Adding herbs to your dishes will give it a new dimension in flavor and aroma.
Herbs can be used as a primary ingredient as basil is to pesto, or simply to add in a certain flavor to a dish, like adding rosemary to chicken.
Herbs may also be used as a rub for marinating meat and poultry, and used stuffed inside a fish that is to be grilled.
Herbs not only are added to food for flavor and aroma, they also contain vitamins.
A couple of examples are basil, which has very high vitamin A content and parsley which has a lot of vitamin C.
When you use herbs, it is similar to adding dark green vegetables to your diet.
The nutritional value of herbs is truly a plus to your meal.
  In addition, by means of using herbs, you can substantially lessen the amount of salt that you place into your food, and can even totally eliminate the use of salt in certain dishes by using an herb salt substitute.
Making it is easy and it will last you for quite some time.
You can even make your own combination of herbs for your own personal use or to be given away as a gift.
  Using herbs to lessen your salt intake is very beneficial to people who have an existing health problem and need to lessen their salt intake.
It will also have health benefits for people who simply want to have a healthier diet.
The average allowable sodium intake for a healthy diet is 600 mg daily, and most of the sodium that we intake is already in the food product itself.
Use your taste buds to judge if the food product is high in salt, if it tastes salty, like oysters, it is high in sodium, and if it tastes bland, like turkey meat, it has less salt.
One way of preparing a quick and tasty meal is to marinate poultry or fish with garlic and lemon before placing it on the grill.
Another way is to simply lessen the salt that you use to ¼ of what you regularly use and substituting it with chilies or other spices to make up for food flavor.
  Here is a simple herb salt-substitute that you can make.
Use it by sprinkling it sparingly on dishes before marinating, grilling, baking or frying or use after the dish is cooked.
It is better to use dried herbs to make your salt substitute as it will keep for a longer time.
  Salt Substitute Herb Recipe Use any of the two recipe bases as your salt substitute or add in more herbs for variation.
  Recipe base 1:   2 tbsp.
garlic powder 1 tsp.
pepper, finely ground ½ tsp.
chili powder   Recipe base 2:   1 tbsp.
garlic powder 1 tbsp.
onion powder 1 tsp.
pepper   For your variants, add a recipe base to any of the combinations given below.
  Asian Flair   1 tbsp.
ginger powder 1 tbsp.
grated lemon peel   Italian Style   1 tbsp.
dried basil 1 tbsp.
dried oregano 1 tbsp.
dried parsley flakes   Mexican Heat   1 tbsp.
dried chili flakes 2 tbsp.
grated lemon peel   Spanish Touch   1 tsp.
ground paprika 1 tbsp.
garlic powder Pinch of saffron   European Delight   1 tbsp.
dried dill leaves 1 tsp.
dried rosemary 1 tsp.
dried sage 1 tsp.
dried thyme   Place all the ingredients into a glass jar or a spice container so that your salt substitute can be sprinkled on easily into your food.
Shake well to evenly distribute the mixture.
Store it in a dry, dark place for up to 3 months.