Easiest Herbs for Kitchen and Garden

While fruit is finicky, (see my last post, Fruit is a Heartbreaker) herbs are easy to grow and incredibly useful in the garden and the kitchen. At least in my neck of the woods, nothing really bothers herbs. As a rule, bugs don’t eat them and deer and rabbits don’t either. Yea!!!

In addition to being easy to grow, they add so much to cooking. They turn a ho-hum dish into something that make my mouth dance!

Rosemary

My rosemary bush has really taken off. It was a tiny thing when I planted it six years ago. In a harsh winter, it can look pretty scraggly come spring. The last two winters have been relatively mild, however, and now it is overgrowing the garden path.

Rosemary is great in tomato based sauces. Here it is in an eggplant/quinoa “meatball.” Served over orzo with a marinara sauce.

Another one of my favorite ways to use it is minced and tossed with potatoes before roasting. I chop the potatoes into whatever size complements the dish. Smaller for breakfast potatoes, larger for dinner. Coat them with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and the rosemary. Bake or air fry until they are done. They are a great and easy side dish.

Dill

Dill grows in my garden. I don’t even have to plant it anymore. It just shows up every spring and again when the weather cools in the fall. Dill is wonderful because it is almost as flavorful dried as it is fresh. In addition to making its appearance in the garden twice each year, it also gives both dill fronds and the dill seeds.

For the fronds, a great way to use them is in a simple orange sauce. I take a cup of orange juice and about a quarter cup of white wine, reduce it by half and about a tablespoon of butter and dill to taste. It can be that simple or for an even richer sauce add about a half a tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar and a half a teaspoon of white miso paste.

This used to be my go to sauce for salmon but as I go towards more of a plant based diet these days, it is also amazing under tofu. If you’re doing it with salmon, put it under the fish and leave the crispy skin side up. No soggy skin! This isn’t the prettiest photo but the sauce was great!

Basil

Basil is a favorite and grows easily and well for me. A tip from a grower at the farmers market — pinch it back hard! It works. By the end of summer, these small plants will be bushes two feet high and as wide.

Is there any better way to eat basil than over heirloom tomatoes with a little balsamic and olive oil? Fresh Mozzarella is optional but soooo good.

Oregano

Oregano goes in everything in my kitchen from tomato sauces to Mexican food to sweet potato hash. My oregano threatens to overrun everything each year. It’s even escaped into the lawn. A member of the mint family it can be invasive but such a useful culinary herb. It’s amazing fresh but also really useful dried. Here it is threatening to overrun the garlic chives.

Chives

The chives are such a joy. They come back every year with their grassy brilliant green and at the end of the season send up flowers that attract tiny bees. They are a nice addition to salads, on top of baked potatoes (how traditional!) and in all kinds of sauces.

I also have a thriving sage bush but to me, sage is for fall. So more on that later. I also have some herbs that are a little more particular. Cilantro and tarragon take some babying but that’s another post.

My dehydrator is busy these days storing up the flavors of summer for this winter when the oregano will be brown and sparse and the basil just a memory of warm summer days. But in the meantime…tomatoes anyone???