Last weekend, I went out on a little urban foraging mission and ended up picking lots of lovely yarrow. The floral herb with its feather like leafes and beautiful white little flower buds makes a fabulous and cute miniture bunch of flowers has found its culinary and medicinal use for centuries.

The great thing about yarrow is, that it grows everywhere, so you do not need to look for long until you find some. I love using the flower buds to make some yummy salt, so on top of using it as decoration for my coffee table, I got out pestle and morter to ground the flowers into a fragrant green salt.

Yarrow supports digestion and aids wound healing amongst other benefits. The latter was taken advantage of by the soldiers of many wars, treating the wounded, that’s why yarrow is also called “soldier’s woundwort”. The soothing anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic activity on the digestive tract may help reduce bloating.  Furthermore some research has found vasodilatory  effects, which makes it such a good match with salt. Careful though, salt should be used with care and in moderation, even in combination with this gorgeous herb.

You can use the leaves and flour buds in salads, stews and casseroles too, its sweet bitter taste is similar that of tarragon and can be used as a substitute. The season is coming to an end in October, so there still is time to go out and get some.

Yarrow Salt -Ingredients:
100g Yarrow flower buds (fresh or dried) – if using fresh make sure you wash and shake it dry before use
100g Sea salt

Method:
Simply remove the white little flower buds from the stem, add them to sea salt (1:1) and finely ground with a pestle and mortar , spread out on baking paper and leave to dry in a warm place for a day or two. If you are using dried yarrow , there is no need to dry it again. I hope you like this delicious alternative to your regular salt.  As always with anything salty, use sparsely and in enjoy in moderation.

Enjoy

xx