But now there are even better ones: black rice tortillas from Food For Life. Exotic, gluten free, vegan and yeast free, they are ready to be turned into:

Gluten-free wraps are dramatic as well as tasty. Photo courtesy Food For Life.

Black rice, also known as purple rice and forbidden rice, is a group of rice types that are black or dark brown when harvested, but turn purple when cooked.

Unlike refined white rice, black rice is a whole grain loaded with fiber, 18 amino acids, iron, zinc, copper, carotene, vitamins, minerals and anthocyanins (the same antioxidants that are found in like those found in açaí, blackberries, blueberries and tart cherries, and give all of these foods their deep pigments).

In ancient times, black rice was reserved exclusively for Chinese emperors—thus the name forbidden rice. (See the different types of rice.)

Today, you don’t have to be royalty to enjoy black rice—you can buy it at almost any natural foods store and online. It makes an especially glamorous rice pudding: Thai black rice pudding with coconut milk.

A healthier alternative to traditional wheat flour tortillas, these black rice tortillas are tastier, too.

One thing to watch out for: We didn’t see an expiration on our package and left them out at room temperature. The tortillas are actually pretty fragile: the shelf life is five days at room temperature. But they’ll stay fresh for three weeks when refrigerated and one year frozen.

The tortillas are certified kosher by KOF-K.

Here’s a recipe for homemade gluten-free tortillas.

Here are some of our favorite gluten-free products.

For information on gluten intolerance, visit the Celiac Disease Foundation.

Beyond what is called for in recipes, we add them to every meal of the day, from breakfast eggs and grits to salads (snip fresh herbs onto the greens or into egg salad, tuna salad, etc.), to yogurt (including dips and salad dressings) to grains and potatoes.

You’d be surprised how much better your favorite sandwich or burger tastes with fresh basil leaves, chives and/or other favorite herbs. We grow a pot of basil, our favorite go-to herb, on the kitchen windowsill.

But what if you end up with more herbs than you can use before they fade? Here are 10 of our favorite ways to use those extra herbs.

EVERYDAY COOKING

1. Infuse honey, maple syrup, salad oil, vinegar. If you have more than one herb on hand, you can mixed them.

Add rosemary, basil or whatever you’ve got to olive oil or other cooking oil. Photo courtesy FlavorYourLife.com.

2. Make herb butter. Stir chopped herbs into softened butter. You can keep it in the fridge for several weeks to enjoy as a bread spread and for cooking. Or freeze the butter for future use. One trick is to place the butter in plastic wrap and roll into a sausage shape. Freeze until it starts to firm; then cut into tablespoon-size slices and return to the freezer. Remove slices for as you need them for sauteéeing, to melt atop potatoes, rice and vegetables, etc.

Herb butter is one type of compound butter. Check out these compound butter recipes.

3. Amp up conventional condiments. Add chopped herbs to mayonnaise for a more flavorful sandwich spread. Similarly, add them to ketchup and mustard.

4. Make herb ice cubes for cooking. Add the herbs to an ice cube tray and fill the tray with olive oil, stock or white wine. They’ll be at the ready to pop into sauces, soups, stews, stir-frys, etc.

5. Make pesto. Basil is a traditional pesto base, but anything can be made into pesto, and you can blend different herbs, along with arugula or spinach. Store the pesto topped with a thin layer of olive oil, in an airtight jar; it will keep for months. Homemade pesto recipe.

6. Make herb ice cubes for drinks. Add herbs, chopped as finely or coarsely as you like, to the compartments of an ice cube tray and fill with water. Once frozen, you can pop them out and store them in a freezer bag.

7. Infuse vodka or other spirit. While there are endless fruit-flavored vodkas on the market, delicious herb- and spice-infused vodkas, which are popular in Russia, haven’t taken off with American consumers.

Toss your herbs into a bottle of vodka and enjoy the infused vodka in shots or savory cocktails, like Bloody Marys and Martinis. Infuse chiles, cilantro, rosemary, sage, thyme: The alcohol kills bacteria growth, so you don’t have to remove the herbs (just be sure they are completely covered by the spirit when you infuse them).

The method is easy: Crush the herbs in your hand to help release the oils and add the herbs to a bottle of vodka (you’ll have to consume some of the vodka if the bottle is full). Don’t use a bargain brand: The higher the quality of the vodka, the smoother and more flavorful the infusion. Place the bottle in a dark place and infuse for at least three days and up to two weeks.

Look at other alcohol-herb pairings: bourbon with mint or basil, Limoncello with thyme or whatever inspires you.

BAKING

8. Add to breads, muffins and biscuits. Chop the herbs finely, and don’t hesitate to combine fresh or dried fruit with the herbs. Our favorite combinations: blueberry-rosemary muffins and cheddar chive muffins.

9. Make pie crusts. From quiche to fruit pie, a little basil, thyme or rosemary in the crust can be a most welcome surprise. Use sweeter herbs with fruit pies. For savory pies, add whatever herbs appeal to you: chives, dill, oregano, etc.

10. Dehydrate the herbs. You don’t need an electric dehydrator. The photo above shows what everyone did in the days before dehydrators: Tie the stems with a string (or elastic band) and hang upside down to dry for a few days. You can hang the bunches on pegs, on a makeshift string or rope line, even clothespin-clipped to a hanger.

When dry, remove the stems and store in an airtight container. If you like, you can grind them with a mortar and pestle before storing.

What’s your favorite way to use extra herbs? Let us know.

And you can do it with an improved approach: a spillproof drinking lid adapter.

The Cuppow is a new invention that lets you up-cycle a canning jar into an eco-friendly beverage travel mug or sippy cup—although since glass is breakable, even extra-thick Mason jar, you’ll have to judge the portability based on your own habits.

“The canning jar already makes an awesome platform for a travel mug,” say the manufacturers. “It’s easy to clean, made of heat-resistant glass, cheap, durable, and when sealed it doesn’t leak. The only problem is that with their large openings, canning jars are not great for spill-free sipping while on the move. So we adapted it [into] a simple, eco-friendly alternative to poor-performing and messy disposable hot cups, and over-built and expensive travel mugs.”

Turn your canning jars into drinkware. Photo courtesy Cuppow.

The plastic circles, that insert into the metal rim of the canning jar lid, are available in clear, blue and pink for regular jars and clear, mint green, and orange for wide mouth jars. The adapters enable you to drink sippy-cup-style or insert a straw.

The Cuppow is made in the U.S.A. from 100% recycled BPA/BPS-free rigid plastic. It is dishwasher safe (top rack only).

They are available at retailers nationwide and at Cuppow.com.

The manufacturer is committed to diverting as much waste as possible from landfills and contributes 5% of profits to domestic charities and social initiatives.

But mango is a year-round fruit, with different varieties coming into season at different times. So it can be enjoyed in desserts, incorporated into dips and relishes, and enjoyed in hundreds of recipes year-round, alone or combined with seasonal fruits.

That’s good news for people who like flavorful food, because one simple mango can upgrade and transform everyday dishes and holiday specialties.

For the health-conscious, mangoes contain more than 20 vitamins and minerals and are an excellent source of the powerful antioxidant vitamins A and C.

We adore mango, and would consider it as a go-to fruit except for the frustration of slicing it. That long, flat pit—and the thick skin—used to frustrate us every time.

The easy technique is to slice the flesh into cubes. Photo courtesy National Mango Board.

So we reached out to the National Mango Board, which provides a video and photo stills to demystify the process of how to cut a mango.

Now all you need is a mango, a sharp vegetable peeler and a knife. (We’ve had the greatest success with a Y-shape peeler.)

MANY WAYS TO USE MANGOES

Unripe mangoes (firm to the flesh) can be used in curry, chutney, relish, slaw and pickled. Unripe mangoes have a tart, green apple flavor and are crispy and crunchy.

A ripe mango gives slightly to the touch, and has a tropical floral scent. The juicy, flavorful, yellow-orange flesh can be used to give a “mangover” (that’s a mango makeover) to:

Make one of them this weekend!

FIND MORE GREAT HOW-TO’s AND FRUIT RECIPES.
  

We read in the newspaper last month that the trend among costly summer sleep-away camps was to forbid “care packages” from home. That’s because the one-upsmanship from parents was getting out of hand. (And perhaps, all those calorie-laden treats were offsetting the health benefits of summer camp.)

But now that the kids are home from camp, you can send them—and adult cookie lovers—some homemade cookies from Cookie Lady Treats.

Laura Weinstein had two master’s degrees, one in chemical engineering, and couldn’t find a job in her field. So she started to bake cookies, and now sells a thousand of them each week.

The cookies are made of top ingredients, including Callebaut chocolate chunks and Madagascar bourbon vanilla. The flavors beckon:

After Dinner Mint, Blueberries & Cream, Caramel Apple, Cherry Cordial, Chipotle Chocolate, Dreamsicle, Fluffernutter Dream…you get the picture.

There are plenty of classic flavors as well: Chocolate Lovers, Lemon, Maple Walnut, Mocha, Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk, Triple Chocolate Chip, and more flavors than one could eat in a cookieholic marathon. Check the many luscious flavors and figure out where to begin.

Customizable orders are available for special events. We can’t think of anything we’d rather get in a gift bag.

Visit CookieLadyTreats.com and treat yourself.