Rick and I returned home after being out of town for almost two weeks to find that many of plants in our garden had almost tripled in size, especially our basil plants. I love basil. I love the taste. I love the fragrance. I love how well it grows in my garden, etc. And, I am amazed by its calcium content:
| Basil – ½ cup chopped fresh | Adult Daily Values | |
| Calories | 21.2 | |
| Calcium | 37.5 | 1000 – 1200 mg |
| Iron | 0.67 | 8 – 18 mg |
| Magnesium | 13.6 | 310 – 420 mg |
| Potassium | 66.5 | 4700 mg |
I enjoy basil in my salads and lots of other dishes that I make. I often use about ½ cup chopped fresh basil in my salads, which can provide a contributory amount of calcium, and other nutrients to my diet. Considering that ½ cup of chopped fresh basil has a little over 21 calories, the amounts of the minerals listed above per calorie is notable.
Basil is a member of the mint family, also known as the Lamiaceae. Other members of the mint family include peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, etc. I have grown numerous members of the mint family, and from my experience, many of these plants can grow and spread rather prolifically. Therefore, I currently grow mint family plants in containers to keep them from spreading throughout my garden. In my garden, I have found that basil does not spread as much as other mint family plants, so I grow it alongside my tomatoes.
There are many types of basil that I have grown in past years including: Thai basil, cinnamon basil, and my all-time favorite, sweet basil. Here is a photo of our raw food recipe for sweet basil with spiralized zucchini and marinara sauce:
Here is the recipe:
Marinara Sauce (one serving)
2 medium fresh tomatoes (2 cups chopped)
6 soaked sun dried tomatoes (1 ounce dry or 28.3 g)
½ tsp. dried oregano or other Italian spices
1 medjool or other type of date
¼ ripe avocado
Blend fresh tomatoes, spices, date, and avocado in blender, then add soaked sundried tomatoes and blend until smooth. For a lower fat recipe, leave out avocado. For garlic lovers, add ¼ clove of fresh garlic.
Zucchini pasta
To make zucchini pasta, we used a vegetable spiralizer. In general, for spiralizing, we like to use squash or zucchini that is younger in order to create softer noodles. We added the noodles to a bed of sweet basil and topped with marinara sauce, chopped bell pepper, and chopped heirloom tomato.
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