A pantry full of herbal vinegar is always a delight, especially ones infused with medicinal herbs which provide nourishment as well as flavor.
When I discovered that I could easily make this herbal vinegar at home, I began learning how to use them in soups, marinades, tonics, and even for cleaning my house. Their piquant tastes brought new and exciting flavors to salads, vegetables, meats, and desserts. The combinations are endless and making them makes me feel like a chemist in the kitchen.
Vinegar itself has been used for thousands of years to deodorize, disinfect, preserve food, and to make medicinal formulas. It is said that before the invention of high proof alcohols, many medicines were made using water, wine, and vinegar. In fact, it is believed that the fabled four thieves formula was made using vinegar as its base.
Vinegar itself has many powerful benefits, especially raw apple cider vinegar
.
Some of them include:
• Balancing high cholesterol
• Improving digestion
• Supporting hair and skin health
• Reduces fatigue
• Counters osteoporosis
• Improves metabolic functioning
• Moderates high blood pressure
To name a few…
Infusing vinegar with herbs creates an unstoppable combination of healing nutritive herbs with the health-promoting effects of vinegar. The best part? They don’t taste like medicine! In fact, they taste so good I use them daily on all manner of food items, as well as my morning vinegar tonic.
It’s really easy to incorporate herbal vinegar, just pour a spoonful over grains, greens, or beans, add them to salad dressings, dips, soups, and stir-fry.
Regular use of medicinal herbal vinegar promotes a healthy immune system that staves off colds and flu more effectively. Herbal vinegar also provides the body with usable calcium and other minerals because it frees up these nutrients in the food you put it on by ⅓. Pretty amazing!
Combined with herbs, vinegar is better than your calcium supplement! It is said that 1 TB of herb-infused raw apple cider vinegar has the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk.
So don’t be shy! Take part in the strident life force of herbal vinegar…
How to Make Herbal Vinegar
• Enough herbal material to fill a jar (at least a 1:2 ratio. 1 cup herb to 2 cups vinegar)
• A mason jar
of your choice (it’s handy to have different sizes on hand. Recycling a glass jar works well for this)
• Plastic lid
for the mason jar (vinegar reacts to metal, so this is important!)
• A pair of sharp scissors for cutting
• Vinegar of your choice (champagne
, raw apple cider, red wine
, or white wine vinegar
)
Loving Preparation - Herbal Vinegar
• Cut up the fresh or dried herbs with a knife or scissors
into small pieces
• Fill the jar with the herb (do not overfill)
• Pour the vinegar over the herbs
• Screw on the plastic lid
• Label
the jar and gently shake
• Place the jar in a cool dark place for up to 6 weeks, shaking occasionally
• After 6 weeks, strain the vinegar through a fine cloth
and bottle
The vinegar will last indefinitely in a cool dark cupboard.
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Tasty Herbs to Use for Your Herbal Vinegar
There are so many wonderful herbs to use alone or combined to make exceptionally tasty vinegar.
Some of my all-time favorites include:
Apple Cider Vinegar
• Dill
, bay leaf
, and garlic
• Hot red pepper
and onion
• Tarragon
, chives
, and garlic
• Cracked nutmeg
, basil
, garlic, and shallot
• Yellow dock
(open the capsules)
You can get high-quality raw apple cider vinegar here.
Champagne Vinegar
• Lemon verbena
and thyme
• Lemongrass
, lemon zest, and garlic
• Lemon balm
(open the bags of tea)
You can get champagne vinegar here.
Red Wine Vinegar
• Thyme, rosemary
, oregano
, and garlic
• Dill, basil, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, mint
, bay leaf, and peppercorn
• Cilantro
, sage
, and hot red pepper
• Thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil
• Parsley
, sage, rosemary, and thyme (ha!)
• Ginger root
, garlic, and cilantro
You can buy red wine vinegar here.
White Wine
• Cardamom
and mint
• Dill and shallots
• Basil, chives, garlic, and tarragon
• Lemon balm and basil
• Elderflower
, shallot, and peppercorns
• Lavender
• Orange peel
• Catnip
• Bee balm
• Nettles
You can buy white wine vinegar here.
Find all of the above herbs at Mountainroseherbs.com!
You can even add powdered spices to these blends for some really exotic combinations. For best results, try to consume 1 TB of herbal vinegar a day.
For more on the uses and benefits of vinegar, check out these articles:
10 Ways to Use Apple Cider Vinegar
7 DIY Cleaning Recipes Using Vinegar
Fruit Scrap Vinegar Recipe
The Benefits of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Easy Probiotics – Raw Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic
How to make vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar Recipes
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