The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2017

Incorporate the Goodness of Grains
Green Witch Kitchen Recipes
Walking the Green Path

In general, grains—wheat, barley, rice, and corn—represent security, abundance, fertility, cycles, and prosperity. Here are two recipes for side dishes based on grains. They both incorporate herbs and cheese, which is magically associated with love and health. You may adjust the herbs to those of your preference.

CHEESE AND HERB RICE

Rice is magically associated with fertility, prosperity, and abundance, which is one of the reasons it has traditionally been thrown at wedded couples. This recipe makes a good side dish to serve with a sturdy meat or heavy vegetable dish.

Serves 4 as a side dish

✵ 1 cup uncooked white rice

✵ 1 ³/₄—2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

✵ ¹/₂ cup shredded Cheddar cheese

✵ 1 small onion, peeled and grated

✵ 2 large eggs, beaten

✵ ¹/₄ cup butter

✵ ¹/₂ cup mixed fresh chopped herbs (such as rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano, chives)

✵ 1 ¹/₂ cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.

2. In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Add cheese, onion, eggs, and butter to the cooked rice in the saucepan and mix well to blend. Gently stir in herbs and milk.

4. Spoon into a 2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 1 ¹/₂ hours.

HERBED POLENTA SLICES

Polenta is cornmeal cooked into a creamy solid about the texture of soft mashed potatoes. It’s usually served as a side dish, like potatoes or rice. Also like those starches, it’s versatile and can be dressed up or left as plain as you wish. To make polenta, use cornmeal that’s about the consistency of sand (a flour-like consistency is too fine). The trick to preparing it is to never stop stirring. Corn is magically associated with prosperity, health, and fertility. These slices are excellent hot, but can also be eaten cold. They’re wonderful served with a hearty salad as a main dish. Magical associations of this dish include prosperity, health, and protection.

Serves 8 as a side dish, 4 as a main dish

✵ 2 ¹/₂ cups chicken or vegetable stock

✵ ²/₃ cup cornmeal

✵ ³/₄ cup grated sharp cheese (such as Gruyère, Swiss, or Emmentaler)

✵ 3 teaspoons butter, divided

✵ 1 ¹/₂ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

✵ 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

✵ 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

✵ Salt and pepper (optional)

✵ 8 small sprigs of herbs for garnish (optional)

1. Butter a 9-inch glass pie dish. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Bring stock to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Slowly add cornmeal in a stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

3. Reduce the heat to minimum and keep stirring until the mixture thickens (6—8 minutes). Remove from heat.

4. Add the grated cheese and half the butter. Stir until the cheese has melted and been fully combined with the polenta.

5. Stir in the fresh chopped herbs. Season with salt and/or pepper if desired.

6. Scrape polenta into the buttered baking dish. Spread evenly. Cool until firm (about 30 minutes).

7. Line a baking sheet with foil. Slice the cooled polenta into eight wedges. Remove each wedge from the pie dish to the baking sheet, turning each wedge over so the smooth side is on top. Dot each wedge with a bit of the remaining butter.

8. Bake until heated through (about 10 minutes). In the last 1—2 minutes, add an herbal sprig to the top of each wedge.

Last but certainly not least, here is a recipe for bread. Bread flour is wheat based and, like other grain products, carries the magical association of prosperity. Bread itself represents stability, harmony, and success.

HERB PEASANT BREAD

This recipe is a good base for any combination of herbal additions. Try using fresh herbs, but if you use dry make sure to chop or grind them finely. This bread is wonderful to eat while still warm and spread with lots of butter. Magical associations for this bread are health, prosperity, abundance, and stability.

Makes 1 loaf or round

✵ 1 tablespoon sugar

✵ 1 cup warm water (around 110°F), divided

✵ 2 heaping teaspoons yeast (or 1 package)

✵ 1 teaspoon salt

✵ 2 cups flour, plus more for kneading

✵ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

✵ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

✵ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

✵ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

✵ 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for coating

1. In a cup or small bowl, stir sugar into ¹/₄ cup of warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over it and allow it to proof until foamy (about 5 minutes).

2. In a large bowl, stir salt into the flour. Make a well in the flour and pour the proofed yeast in.

3. Add the herbs and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the flour mixture. Stir to combine all ingredients.

4. Slowly add remaining warm water as you stir to create a firm dough ball. If you add too much water, simply add a bit of flour to compensate.

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the scrapings to the dough ball. Sprinkle the ball and bowl with a bit of flour. Cover with a clean, damp cloth and set to rise in a warm place with no drafts until doubled in size (approximately 1 ¹/₂ hours).

6. Remove dough from bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead for approximately 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Sprinkle flour onto the kneading surface as necessary so that the dough does not stick.

7. Shape dough into a flattened circle about 1 inch thick or into a loaf-shaped log. Place on baking sheet. Brush the entire top with olive oil and leave to rise to the height you desire. (Placing the dough in a barely warm oven is a good place for it to rise.)

8. Heat oven to 400°F. (If your bread is rising in the oven, remove it carefully and then heat the oven.) Bake the bread for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Other herbal blends that would be delicious additions for bread include:

✵ 2 teaspoons rosemary, 1 teaspoon oregano, and 1 teaspoon thyme

✵ 1 small onion (peeled and grated) and 2 teaspoons dill

✵ 1 small onion (peeled and grated) and 1—2 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)