爲什麼要吃羅勒?

"The most useful thing one can know about basil," writes Marcella Hazan in her seminal cookbook Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, "is that the less it cooks, the better it is, and that its fragrance is never more seductive than when it is raw."

"關於羅勒的最有用的知識點就是，"瑪塞拉·哈杉（Marcella Hazan）在她的精品烹飪書Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking中寫道，"烹飪越少越好，羅勒的香味在生吃的時候最爲誘人。"

In the summer, the floral bouquet of basil is ubiquitous: in the garden; at the farmers' market; even at the supermarket. It's as pretty as a bunch of flowers this time of year, too, with a voluptuous heft and verdant leaves you just don't see in winter.

夏季，羅勒花無數不在：花園裏、農產品市場上、甚至超市裏。每年這個時候，羅勒就像一束鮮花般美麗，其葉子之茂盛、之蔥鬱，是你在冬日裏所見不到的。

It's also quite good for you. As Kara Lydon, RD, intuitive eating counselor and blogger, emailed Health, "Basil can help boost the antioxidants in your meals. … [It] contains one of the highest levels of the antioxidants beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants, also known as carotenoids, help to fight off oxidative stress in your body and may protect against chronic disease."

羅勒也有益人體健康。直覺飲食顧問、博主卡拉·萊登（Kara Lydon）註冊營養師在發給《健康》雜誌的郵件中寫道，"羅勒可以增強飲食中的抗氧化劑。它的β-胡蘿蔔素、葉黃素和玉米黃素抗氧化劑的含量最高。這些抗氧化劑，也被稱爲類胡蘿蔔素，有助於消除體內的氧化應激，或能預防慢性疾病。"

So you've got plenty of reasons to use every leaf on the bunch. Happily, there are plenty of ideas out there for how to do that. Here are a few of our favorites.

所以，這給了你足夠的理由去好好使用羅勒的每一片葉子。令人高興的是，很多方法都可以做到這一點，以下給您推薦了我們的最愛。

Pesto

香蒜醬

Make big bunches of pesto, and freeze any you can't use up before it goes bad in ice cube trays, with a layer of olive oil on top. Swirl pesto into pastas, on to soups, into risotto, and on top of baked salmon.

做一大盆香蒜醬，然後在製冰盒中放入你暫時用不到的香蒜醬冷凍，最上層塗一層橄欖油，以防止變質。意大利麪、湯、燴飯或是烤三文魚都可以蘸點香蒜醬。

Compound butter

複合黃油

The dreamiest of things to plunk on a steak, pork tenderloin, or grilled chicken, compound butter is as easy as combining room-temperature butter, chopped dry basil leaves, salt and pepper. Roll the mixture up in a layer of aluminum foil, as you would with extra cookie dough. Refrigerate until cold, and slice off rounds of green-flecked butter over the coming weeks.

作爲煎牛排、豬裏脊肉或烤雞肉時的最理想材料，複合黃油的做法非常簡單，就是把室溫下的黃油、切碎的幹羅勒葉、鹽和胡椒混合在一起。把混合物倒入另一層鋁箔紙內捲起，就像使用多餘的餅乾麪糰一樣。放入冰箱冷凍，接下來的幾周你就可以切下帶有綠色斑點的黃油啦。

Salads

沙拉

If you've never folded fresh herbs into your salads, let today be the day. Fresh leaves of basil are a delight in salads, even beyond the classic Caprese. Mustard, lemon, vinegar, and shallot-based dressings all take kindly to a handful of basil leaves folded in with the other greens.

如果你從未在沙拉中放過新鮮草藥，那就從今天開始嘗試吧。新鮮的羅勒葉很適合放在沙拉中，甚至比經典的Caprese沙拉更好吃。芥末、檸檬、醋和蔥調味醬都可以和羅勒葉以及其它蔬菜搭配。