Bringing herbs to the kitchen with Sarah Kate Benjamin, co-author of "The Kosmic Kitchen"
Your kitchen connections can be an extension of your cosmic connection.
Meet Sarah Kate Benjamin, herbalist, holistic chef, and co-author of The Kosmic Kitchen Cookbook. After being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome in her early twenties, she relied on nourishing foods and restorative herbs to heal.
Since then, she’s been teaching kitchen herbalism and herbal cooking for the past 10 years. Through building relationships with medicinal plants and everyday foods, her approach to herbal cooking is centered in inviting people to see their kitchens as a sanctuary for healing and connecting deeper with themselves.
Photo by Anna Schneider
From medicinal broths and comforting porridges to adaptogenic spice blends and digestive supportive dressings, her goal is to make herbal foods accessible and seamless to any kitchen practice.
Her first co-authored book, The Kosmic Kitchen Cookbook, was released with Roost Books in August of 2020. Sarah lives in Sebastopol, California where she teaches online herbal cooking classes, one-on-one consultations, and a weekly herbal recipe subscription.
Keep reading to learn more about adding herbs to your dishes.
Q. What led you to herbal based cooking?
A. After being diagnosed with chronic fatigue in my early 20s, I knew I had to do something different. I was just at the beginning of my herbal journey, but didn’t quite know how to truly incorporate what I was learning on an everyday basis.
Luckily, with the help of my teacher and mentor Emily Ruff, she helped me with a plan to start making my meals more medicinal. So, I started to add nourishing and adaptogenic herbs wherever I could.
I took what I was learning about medicine making in herb school and started making medicine at home, in my kitchen, as so many herbalists before me have done. From adaptogenic bone broths and spice blends to warming mushroom-infused honey and fresh tulsi pesto, there was always something delicious waiting for me each time I went into the kitchen.
Cooking this way not only gave me a ton of inspiration, but it ensured I was getting small doses of the herbs I needed each day. This made it much easier for me to follow a protocol because I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself of anything and instead was focused on deep nourishment to build myself up, after feeling so depleted.
Photo by Anna Schneider
Q. How can we connect with the elements through herbs?
A. For me, the first step in connecting with the elements is connecting with the season. What’s going on outside? What’s the weather like? What state are the trees and plants in? What food is most abundant at the markets? All of these questions can give you a lot of information on what elements and their qualities are at play.
For instance, during the fall and depending on where you live, you’re seeing a lot more cool and dry qualities. The leaves are changing colors, the days are shorter, sweaters are a staple, and you start to crave heartier warming foods as opposed to the fresh and light meals of summer.
Intuitively, our bodies respond to this change in season and start to ask for herbs and spices like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, thyme, and rosemary.
These warming plants help to support the circulatory system and digestive system as the temperature drops.
Adding your favorite spices and herbs to everyday meals is a great way to start working with herbs and build up to working with more specific plant remedies. You’d be surprised at how powerful a cup of ginger tea can be to help ease digestive woes after a heavy meal or even help relieve menstrual cramps.
Photo by Anna Schneider
Q. Why are herbs and medicinal meals essential for everyday wellness?
A. There’s such an emphasis in our culture on getting someone health care when they’re already sick, but truly a lack of education around how to take care of ourselves to help prevent acute and chronic illnesses. When I started my herbal journey, I was struck at how much the conversation focused on empowering ourselves to take responsibility for our own health and learning simple ways to support whole body health.
What herbs can offer is an opportunity to get vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and all sorts of vitality supporting benefits in a gentle way.
While this idea of herbal cooking isn’t new, there is certainly a reconnection happening for so many people.
Collectively, all of our ancestors used herbs in foods and knew how to treat common ailments of all sorts by using the herbs that grew around them. Eating with the season is a big part of this idea as well. Leaning into foods, herbs, and rituals that support your body throughout the shift in seasons can really make an impact on how you feel.
Q. What advice do you have for those looking to start incorporating herbs into meals?
A. Don’t underestimate the power in your own spice rack! Most culinary herbs and spices support the digestive system which is why they’ve stuck around in the pantry throughout the ages. Most spices tend to be warming in nature and have digestive supportive properties when you need some relief from bloating, gas, or indigestion.
Notice which herbs and spices you reach for the most when cooking? What are their benefits? Have you been drawn to these plants for a particular reason? Our bodies are so much more intuitive than we give them credit for and oftentimes are trying to lead us to exactly what we need.
Some of my favorite ways to add more herbs and spices into meals is by making spice blends with your favorite flavors, herbal salt blends to sprinkle on food, and mixing spices into honey for even more flavor, to name a few. Of course, I have lots more ideas and recipes in my newsletter, so head over there if you’re looking for more inspiration.
You can learn more about Sarah Kate's work and get in touch with her at The Kosmic Kitchen or @thekosmickitchen.
Get a copy of The Kosmic Kitchen Cookbook.