Savory Specialties

When Your Herbs Taste Like The Main Course

Mother nature doubled up on flavor profiles when she created aromatic vegetables, bold cheeses, and savory meats, and also leaves that taste just like them. Savory leaves can punch up any dish and add a talking point while breaking bread with friends. 

Fall is here, and so is the season of festivities and food freedom! Bountiful harvests from your local growers mean you won’t be confined to your local grocer's drab, mass-produced greens section of less than fresh options. Your palette and your plate deserve more! Go on, get crazy; you’re about to be a potluck hero with these savory leaves that will level up any dish. 

Savory Specialties: How to Use

Traditional herbs can undoubtedly heighten the flavor profile of any dish, but nothing adds interest like the flavor bait and switch of a savory green. These leaves are not only packed with nutritional benefits but are also intensely flavorful and, when wielded with care, can be the magic ingredient to your next meal.

Chinese Mahogany

The Chinese Mahogany (Toona sinensis) is a deciduous tree that originates from East Asia that produces edible fruit and leaves. Many Chinese families still grow Chinese Mahogany in their backyards to use for cooking, with the mandarin name translating to “fragrance of Spring.”

The leaves have an onion taste, making them an aromatic and savory ingredient for cooking. Traditionally in China, the Chinese mahogany shoots and leaves were sauteed with eggs, pickled, fried, or even used for teas.

Nutritional Benefits: Chinese Mahagany leaves have a high nutritional and medicinal value. The leaves contain vitamins A (beta carotene) and E, antioxidants, and folic acid. In addition, the bark, shoots, and leaves are widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for their anti-inflammatory and detoxifying abilities. 

Seasonal Remedy Power: In ancient Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practice, the Mahagany leaf was used for its detoxifying properties to clear away illness and skin ailments. Adding a few of these savory leaves to your meals during the fall can help keep seasonal colds at bay!

Pairs Well With: Take advantage of this leaves onion/roasted garlic flavor profile by stir-frying them into your next omelet. Another traditional use of Chinese Mahagany is to blend them into a paste with sesame oil, salt, and sugar to create a seasonal condiment that goes well with a soup or dumplings.

Mushroom Herb

The mushroom herb (Rungia klossii) is neither mushroom nor herb but certainly lives up to its flavorful name. Its origins can be traced back to Papua New Guinea, where it grows wild in mountainous areas. Thankfully, you no longer have to go on a days-long trek to find the mushroom herb as it's grown locally here in Washington, DC, freshly harvested for maximum nutrient retention and freshness. 

This exotic herb has versatile culinary uses and a flavor that becomes more potent the longer it is cooked, bringing out a bold earthy flavor. 

Nutritional Benefits: The mushroom herb contains a slightly higher protein value than an actual mushroom and also a notably high calcium content - coming in above kale, almonds, and soybeans. Additionally, the herb is a rich source of vitamin C , beta-carotene, and a wealth of micronutrients.  It will basically leave you better than it found you. 

Seasonal Remedy Power: The mushroom herb plant contains an exceptional amount of chlorophyll, making it an excellent blood cleanser. Add a few sprigs to your salad to support a Fall detox.

Pairs Well With: Like any aromatic herb, it is best used fresh as a layered flavor to compliment soups or stews. Additionally, the mushroom herb’s crisp, crunchy shoots make it a great textural addition to your salad blend.

Cheese Leaf

If you are a Vietnamese chef, you have cheese leaf, (Paederia Lanuginosa) on hand at all times. Although this plant is from the same family as coffee, it has an aroma and taste all its own. The heart-shaped leaves have a flavor reminiscent of camembert or bleu cheese without the creaminess.  

While this plant has more colorful names in Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, both highly value the plant for its pungent-tasting leaves, which can be eaten raw or cooked.

Nutritional Benefits: Members of the Paederia family of plants have been used in Ayurvedic medicine practices for centuries, with the cheese leaf plant thought to be helpful in supporting digestive health. 

Seasonal Remedy Power: Juice a few cheese leaves into a cold-pressed fruit juice to support your digestive health after festive holiday eating. 

Pairs Well With: The rich, nutty, earthy, and otherwise completely unique flavor of the cheese leaf makes it a fascinating and fun ingredient to work into Asian-inspired dishes. Use it like a Vietnamese chef and sprinkle it liberally on fresh fish or rice dishes. Cheese leaf also adds a nuanced flavor to blended sauces and dressings.