Healing Mushroom Salt with 3 Types of Medicinal Mushrooms and Herbs

Flavored salts are a great addition to your pantry: they can spice up and elevate just about any dish (I’m looking at you, unsalted popcorn at a movie night), they make fun gifts, have an infinite shelf-life if kept dry… and lets be real— something about looking at colored salts is oddly satisfying.

BUT, this is not your average flavored salt. We foraged and dried three types of medicinal wild mushrooms, and added some blue vervain and holy basil to craft this immune-boosting salty treat.

Spicing up popcorn with disease-fighting salt?

We’re in.

Ingredients:
1.5 Cups Salt
1 Cup Chopped Medicinal Mushrooms: Turkey Tail, Reishi, Artist’s Conk
1/3 Cup Blue Vervain
1/3 Cup Dried Holy Basil

Instructions:

1. Gather your dry mushrooms.
(Note)
*If you are foraging them yourself, you have to make sure they are dry before they can be used. It took us around two weeks to dry wild Turkey Tail, Reishi, Artist’s Conk in the humid forests of Costa Rica, but drying time will depend on the mushroom itself, the temperature, and humidity of the area, which is why checking on them is crucial. To help the drying process, you can tie them up and hang them. Make sure to check on them constantly, as you don’t want to leave them drying for too long or they will begin to mold. Once the mushrooms are no longer humid, they are ready to use!*

2. Use a sharp knife to cut the mushrooms. (Note) *

Recommended to cut to about 2-inch pieces, small enough to be blender-safe. Chopping dried mushrooms is not the easiest— but it will be worth it. *

3. Blend all the ingredients.

4. Transfer into a air-tight container to preserve freshness.

5. Enjoy as a topping to any dish or for cooking!

Mushrooms Used:

Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)
Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)
Artist’s Conk (Ganoderma applanatum)

Used in Eastern medicine for over 2000 years, these three mushrooms are known to be rich in antioxidants, high in anti-bacterial qualities, boost the immune system, and are most notable for their anti-cancer properties. Other benefits include blood sugar control, fatigue reduction, promoting heart health, improving insulin resistance, and reducing inflammation.

Herbs and Spices:

There are infinite possibilities of herbs and spices you can add to your salt. Everything from citrus zests to essential oils. Get creative!

We used dried blue vervain (verbena hastata), a flowering plant from the verbena family of herbs commonly used in homeopathic remedies to support pain relief, relieve anxiety and insomnia, promote digestion, and treat infections. Additionally we added dried holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), notable not only for its flavor, but as a highly detoxifying plant, shown to have antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties, aiding in lowering cholesterol, fighting infection, and boosting digestion.