Pineapple sage is an exotic plant with many benefits and a sweet aroma. Salvia rutilans is a versatile crop in the kitchen and proves to be an easy-care and flowering plant if you offer it optimal conditions for growing.
How to use pineapple sage?
Pineapple sage is ideal as a pot plant and spice in sweet and savory dishes. The delicate leaves and flowers refine salads, soups and desserts, while they can also be used as a flavoring in tea blends.
potted plant
Pineapple sage is not hardy and is therefore recommended for planting in containers. Use a tall container with a volume of ten liters. Cover the bottom with gravel or shards of pottery and fill the container with a substrate mixture of compost, clay and sand in equal parts. Place the pot with the plant in a bright place where there is no direct midday sun. No further fertilization is necessary. Occasionally the pineapple sage needs to be watered.
Spice
Leaves and flowers are ideal for fresh processing in sweet and savory dishes such as soups and salads or desserts. They can be added to herbal and fruit spreads after they have been cooked. Chopped into small pieces, the aromatic plant parts refine fruit salads and quark. If you want to preserve the leaves, you can dry them gently.
How to dry pineapple sage:
- Harvesting the leaves shortly before the flowers develop
- Spread the leaves on newspaper
- place in an airy and dry place for several days
Tea
Pineapple sage is suitable for making teas because of the fruity aroma that is released into the air when the plant is lightly touched. A heaped tablespoon of the leaves is poured with boiling water. After brewing for ten minutes, you can enjoy the tea. The delicate aroma comes into its own particularly well if you prepare a tea mixture of pineapple sage, mint and lemon balm.
Use fresh
Since the leaves of the plant are rich in essential oils and vitamins, they should be used fresh. Vitamins are lost during cooking, while essential oils escape through drying processes. Therefore, harvest the leaves shortly before preparing your food.
Vegetable soup recipe:
- Cut the flesh of a ripe avocado into pieces
- Chop the onion finely and squeeze the lime
- cut a cucumber into pieces
- Puree ingredients with yogurt and vegetable bullion
- decorate with pineapple sage flowers
