|
Use
summertime herbs to enliven meals
July 21, 05
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Looking
for a way to make summertime meals more exciting? Try using
fresh herbs.
Fresh herbs – basil, parsley, mint, dill, cilantro,
and others – add flavor, color and nutrition to foods.
They’re easy to grow at home in gardens and containers.
You can start them from seeds, but small starter plants are
easy to find in garden shops. If you don’t care to grow
your own, most supermarkets carry them or you can get them
at farmers’ markets.
If you’re new to using herbs, experiment a bit to find
the flavors you like best. You may be a cilantro lover or
hater, but you need to try it to find out. Recipes aren’t
necessary – a little more or less added to simple foods
isn’t likely to matter. It’s more a matter of
your own taste. With most herbs, the only preparation needed
is to rinse, shake or pat dry, chop then toss or mix herbs
into foods.
Some herbs go especially well with certain foods. A few ways
I like to use fresh herbs:
* Basil. Add rinsed, chopped basil to cooked pasta tossed
with diced tomatoes, toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts,
shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese, and sliced black olives.
Basil leaves are also good layered on tomato sandwiches.
* Mint. Add rinsed, chopped mint leaves to melon balls or
mixed fruit salad.
* Parsley. Garnish liberally with sprigs of curly parsley
or sprinkle chopped parsley over casseroles, pasta dishes,
and other entrees. Add chopped parsley to salads. I like fattoush,
a Middle Eastern green salad made with finely chopped vegetables,
lots of minced parsley, and small bits of toasted pita bread
all mixed together.
* Dill. Add dill to potato soup and marinated cucumber and
tomato salad. Mix it into hummus. You can even add it to coleslaw
or macaroni salad for an alternative to traditional recipes.
* Cilantro. Add rinsed, chopped cilantro to refried beans
or black bean burrito filling. Add it to salsa, tomato-based
soups, and salads.
* Chives. Fresh, minced chives are much better than dried
chives on baked potatoes or mixed into mashed potatoes.
* Rosemary. You can add small sprigs of rosemary to oven-baked
potatoes all year round, because many varieties are hardy
in our climate and grow year round. Likewise, chives and parsley
can grow most of the year in sheltered spots in the garden.
You can also make a simple yogurt sauce for sandwiches, sliced
tomatoes, salads and sautéed vegetables. Start with
a cup of plain, nonfat yogurt and mix in your choice of chopped
herbs. One combination you may like: Cilantro, jalapeno chili
peppers, lime juice, and a little sugar mixed well and chilled.
Another option: Add minced cucumber and chopped mint to plain
nonfat yogurt. Yogurt sauces keep for a few days in the refrigerator.
Most fresh herbs will keep for a few days in the refrigerator
if they’re kept moist in plastic bags. If you have too
much to use right away, freeze the extra. One method: Put
rinsed, chopped herbs in ice cube trays, cover with water
and freeze. Pop the cubes out of the trays and store them
in plastic bags until needed.
An alternative for freezing basil: Brush leaves with olive
oil, then layer them in freezer bags. Basil will keep this
way for several months. The leaves will darken but they can
still be used in cooked foods, and the flavor of frozen basil
is far superior to dried.
Use herbs in summer soups, salads and other dishes and you
may find they help you eat more of the fresh fruits and vegetables
we should all be eating more often.
|
