Herbs are forgiving. Show them some love
Herbs are what’s happening in my garden right now. Unlike most things I grow, herbs are fairly undemanding — you don’t have to rush to pick them or do something with them. Mostly, herbs wait patiently for you, simply craving sun and sufficient rain, adding freshness and zest to whatever you’re making. Neglect them and they still look good. Plus their lovely flowers attract essential pollinators.
Some herbs are perennial, coming back each year, such as the dill intertwined with the onions at the bottom of my vegetable garden and the chives that thrive in the back of my herb bed. Each spring, the chives greet me with cheery purple pompom blossoms. The flowering stems need to be cut back. Use them as cut flowers. Or, steep the blossoms in champagne vinegar for a couple of weeks for chive-scented, pale-violet vinegar.
Most of the chives grown are thin bladed with hollow stems. At nurseries, sometimes, they’re incorrectly labeled garlic chives. Garlic chives are different, with larger, flatter leaves. They’re edible with pretty white flowers, but I find them too tough to use raw. In Chinese cooking, garlic chives, also called Chinese leeks, are stir-fried as a vegetable. Garlic chives will sometimes spread.
Sage, rosemary and thyme also are
perennials. Parsley is a biennial, and if it does return in your garden it quickly goes to seed, so replant it each season. Seeds are difficult to germinate, so I generally buy plants.
Culinary sage, as opposed to the various ornamental flowering salvias, should come back, but a tough winter can kill it. This year, I’ve planted a big-leafed aromatic ‘Berggarten’ sage, plus a small leafed sage. Infuse sage leaves in hot butter or olive oil to toss with pasta or crisp-fry the leaves to top pork cutlets. It’s not so good raw.
Rosemary, which grows like a shrub in hot climates, is a must-have. My rosemary stays in a pot and I bring it into our sunny bathroom each winter. I love the fatter leaved, aromatic ‘Tuscan Blue’ variety. Rosemary is not used raw, but instead is simmered in soups, roasted with vegetables or whole sprigs are stuffed into a chicken. You can throw branches on a wood fire before grilling to perfume if not the food then the air.
Thyme should, but usually doesn’t, survive over winter, so I get a new plant each year, usually, ‘English’ thyme. Add thyme to soups, roasts, savory pies and sauteed vegetables. Plucking the leaves can be tedious, so often I throw whole sprigs into something simmering and remove them later. Lemon thyme is lovely, but keep it in a pot or separate spot; it tends to dominate.
Cilantro, an annual, is best grown from seed. A couple plantings are usually necessary because once it turns ferny the flavor becomes harsher. You can let it flower and go to seed, then do what my neighbor does and shake the seeds into the garden. Most likely, it’ll return next year.
Mint, a perennial, has many varieties. All, to my knowledge, are invasive. Nonetheless, it’s a delightful flavor accent, especially in spiked lemonade or fruit mixtures, or chopped with garlic and rosemary and spread atop grilled lamb chops.
While it’s a member of the mint family, as are sage, oregano and rosemary, basil doesn’t spread and no one can have too much. If life gives you too much basil, you make pesto. I buy plants, start seeds and direct sow different basils, but my mainstay is sweet Genovese basil, the quintessential accent to my tomatoes.
The recipes that follow employ kitchen garden herbs as key players for boldflavored sauces and dips. Spoon them atop grilled chicken or roasted fish, or use as dipping sauce for fresh or steamed vegetables. Food never tasted so good.
Miriam Rubin: mmmrubin@gmail.com or on Twitter @mmmrubin.