiling your meal. To get the ideal results, it is always best to heat the herbs very slowly under a low heat.

The different ways you can use aromatherapy in your cooking.

Infusions

One great way to incorporate aromatherapy into your cooking is through the use of infusions. An infusion can add a tremendous variety of different flavors to your meals and as bonus they are very easy to make. An infusion is just a combination of an oil or water base that has been steeped with some sort of herb or flower for a period of time.

Herbed butter

Many herbed butters can be a fantastic addition to your dishes. They can add a lot of flavor as well as an incredible aroma to just about any meal. But due to the butter base you want to use herbed butters sparingly and in moderation. As with infusions, making herbed butters is quite easy.

Fresh herbs

If you use fresh herbs in your cooking, you will get much more pronounced flavors when compared to the use of dried herbs.

Here are some quick ideas you can easily use to incorporate aromatherapy into your cooking.

A Healthy alternative for pasta instead of the standard cheese and meat combination is to try tossing in some vegetables that have been sauteed in an infused oils.

Also the next time you are cooking poultry, vegetables or seafood, try brushing them with an herbed butter, then just wrap in aluminum tin foil and grill or bake. The trapped steam inside the wrapped aluminum foil will help the flavors of the herbed butters seep throughout whatever it is you are cooking.

There are many additional ways to use aromatherapy in cooking, as was said before don't be afraid to experiment and let your creativity run wild!