Tag: fresh herbs

Thyme: Pungent and Earthy

Posted on by M.

What is Thyme?

growing thyme plant in blue container

Meet thyme: the humble, mighty herb that is the secret backbone of so many beloved dishes. Though its leaves are small, their flavor is profound. It offers a warm, earthy essence with hints of mint and a touch of lemon. Unlike more delicate herbs, thyme’s bold character only deepens with cooking. This makes it the perfect companion for long, slow simmers and hearty roasts. It’s a resilient perennial. It offers its fragrant leaves year after year with minimal fuss. These leaves bring reliable, comforting flavors to your table.

What dishes is it best in?

Thyme is a foundational herb that adds a layer of warm, earthy complexity to a wide range of dishes. Its robust flavor holds up beautifully to long cooking times, making it a star in slow-simmered recipes.

  • Hearty Soups & Stews: A few sprigs are essential for building the deep, savory base of beef stew, chicken noodle soup, French onion soup, and creamy clam chowder.
  • Roasted Meats & Poultry: It’s a classic partner for roast chicken, turkey, lamb, and pork. Tuck sprigs under the skin or scatter them in the pan for incredible aroma and flavor.
  • Braises & Slow-Cooked dishes: The long, slow cooking process fully infuses the dish with thyme’s essence. It’s perfect for coq au vin, braised short ribs, and pot roasts.
  • Vegetable Sides: Elevate simple vegetables by roasting or sautéing them with thyme. It’s especially good with roasted potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
  • Marinades & Sauces: Its earthy notes are fantastic in marinades for grilled meats and in pan sauces and gravies.

Flavor Profiles

This is a robust herb that can stand up to long cooking times, making it a cornerstone of slow-cooked dishes and hearty cuisines.

  • Flavor: Earthy, slightly floral, with notes of mint and lemon.
  • Culinary Partners: It’s famously best friends with rosemary, sage, garlic, lemon, tomatoes, olives, and mushrooms.
  • How to Use:
    • Whole Sprigs: Add to soups, stews, and braises (the leaves fall off during cooking; remove the stems before serving).
    • Chopped Leaves: Use in marinades, roasted vegetables, compound butters, and bread.
  • Classic Pairings: Roasted chicken, beef stew, clam chowder, bean dishes, roasted potatoes, and tomato-based sauces.

How Preparation Changes its Flavor

It is also a resilient herb, but how you handle it does impact its final flavor in a dish.

  • Fresh vs. Dried: The fresh version offers a brighter, more complex flavor with its subtle lemon and mint notes at the forefront. Dried, however, has a more concentrated, earthy, and slightly woodier taste. Because drying intensifies the flavor, use about one-third the amount of dried when substituting for fresh. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of fresh, use 1 teaspoon of dried.
  • Whole Sprigs vs. Chopped Leaves: Cooking it on the stem (in sprigs) is ideal for long simmers and braises. The leaves will naturally fall off during cooking, and you can easily remove the woody stem before serving. This provides a gentle, infused flavor. Chopped fresh leaves are best for dishes with shorter cooking times (like sautés or marinades) where you want its flavor to be more immediately present and evenly distributed.
  • The Impact of Heat: Thyme is unique because its flavor doesn’t diminish with cooking; it blossoms and deepens. Adding it early in the cooking process allows its earthy essence to fully meld with and enhance the other ingredients.

A Note on Varieties:

While you’ll most commonly find Common Thyme at the garden center, several other delightful varieties offer subtle twists for your cooking and gardening.

Creeping: This is primarily a ground cover ornamental plant. While it is edible, its flavor is much milder than common thyme. It’s best used as a beautiful garnish rather than a primary culinary herb.For most kitchen gardens and recipes, Common Thyme is the versatile, go-to choice.

Lemon: This is the most popular culinary variety after common thyme. It has a pronounced citrus aroma and flavor that is fantastic with chicken, fish, and in vinaigrettes.

Caraway: As the name suggests, this variety has a distinct scent and flavor of caraway. It’s traditionally used to season lamb.

For most kitchen gardens and recipes, the Common variety is the most versatile, go-to choice.

Simple Growing Tips

  • Thyme is a wonderfully low-maintenance perennial herb, perfect for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike.
  • Sun: Thrives in full sun.
  • Water: Drought-tolerant once established. Prefers well-draining soil and is susceptible to root rot if overwatered.
  • Garden or Container: Does well in both garden beds and containers.
  • Harvesting: Simply snip off a few inches of the stem as needed. It will grow back bushier.

My Favorite Recipes Using Thyme

Rosemary: Piney and Bold

Posted on by M.

What is Rosemary?

closeup of rosemary sprig growing on rosemary bush in background

Rosemary is a robust, woody herb with a powerful aroma of pine and camphor, capable of standing up to long cooking times. Unlike delicate herbs, its needle-like leaves release a pungent, earthy flavor that is essential for seasoning roasted meats like lamb and chicken, root vegetables, and hearty stews. To harness its full potential, it is typically added at the beginning of the cooking process, often as a whole sprig that is removed before serving, allowing its bold, savory character to deeply infuse the dish without becoming overpowering.

What dishes is it best in?

Rosemary is a powerful, woody, aromatic herb that is best used in dishes that can stand up to its bold flavor and withstand longer cooking times. It’s not a delicate finishing herb like basil.

  • Roasted Meats: This is rosemary’s classic domain. Its robust flavor penetrates and complements fatty, rich meats. It is exceptional with lamb (rack of lamb, leg of lamb), roast chicken (whole bird or pieces), pork (especially roast loin or chops), and duck. It’s a key component in many marinades and rubs.
  • Hearty Stews and Braises: Its woody stems hold up beautifully in long, slow-cooked dishes like beef stew, osso buco, or braised short ribs. A whole sprig is often added to the pot and removed before serving.
  • Root Vegetables: Rosemary and roasted vegetables are a match made in heaven. Toss potatoes, carrots, parsnips, or sweet potatoes in olive oil and chopped rosemary before roasting.
  • Breads and Focaccia: Finely chopped rosemary is famously baked into focaccia bread and is also wonderful in savory scones, biscotti, and cracker dough.
  • Soups and Sauces: It adds depth to bean soups (like white bean or lentil), tomato-based sauces, and gravies. Remember, a little goes a long way.
  • Infused Oils and Vinegars: Steeping rosemary in olive oil or vinegar imparts its distinct piney flavor, perfect for salad dressings or bread dipping.

Pro Tip: To get the most flavor out of fresh rosemary without getting tough, needle-like pieces in your food, use one of these methods:

    • Strip the leaves from the stem and finely chop them.
    • Leave a sprig whole and add it to a braise or roast, then remove the intact sprig before serving.
    • Use the stem as a skewer for kebabs (soak it in water first), which will impart a subtle flavor.

Flavor Profiles

The flavor profile of rosemary is bold, complex, and unmistakably pungent.

  • Woody and Piney: This is its most dominant characteristic. It tastes like a fragrant evergreen forest, which comes from its high concentration of aromatic oils.
  • Peppery and Bitter: It has a sharp, slightly peppery kick and a pleasant, lingering bitterness that helps cut through richness.
  • Earthy and Lavender-like: Underneath the pine notes, there’s a distinct earthy, floral quality reminiscent of lavender (they are botanical cousins).
  • Lemony and Camphorous: Some varieties have a subtle, fresh lemony undertone, and all rosemary has a slight medicinal cooling sensation, similar to eucalyptus.

How Preparation Changes its Flavor

  • Fresh: This has the most vibrant and complex flavor, with all its pine, citrus, and floral notes present. The needles are quite tough and need to be finely chopped or crushed to release their oils.
  • Dried: Dried rosemary retains its woody, piney character but loses its subtle citrus and floral top notes. It becomes even more potent and concentrated. The needles become very tough and spiky; it’s often best to crush them in a mortar and pestle or use a tea infuser ball if adding whole to a stew.
  • Cooked: Unlike delicate herbs, its bold flavor stands up exceptionally well to heat. Long, slow cooking (like braising or roasting) mellows its sharpness and allows its earthy, savory qualities to meld beautifully into the dish. It is almost always added at the beginning of the cooking process.

A Note on Varieties:

The main takeaway: While you can successfully use any culinary rosemary variety in cooking, if you have a choice, ‘Tuscan Blue’ and ‘Spice Islands’ will give you the most powerful, classic rosemary flavor. For a milder, more citrus-forward experience, seek out ‘Arp’.

Simple Growing Tips

  • If you haven’t noticed that the summers are hotter lately, you might be in denial or just indoors all the time. I say that because in prior years, I was able to successfully keep a rosemary plant alive on my back patio, despite the insane amount of direct sunlight it receives. This year, it baked my rosemary plant to death by mid-summer. Believe me, it is almost impossible to kill rosemary, in my experience.
  • Honestly, my current patio pot contains what used to be the ends of 4 green onions I bought from my local farmer’s market. They were a little larger than the grocery store option, to be fair. I used every bit of those onions and then just buried the root parts with about an inch of the stalk attached. All winter, they flourished in very little light and freezing temperatures. I only brought them in on the below 20* nights. They proceeded to survive the blistering summer heat and direct lava-sun better than my rosemary plant, which was torched for the first time ever. I’m not sure if these green onions are related to Hulk, but I would not doubt it.

My Favorite Recipes Using Rosemary

Green Onions: A Versatile Herb

Posted on by M.

What are Green Onions?

green onions with roots in focus against a wooden cutting board

Green onions, also known as scallions or spring onions, are the young, tender shoots of the onion plant, harvested before the bulb has fully developed. They offer a much milder, fresher, and sweeter flavor than their mature onion counterparts, making them a perfect garnish and ingredient for adding a gentle oniony kick without overpowering a dish.

What dishes are they best in?

Their mildness and crisp texture make them incredibly versatile. They are primarily a finishing herb, used raw or added at the very end of cooking.

  • Garnishes: The classic finish for soups, baked potatoes, tacos, ramen, and stir-fries.
  • Salads & Salsas: Provides a crunchy, mild onion flavor in fresh preparations like pico de gallo.
  • Eggs: A fantastic addition to omelets, scrambles, and frittatas.
  • Dips & Spreads: Mixed into sour cream, Greek yogurt, or cream cheese for a fresh flavor boost.
  • Quick Topping: Chopped and sprinkled over virtually any savory dish for a hit of fresh flavor and color.

Flavor Profiles

  • White and Light Green Parts: Offer a crisp, juicy texture with a mild, sweet onion flavor. They are slightly more pungent than the greens.
  • Dark Green Parts: Have a more grassy, herb-like flavor and are best used thinly sliced.

How Preparation Changes its Flavor

  • Raw: Provides the brightest, freshest flavor and a pleasant crisp crunch.
  • Lightly Cooked: When added at the very end of cooking (e.g., stirred into a stir-fry off the heat), they wilt slightly and become sweeter while retaining some texture.
  • Caramelized: If you slowly cook the white parts, they will become sweet and tender, losing their sharpness entirely.

A Note on Varieties

  • Scallions: True scallions have a long, straight white stem without a visible bulb.
  • Spring Onions: These are young onions harvested slightly later than scallions. They have a more pronounced, rounder bulb at the end and a slightly stronger flavor.
  • For home cooking, the terms are often used interchangeably, and both work beautifully.

Simple Growing Tips

  • The Easiest Herb to “Regrow”: Place the white root ends (with about an inch of the stalk) in a small glass of water on a windowsill. Change the water every few days, and you’ll see new green shoots grow in less than a week! You can then plant them in soil or just harvest from the water.
    • Honestly, my current patio pot contains what used to be the ends of 4 green onions I bought from my local farmer’s market. They were a little larger than the grocery store option, to be fair. I used every bit of those onions and then just buried the root parts with about an inch of the stalk attached. All winter, they flourished in very little light and freezing temperatures. I only brought them in on the below 20* nights. They proceeded to survive the blistering summer heat and direct lava-sun better than my rosemary plant, which was torched for the first time ever. I’m not sure if these green onions are related to Hulk, but I would not doubt it.
  • Sun: Prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade.
  • Water: Keep soil consistently moist.
    • Perhaps this is a best practice, but personally, I have by turns drowned and subjected my onions to desert-like conditions. They didn’t particularly enjoy the desert section, but they didn’t give up the ghost, either.
  • Harvesting: You can begin harvesting the green tops when they are about 6 inches tall. Snip from the outer leaves, and the plant will continue to produce from the center.

My Favorite Recipes Using Green Onions

Cilantro: The Essential Herb for Fresh Flavors

Posted on by M.

What is Cilantro?

Fresh cilantro herb in forefront with bright light behind

Cilantro (also known as coriander leaf or Chinese parsley) is a bright, pungent herb with delicate, lacy leaves. It’s a cornerstone of Mexican, Latin American, and Southeast Asian cuisines. A fun fact: the seeds of the plant are called coriander, which have a warm, citrusy flavor completely different from the fresh leaves.

What dishes is it Best in?

fresh cilantro garnishes homemade corn flour tortillas with pico de gallo, spicy broiled corn and pinto beans.

Cilantro’s fresh, citrusy punch is a finishing herb, best added at the end of cooking to preserve its delicate flavor. It’s a non-negotiable ingredient in:

  • Fresh Salsas & Salads: Like Pico de Gallo, mango salad, or ceviche.
  • Vietnamese & Thai Dishes: It’s a key garnish for pho, spring rolls, and curries.
  • Tacos & Burrito Bowls: A handful of fresh leaves adds a necessary bright note.
  • Herb Sauces & Chutneys: Like chimichurri or Indian chutneys.
  • Garnishes: Sprinkled over tacos, grilled meats, or soups just before serving.

Flavor Profiles

  • Fresh Leaves: Bright, citrusy (like a mix of lemon and parsley), with a slightly peppery note. For some people, it has a soapy taste due to a genetic trait.
  • Dried: Loses almost all its flavor. Not recommended. There is no good dried substitute for fresh cilantro.
  • Coriander Seeds: The dried seeds have a warm, sweet, citrusy, and slightly floral flavor, completely different from the leaf.

How Preparation Changes Its Flavor

  • Fresh & Raw: Provides the strongest, most vibrant citrusy flavor and aroma. This is how it’s meant to be used.
  • Heated/Cooked: Heat rapidly diminishes its flavor. It wilts quickly and loses its bright notes, becoming more muted and earthy. Always add it as a final garnish.

A Note on Varieties

  • Standard: This is the most common variety found in grocery stores and garden centers.
  • Slow-Bolt: A gardener’s best friend! This variety is bred to withstand warmer temperatures for longer before “bolting” (flowering and going to seed), giving you a longer harvest window for leaves.
  • Vietnamese Rau Ram: Often called Vietnamese cilantro, it’s not a true cilantro but has a similar strong, pungent flavor and is used in Southeast Asian cooking.

Simple Growing Tips

  • Sun: Prefers cool weather and full sun to partial shade. In hot climates, it will quickly “bolt” (flower and set seed), ending the leaf production.
  • Water: Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged.
  • The Bolting Challenge: This is cilantro’s quirk. Once summer heat arrives, it will bolt. To ensure a continuous harvest, plant new seeds every 2-3 weeks in the spring and fall (“succession planting”).
  • Harvesting: Snip outer leaves from the base of the plant first, allowing the center to continue growing.

My Favorite Recipes Using Fresh Cilantro

Potato Omelette

Posted on by M.
One of my favorite breakfasts growing up involved our version of hashbrowns. This dish takes a while to cook but it is worth the wait. I recommend it for weekend mornings when you can’t decide what to make.

Heat 8″ skillet on medium.

Add:

1 – 2 T. Oil or Bacon Grease

Grate:

1 – 2 Potatoes

It’s important to let the skillet and oil heat up before adding the potatoes. When adding a piece of potato makes it sizzle, it’s ready.

Add grated potatoes to pan and cook until browned.

Season with Salt.

It’s tempting to turn up the pan and speed this process but I assure you, it will only result in burnt, raw potatoes.

Flip potatoes.

Sometimes they are perfect and flip in one piece. Some days it will look like there was a potato explosion on burner 3. It’s ok either way. Just smash it back into a flattish disk and move on with your life.
You can let it take some time to brown on the other side before the next step, if you want.

Scramble or simply crack on top:

1 – 2 Egg(s)

Season lightly with salt.

Flip again to ensure all egg is cooked.

It always looks like a hot mess at this point, because it’s hot and it’s a mess of potatoes and eggs with no toppings. Have no fear, cheese is near.

Grate, shred, zest or slice on top:

1/4 c. Cheese

See? I told you there would be cheese. There is always cheese. Always.
Of course you must now let the cheese melt.
If you’re starving by now, have some more coffee. You will be able to pretend you are not hungry, with some luck.
Now you can decide how fancy you want to be.
Green onions are easy and pair perfectly. Have some fresh basil? That’s great too. Parsley? Not my style, but go for it.
None of the above? Dump some hot sauce on top and call it a day. It’s one of my favorite toppings for this dish anyway.
Voila!

Happy Breakfasting!