Get fresh with herbs

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Bursting with natural flavour, fresh herbs make a great meal even better. Get to know these common varieties and create wonderful condiments to be enjoyed all year long.

Basil
• Large-leaf sweet basil is the most common variety, but basil comes in an array of shapes and flavours, including purple-leaf opal basil, monster-leaf mammoth basil, licorice-scented Thai basil, and basil with cinnamon and lemon.
• A chiffonade (thin strips or shreds)
of sweet-leaf basil is a lovely accent to sliced tomatoes and zucchini.
• Whole leaves make a flavourful base for pesto and vinaigrette.
• Thai basil is the essence of southeast Asian cooking, from Thai curries and salads to Vietnamese pho noodles and cold spring rolls.

Chives
• With a delicate onion flavour, this member of the lily family has thin, hollow stems and pink pom-pom flowers. Other varieties are pungent flat-leafed garlic chives and Chinese chives, which you can use interchangeably.
• Chive flowers make a lovely garnish for soups and salads. Chopped chives have a natural affinity to sour cream in dips and dressings.
• Chives are one of the classic fines herbes, along with parsley, tarragon and chervil, which are found in many classic French egg and sauce recipes.
• Long cooking diminishes the flavour of chives, so sprinkle freshly chopped chives over hot foods as a flavour boost and garnish.
• Chinese chives or garlic chives have body and add character to stir-fries, dumpling fillings and Asian flatbreads.

Coriander (cilantro)
• This love-it-or-leave-it herb adds perfumed aroma to Mexican, Indian, Asian and Middle Eastern dishes. Also known by its Spanish name, cilantro, and Arab or Chinese parsley, all parts of this herb (leaves, stems, roots and seeds) are used throughout the world, though not all parts of the plant are used in all cuisines.
• The flavour of stems and leaves is absorbed with slow cooking, but chopped fresh coriander adds a green freshness when tossed in salads, stirred into curries or dips, or sprinkled over cooked foods.
• Coriander is harvested with the roots intact because it bolts easily. However, if you want the seeds, let nature take its course.
• Lightly toasting coriander seeds helps bring out their nutty aroma and exotic flavour. They are used both whole and ground in curry pastes, meat rubs and spice blends. In southeast Asia, minced roots are used in sauces and pastes.

Dill
• Both the seeds and feathery leaves of the dill plant are used (when dried, the herb is called dillweed).
• Chopped leaves add unique flavour to dips, soups, salmon, fish and eggs. Use seeds in cucumber pickles, braised cabbage and potato salad. Allow dill to flower before slipping it into a jar of pickles.

Marjoram and oregano
• These two herbs are closely related, but marjoram has a flavour that is more delicate than its wild-variety cousin, oregano.
• Native to the Mediterranean, these aromatic herbs are essential to French, Greek, Italian and Spanish recipes. Their spicy, zesty flavour complements oils and vinegars, grilled poultry and seafood, and tomato-based sauces.
• Once dried, oregano and marjoram have much more concentrated flavours than when fresh. Add both fresh and dried at the end of cooking.

Learn about the top 10 home-grown edibles.

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