Too much salt can significantly damage your health so this Salt Awareness Week (26 March – 1 April) swap your salt cellar for some fresh herbs. Instead, enjoy the charming aromatics of a wide range of fresh herbs that will not only add flavour to your food but also mouth-watering aromas to your kitchen. The brilliant fresh flavour of parsley is perfect with eggs, or in soups and sauces; cool, clean-flavoured mint is fantastic for flavouring vegetables and salads; strongly aromatic sage is slightly bitter and great with pork and poultry; pungent thyme is excellent in soups, casseroles and meat dishes; chives can add a subtle onion taste to all manner of dishes, and the aroma of basil is wonderfully reminiscent of the summer, in salads.

Top chefs wax lyrical about the virtues of fresh herbs versus salt. Raymond Blanc was brought up on a low salt diet, and says: “Herbs are a wonderful way to put a bit of oomph to your flavour. You have got hundreds of flavours within the herb sector. Salt is not the only catalyst, there are so many others that beg to be used instead”. Meanwhile, Mary Berry says she adds fresh herbs to scrambled eggs for a scrumptious but oh-so-easy supper for her grandchildren.

It is all too easy to eat too much salt in processed and ready-made food, but when you’re cooking from scratch there really is no excuse for overloading your food with salt. Here are some quick and easy ways to use fresh herbs instead of salt....

• Try experimenting with adding fresh herbs to everyday meals such as cheesy omelette - chives, basil and curly leaf parsley is a great combo.
• Many people overload homemade soup with salt in an attempt to add flavour. Instead use fresh herbs. There is a world of simple and delicious combinations such as carrot and coriander (recipe below), potato and thyme, tomato and basil, butterbean and rosemary, or pea and mint.
• Another great way to reduce your salt intake is ditching the salted butter. Instead, try making your own herb butter using your favourite fresh herbs (recipe below). You can slice off a piece to serve melted on top of steak or stir into cooked vegetables.
• There are many more ways to season a roast than rubbing in salt. Try lemon and rosemary roast chicken - very finely chop 2 sprigs of rosemary, mix with 2 tbsp of butter, 1 crushed garlic, clove, the zest of one lemon and half a chilli, chopped, press under the skin of the chicken breast and roast.
• Don’t let salt slip into your veg either. Instead try carrots with a glaze of honey and sprinkled with thyme, roast vegetables with thyme and rosemary, or serve new potatoes with fresh mint or chives.
• Don’t add salt to boiling water when cooking pasta. Instead stir in fresh chopped parsley and olive oil once cooked.

We only need very small amounts of salt (sodium chloride) in our diet for good health. In fact adults only need about 1.4g a day, and children far less, to play an important role in keeping our body fluids balanced, transmitting information in our nerves and muscles and enabling the uptake of nutrients into our cells. The adult intake should not exceed 6g.

This year, Salt Awareness Week is highlighting the link between salt reduction and stroke prevention. One of the biggest health implications of eating too much salt is high blood pressure, which is the single most important risk factor for stroke – responsible for 62% of strokes. Stroke is the third biggest killer in the UK and the leading cause of severe adult disability. Evidence also suggests that a high salt intake has a direct, independent effect on stroke. Reducing average salt intake by just 1g per day can prevent at least 2,600 deaths from stroke every year, and countless events that do not result in death.

All supermarkets now carry a wide range of herbs in pots and packs, so there is no excuse not to get cooking with them. Below are some easy recipes to help reduce your salt intake by using flavoursome fresh herbs. Visit www.fresh-herbs.co.uk for more delicious recipes.

Herb butter 

1.       Add 2 tbsp of favourite chopped herbs to a 225g pack of softened butter and mix thoroughly.

2.     Lay out a double-layered 30cm piece of cling film and place the butter in the middle of it.

3.     Roll the butter in the cling film and make it into the shape of a sausage. Tighten by twisting the ends. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set.

4.       Slice a piece off each time you need it. Delicious melted on top of steak or stirred into steamed vegetables. Try adding a clove of garlic for added punch.

Classic Carrot and Coriander Soup

Preparation: 10mins

Cooking: 20-25mins

Serves 4

Cost: 19p per person

Ingredients

15ml/1tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

450g/1lb carrots, washed and sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

5ml/1 tsp ground coriander

1.2 ltr/2 pints vegetable stock

45ml/3tbsp chopped fresh coriander

squeeze of lemon juice

freshly grated nutmeg to taste

freshly ground black pepper

single cream to serve if liked

Cooking Instructions

1.     Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions, carrots and garlic, sauté for 4mins, until they are beginning to soften but not colour. Stir in the ground coriander and ground black pepper and cook for 1min.

2.     Add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20mins or until the carrots are really tender, then stir in the fresh coriander.

3.     Whizz the soup with a stick blender or transfer to a food processor. Add the lemon juice and nutmeg to taste. Reheat until just hot but not boiling and serve. Garnish with a swirl of cream if liked.

Simple Cheese and Herb Omelette

Preparation: 5 mins

Cooking: 3-4 mins

Serves 1

Ingredients

3 large eggs

freshly ground black pepper

a knob of butter

30ml/2tbsp snipped fresh chives

30ml/2tbsp snipped fresh basil

30ml/2tbsp chopped fresh curly parsley

50g/2oz cheddar cheese, grated

Cooking Instructions

1.     Beat the eggs with freshly ground black pepper and a dash of cold water. Add half the herbs. Melt the butter in a medium non-stick frying pan and when it’s sizzling, pour in the egg mixture.

2.     Cook over a medium heat for 30 seconds or so, then use a wooden spatula to push the cooked egg to the centre of the pan allowing the runny egg to fill the space. Repeat until there is no runny egg left. Cook for a further 30 seconds by which time the base should be golden and the top just set.

3.     Scatter over the herbs and cheese, then use the spatula to fold the omelette and transfer to a warm plate. Serve straight away.