I love recipes that include ginger. Ginger is credited with many health benefits including weight loss. Ginger should not be used to treat or cure any condition without consulting your doctor or medical professional. Ginger should also not be used with the sole intent of losing weight. There is no one food, herb, or supplement that can cause you to lose weight. Losing weight is a simple math equation of burning more calories than you take in. Regardless of herbs or ginger, you can lose weight successfully by following a balanced diet and exercise. Due to the claims that ginger may aid in weight loss it is worth exploring. However, please note that the claims accredited to ginger have never been proven.
Ginger has long been said to aid in treating digestion, nausea, intestinal gas, induce sweating, lower blood pressure and help the circulation. Many pregnant women drink ginger tea or eat ginger lollipops to aid in nausea. Many others have seen improvement in their digestion by drinking ginger tea or simply by adding it to their meals. Ginger is great in stir fries, to season fish or chicken, heavenly when paired with garlic and wonderful in salad dressings. It has a distinct “Asian” taste that many will recognize even if they are not familiar with ginger. If you are a tea drinker you can simply make a pot of ginger tea by boiling a cup of water and adding in 1 tablespoon of grated ginger.
Below is a recipe for Ginger Salad Dressing. My husband and I love the salad dressing at our favorite Japanese restaurant. To bring the flavor home a friend of mine shared this recipe with me.
Ginger Salad Dressing
Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 lemon, juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon prepared Dijon-style mustard
2 teaspoons honey
ground black pepper to taste
Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, mustard, honey and pepper. Once these are thoroughly combined, add the oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly. When all of the oil is incorporated into the dressing, pour into a glass jar and chill until serving.