A friend of mine surprised me the other day with some fresh herbs from her garden. Either their conspicuous absence from my posts alerted her to my black thumb or my constant ranting about trying to be healthy mistakenly led her to believe I am an outstanding gardener. Either way, I was tickled pink with the gift because I knew immediately what I would do with them.
Cooking
Using fresh herbs in cooking is a no-brainer. Fresh herbs are much more flavorful and aromatic than their dried counterparts. And because they are packed with antioxidants, they are a much healthier option than salting your food for flavor. Usually, another benefit of using fresh herbs is their bright color so in recipes they are often added near the end of cooking or used in freshly prepared sauces such as pesto or a dressing.
My herb-bearing friend actually works with my husband so before the beautiful bounty reached me, it sat on his desk all day and then in his hot vehicle while he was in a meeting between his office and home. When they finally arrived home, they were no longer at their freshest so had lost some of their color and vitality. Here are the three cooking herbs when I finally received them:
As you can see, they still looked lovely, wrapped thoughtfully in their little bows of raffia, just slightly weathered. In order from left to right they are basil, mint, and thyme (she also sent me some lavender but I had already thrust that into a vase with some water to try and save it so it isn’t in the picture). A quick note about cooking with fresh herbs–you want to try to avoid cutting them too much and you don’t really need or want the stems. With basil, peel whole leaves from the stem and use the whole leaves. With other herbs, like thyme, slide a butter knife along the stem to release the leaves.
Since basil and thyme pair very well with poultry, I decided to make a simple chicken dinner using them. You don’t even need to grab a pen for this recipe. 4 chicken breasts, balsamic vinegar to coat each breast, a sprinkling of fresh thyme and basil atop each breast, and a little olive oil drizzled over everything. I baked mine at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and they turned out perfectly moist and cooked through.
I still had plenty of thyme and basil left so I chopped up a tomato (from my garden!) and topped the slices with the herbs, some freshly minced garlic and a drizzling of olive oil. These went into the oven about halfway through the chicken’s cooking time. I added some shredded mozzarella cheese on top for the last minute, just long enough to melt.
I also threw together a quick spinach casserole with a 14 oz. bag of frozen spinach, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a couple handfuls of french fried onions (give me a break on this, I had to pitch SPINACH to 4 kids!). I didn’t add any herbs to the spinach, but since it is in the picture, I thought I would tell you what the big green blob on the left is.
My kids were skeptical about the chicken since it appeared like it was dressed in something healthy like a vegetable. I am happy to report, I got glowing reviews on the chicken from all of my meat eaters (I have one vegetarian). The fresh herbs really did make a difference and the flavor was infused into every bite.
Other Uses
Recently, I wrote an article about natural bug repellents. If you missed it, you can read it here. Basically, I have been trying to move away from using harsh chemicals when I can find natural alternatives and I found a great recipe for a bug spray that I can make myself. I use witch hazel and peppermint and lavender essential oils. So, I added a sprig of lavender and mint (thank you Amanda, the amazing herb grower) to my finger spray bottle. Now my bug repellent isn’t only effective, it’s pretty! See for yourself:
I don’t have a picture, but in the past I have also used fresh herbs in olive oil, placed in a pretty bottle with an oil spout, as a housewarming gift.
If you are growing herbs, they can serve multiple purposes in your garden:
- Dill and chives attract butterflies
- Lemon balm and mint repel insects
- Sage repels deer
Fight bad breath with parsley and sage! I haven’t tried this one myself since I prefer to scrub my teeth with a toothbrush to chewing on or rubbing herbs on them, but I’m tucking this knowledge in my back pocket in case I’m ever trapped in the wilderness without a toothbrush and happen upon some wild herbs. I wonder if they have the same cleansing power if a deer has peed on them?
Thanks for this great post, very interesting! I never thought that herbs have so many uses. 😉
Thanks for sharing this. I never knew fresh herbs had so many uses. I will definitely be sharing this post.
Fights bad breath? Oh…I have got to give that to my dog and my 14 year old!
We keep trying to grow an herb garden out here, but because we foolishly continue to live in a FREAKING desert, our herbs continue to fry whenever the sun comes out.
P.S. I woulda ate that chicken for shore!
Thanks for such an informative post. I have experimented with growing a few herbs this summer.
I really need the bug repellent! We have so many mosquitos right now.
Great post and good ideas
My Mum always has some fresh herbs on the windowsill she uses in cooking and they always add such an amazing taste.
I was glad to find the 50 uses for vinegar pin on pinterest. Recently, my landlord has stopped any kind of support for the house for the huge waterbugs here in Florida.
I’m still trying to find something natural to get rid of the palmettos bugs.
I need to try the bug replant! I wish I had some place to grow herbs
Before I got the herbs from my friend, I just used essential oil. The peppermint and lavender in witch hazel really does work!
I love having fresh herbs handy. Right now I have lavendar, peppermint, oregano, basil and lemon balm. I love your natural bug spray and it does look lovely. I really need to take the time to make my own spray.
I love cooking with fresh herbs, but had no clue about the other uses! Thank you for sharing! I cannot wait to try the bug-repellent: the mosquitoes are horrible around here!
I always cook food with fresh herbs but i never thought to put herbs in olive oil. Thanks for sharing the uses of fresh herbs, really informative 🙂
Awesome! I have an herb garden and besides cooking I was wondering what else to do with them! thanks for some great ideas!
LOVE using fresh herbs in cooking. Unfortunately, though, my cooking experiments are pretty sporadic, so I mainly use dried.
I am hungry now!! I love how herbs look in small pots sitting on window sills!! But they are so good to cook with. Nothing beats cooking with fresh herbs. Yumms.
Love the simple, easy but flavorful chicken recipe. I will make this for sure.
We don’t have a problem with insects where I live, for the most part, but I am glad people are able to find a safe alternative.
I love all of these ideas! Don’t you love how men just leave things sit in their cars forever lol!
I love fresh herbs – I didn’t think about the natural bug spray application – definitely going to test that one out! Great for someone with allergies (like me!).
I need to remember to make flavored oils they are great for cooking and gift giving.
I love these ideas! Especially the gift bottle!
I have a small herb garden outside my back door and I love it. I use them in cooking all the time. There’s so much you can do with them.
I love using fresh basil to make tomato basil pizza. Yum!
Fresh herbs–nothing like them!! And so many uses-as you said-not only for cooking! I wish I had a green instead of a black thumb and it would help if I had a place to grow them as well (inside my brat cat would probably either knock them over or eat them!!)
I LOVE using fresh herbs. In fact, .. today I went out and cut some chives, rosemary and basil to put into our Breakfast Burrito this morning.
You must grow a lot more herbs than I do. I am working on it though and hope that next year I have lots more to use.