Herbal medicine recipes >>>> Healing recipes with Melissa

Healing recipes with Melissa.

Melissa officinalis is a very common plant among its medicinal counterparts. Many people are familiar with the Melissa plant, but not many know that Melissa officinalis is the official name for Lemon Balm. Due to its natural unpretentiousness, the Melissa plant has managed to occupy quite extensive habitats (the Middle East, Asia, Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern Europe, North America, North Africa), and most often the plant is found in its wild form. Melissa is familiar to most people as a spicy plant, as a culinary condiment. But Melissa officinalis, unlike most spice plants, is cultivated for its essential oils, which are used in the pharmaceutical and perfume industries, and also grown as a plant used in beekeeping. Melissa is also grown as a plant used in beekeeping, from which the name is borrowed - in Greek "Melissa" - a bee.

The widespread use of Melissa is due to the high concentration in the aerial part of the plant of a particularly valuable essential oil, which includes: linalool, geraniol, citral and citronellal and other valuable substances, as well as organic acids (Ascorbic, Ursolic, Oxalic).

Of healing interest is the fresh raw material of Melissa, collected before the moment of its flowering or at the stage of budding. Flowers are needed by bees to collect pollen for honey, and the pharmaceutical and perfumery significance of Melissa's essential oils lies in its green shoots (in leaves, stems). Melissa green shoots are rich in B vitamins (B1 and B2), carotene, which makes the Melissa plant a successful and very valuable ingredient in culinary dishes and drinks, and in particular fresh salads, cold summer soups, sauces, soft drinks, milk drinks, cocktails.

Melissa officinalis is more valuable as a remedy when it is consumed fresh. For this reason, it makes sense to have a plant in your own land or grow Melissa in a pot, which is quite easy to do. Unlike many useful culinary plants, Melissa easily adapts to the limited space of a container, which allows her to be grown on a windowsill at home. Melissa officinalis in its home version has many advantages over any indoor plant, as it creates a very pleasant perfumery atmosphere indoors. In addition, the presence of a home version of the Melissa plant allows you to always have fresh green vegetables for vitamin purposes on the dining table.

How to use the Melissa officinalis plant in cooking so that the food becomes therapeutic?

The healing properties of Melissa have been known since very ancient times, this has formed the focus of the use of Melissa as a medicine. But the Melissa plant has a peculiarity - its medicinal significance ends with the withering or drying of the plant, from that moment the action of Melissa as a spicy aromatic culture begins. For this reason, dishes with the participation of Melissa are prepared so that she can be added at the end of cooking, when the heat treatment of the ingredients of the dish is completed, i.e. before serving the dish to the table.

Almost all recipes using Melissa are medicinal in nature. But dishes featuring Melissa have a hint of lemon flavor, and this should be taken into account when adding the plant to food. Melissa tastes well with all green salad plants - with cabbage (headed and leafy), with onions, with green salads, as well as with vegetables - cucumbers and zucchini, with tomatoes and eggplant, with potatoes, carrots and beets. Fresh Melissa greatly decorates berry and fruit salads in taste and aroma. Melissa is ideally combined with fish and seafood, with poultry and cattle meat, with pork. Of particular note is the combination of fresh Melissa with dairy products and its derivatives (yoghurt, sour cream, cream, cottage cheese, cheese).

Salad with Melissa.

To prepare such a salad, you will need the following ingredients: half a head of lettuce or kale, six radishes, one onion, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, two boiled eggs, 3.5 ounces of yoghurt, two tablespoons of finely chopped Melissa greens, a pinch of sugar, salt to taste, one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (5%). Cut all the vegetables into a salad in any way of slicing, cut the eggs into cubes, add chopped Melissa, pour in yoghurt, mix until the yoghurt is evenly distributed among the vegetables, add sugar and salt, season with a spoonful of apple cider vinegar and a spoonful of vegetable oil. Salad with Melissa is eaten fresh.

Yoghurt with Melissa.

If yoghurt is chosen for the preparation of the drink, then varieties of yogurt without flavorings are suitable. For 34 ounces of yoghurt, finely chop Melissa greens in the amount of two tablespoons. Stir Melissa greens in yoghurt and put in the refrigerator to cool. Next, pour the chilled drink into cups and serve at the table for breakfast, or lunch or dinner in addition to the main dishes.

Meat with Melissa.

For cooking meat according to the recipe with Melissa you will need 1 pound of boiled any kind of meat, one head of onion, two cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of pecans or walnuts lightly roasted and crushed into crumbs, one tablespoon of finely chopped fresh herbs of Melissa, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt to taste. Cut the boiled meat into pieces, cut the onion into half rings, crush the garlic and add to the meat. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, add the meat with onion and garlic, quickly fry until the onion softens, salt and mix. Put the meat in portioned plates, sprinkle each serving with nut crumbs and chopped Melissa, stir. Meat with Melissa can be served with rice, pasta, cereals, boiled potatoes or eaten as an independent dish.

Melissa officinalis has very diverse therapeutic effects. Due to this, the plant is able to have a calming effect on the general condition of the nervous system, but an exciting effect on the digestive system. Due to the pronounced antiseptic properties, the plant can be used in the treatment of inflammation of the oral mucosa, injured skin. The action of essential oils of Melissa provides her with the properties of a flavoring agent and breath freshener, which is useful for diseases of the respiratory system (asthma, bronchitis, shortness of breath of a different nature). At the same time, the aroma of Melissa has a pronounced therapeutic effect due to the property of aromatic esters to reduce the load on the nerve endings, which allows the aroma of Melissa to be used as an analgesic for headaches during periods of fatigue, as an antispasmodic to relax the vascular wall, thereby reducing cardiac activity (slow down the heartbeat). Can relieve intestinal spasms and reduce flatulence by eating Melissa fresh.