There are a few poems which I can easily recite and which I think of often. One of those is from T.S. Eliot.
And indeed there will be time... Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of toast and tea.
from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S.Eliot. Published in 1915.
With end-of-summer gardening on my mind, it didn’t take much to do a spin on his poem: “Thyme for you and thyme for me” and to reread the blog I wrote about it over 6 years ago. And it’s also thyme to read Andy’s two-cents worth of time-based puns (and eggcorns,,,whatever the heck they are) in today’s Andy’s Corner.
Mind you, I’m clearly not the only one who played with that time-ly twist. Here are a couple of the better blog names I’ve found online: MyDarlingLemonThyme.com, About-Thyme.com., and MakingThymeforHealth.com – which brings me to the focus of today’s blog.
Of course, I’ll tie this into a recipe or two, but what I’m really fascinated with at the moment is thyme and health. A 2022 academic paper published online by the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) makes “thymus vulgaris” seem almost like a miracle plant: “thyme has long been known for its antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic activities, in addition to remarkable disruption of microbial biofilms.” “…its multi-pharmacological properties…include, but are not limited to, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antineoplastic actions.”
To put it in a less fancy way, thyme may be good as a bug repellant, a mood lifter, and an embalming agent. You might take it if you’ve got a cough, to clear up the acne on your face, to prevent tooth decay, and to disinfect your house. And the list goes on.
So what’s the best way to get the right amount of thyme into our system? Who knows! The U.S. FDA does not regulate supplements for safety or effectiveness, so it’s a bit of a crap shoot to try to figure this out. The safest and easiest way to use thyme for health is probably thyme tea (1 c boiling water poured over 3-4 thyme sprigs and brewed for about 10 minutes). As for thyme essential oil, you can read up on it in another NCBI paper (I hope you understand it better than I do). All I can say is that’s it’s confusing and sad that more research hasn’t been done. The cynic in me wonders if it’s because there no profit to be made in medicinal thyme.
On my way out to the garden pick my sprigs of thyme, I passed by our echinacea plants (which may or may not prevent colds), our oregano (which may or may not help with indigestion), our dried and hanging garlic bulbs (which may or may not improve heart health – but definitely keep away vampires and illnesses associated with them), our sage (which may or may not improve brain function. YES!), our Thai “holy” basil (which may or may not fight infection), our rosemary (which may or may not help with congestion).
I’ve got some weeds in my garden too – the most fascinating being the petty spurge (aka euphorbia peplus). It may or may not cure non-melanoma skin cancers.
Maybe the most exciting of our plants – other than thyme – is St John’s Wort (hypericum). Not only is it pretty but imagine this (according to an article inThe National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health):
- Historically, St. John’s wort has been used for a variety of conditions, including kidney and lung ailments, insomnia, and depression, and to aid wound healing.
- Currently, St. John’s wort is promoted for depression, menopausal symptoms, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), somatic symptom disorder (a condition in which a person feels extreme, exaggerated anxiety about physical symptoms), obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other conditions. Topical use (applied to the skin) of St. John’s wort is promoted for various skin conditions, including wounds, bruises, and muscle pain.
Our garden may be a little – and cheap – natural pharmacy…if only someone would do the research so we’d know.
And now it’s time for a recipe.
A Thyme-ly Frittata
- 4 T olive oil
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 c chopped shiitake or mixed mushrooms
- 1 tsp. minced fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 tsp. minced fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 10 eggs
- 3 T heavy cream
- 4 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
- 1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat a broiler.
In a large oven-safe fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 T of the olive oil. Add the shallots, mushrooms, thyme, oregano and red pepper flakes, season with salt and pepper, and sauté, stirring frequently, until the shallots are soft and the mushrooms have released most of their liquid, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
In a bowl, using a fork, beat together the eggs, cream, 1/2 tsp. salt and 4 or 5 grinds of pepper until blended. Add the shallot-mushroom mixture and the goat cheese and set aside.
Rinse out the fry pan, place it over medium-high heat and warm the remaining 3 Tbs. olive oil. Pour in the egg mixture, spreading the vegetables in an even layer, and lower the heat. As the eggs set around the edges of the pan, lift the edges of the frittata with a spatula and tilt the pan to allow the liquid egg in the center to run underneath. Cook until the eggs are firmly set along the edges but the center is still runny, 10 to 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the Parmesan over the frittata and place under the broiler until the top is set and golden, about 2 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the broiler. Loosen the edges of the frittata and slide it onto a serving plate. Let cool for 15 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.