In cooking it can be used for savoury dishes like Thai-style dishes or soups, or sweet dishes like ginger biscuits and cakes.

It is healing, anti-inflammatory, grounding and warming. Who wouldn’t want to be ginger!

Used in moderation, ginger can have many health benefits. Here are three:

Motion sickness

I have suffered from motion sickness since I was a kid, but nothing settles the stomach better than a fresh ginger tea. Ideally, I try to have a cup of ginger tea before my journey or I cut a piece of ginger and place on tongue to avoid or reduce nausea before and during the journey. Alternatively, you can chew on some mixed with a little honey.

Treatment for colds

Ginger relieves cold and flu symptoms, soothes a sore throat and calms a headache. See the ginger tea recipe below, and keep it handy as the weather begins to bite!

Digestion

When drunk as a tea, ginger stimulates saliva, bile and gastric juice production to aid in digestion, especially if drunk before a meal.

Ginger Tea Recipe

Ginger tea is my drink of choice, especially in the cooler months. I love nothing more than wrapping my hands around a warm mug of ginger tea whilst inhaling the delicious and calming aromas.

Simply grate 2 tablespoons of ginger into a small saucepan, fill with water and bring to a rolling boil for a few minutes. Strain into a mug adding honey to taste.

To treat cold symptoms grate turmeric together with the ginger, add lemon and honey to taste (an alternative to fresh turmeric would be half a teaspoon of turmeric powder). When my kids get sick this is the first thing they ask for!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Honey stir-fried Asian greens with ginger and cashews recipe

Ingredients:

Serves 4

400 grams rice noodles, cook according to packet instructions

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

1 bunch bok choy (separate leaves from the stems)

1 bunch Chinese broccoli (separate leaves from the stems)

2 tablespoons tamari

2 tablespoons honey

½ cup cashews

Shallots, chopped and fried in coconut oil

Preparation:

Heat a wok over high heat and add ½ cup cashews and toss until golden and remove. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil and fry the garlic, ginger, bok choy stems and Chinese broccoli stems until tender, then add the leaves and tamari and honey and stir- fry until leaves slightly wilt.

Stir in the cooked noodles and cashews and lightly toss and sprinkle with the fried shallots.

If you were a spice what would you be?

Have a zestful day!

Bren x