Summer Herbs
Save for some snips of the dill over my steamed egg & artichoke yesterday morning, this little bundle is happily drinking up water from a vintage vase on my kitchen counter, handy for when lunchtime rolls around today and the grilled chicken salad needs infusion of color and flavor. I'd popped over to a friend's place over the weekend, to buy lettuce from her garden that's much further along than mine, and wouldn't you know, when I got home, there between the lettuces she'd tucked this sweet bouquet of herbs and edible flowers.
It helps to remember that basil isn't only for Italian sauces, that dill isn't only for pickling cucumbers, that flowers aren't only for looking at. Step out of the groove and let the herbs show off a bit. Mince dill and toss it over buttery popcorn (along with good scatterings of salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast). Steep your standard morning cup of spearmint tea extra-strong, flavor it with honey, pour it over a tall glass of ice and stir, then drink (summer!). Chop basil & oregano up with fresh parsley, and mix with minced garlic, salt, and cracked pepper into cream cheese or goat cheese for spreading on crackers. Place fresh sage next to the cheese in a grilled-cheese sandwich and you'll wonder why you'd never thought of that before. And while we're at it (though it's not an herb, it bears mentioning), next salad you make, rub the cut half of a fresh garlic clove all over the inside of the salad bowl you'll be tossing and serving from. Subtle flavor infusion, if ever there was.
How about you? Have any favorite ways to use fresh herbs from the garden or farm stand?
Here's to a heyday with summery herbs!