Ginger root

I love ginger. I don’t cook with it enough. One of my favorite salad and fish dishes both have ginger but I find myself buying it often and forgetting about it. There are several reported benefits of ginger; it is thought to work directly on the gastro intestinal system to reduce nausea, motion sickness and to aid in digestion, in addition to relieve aches and pains. It has been popular since ancient times in both India and China where it was used as a medicine and more recently, due to a great deal of research, has been brought to the attention of doctors and other health professionals in the US. I won’t pretend to know much about the complexity of ginger and all the components it possesses, but do know that it has been said to have anti-cancer effects, anti-inflammatory properties as well as the above mentioned anti-nausea effects. You can take ginger in the form of fresh, pickled, candied, dried or in a syrup form. If you’ve never tried cooking with it, give it a chance. It really does make a dish stand out. If you are interested in using it as a supplement, you can purchase capsules (usually in 500 mg, where a usual does is 1 to 2 grams a day) in the health food stores.

Do you have a favorite dish using ginger? I’d to hear it!