Invasion of the herbs : 10 great ways to use up your herb harvest

If you have a kitchen garden, you're already an expert at grabbing a handful of aromatic herbs, roughly chopping them, and adding them to your favorite salads, sauces, soups, and marinades. Your platters are embellished with pretty swatches of greenery and your dips always have a fresh garnish. As for pesto, you’ve made them all: basil, parsley, and arugula. But it’s early fall, and after all that culinary creativity, do you still have an over-abundance of herbs?

Before you even think about turning them over as compost, peruse these clever tips. Chefs across Canada with their own kitchen gardens have this same problem year after year and have devised all kinds of imaginative ways to use up their delicious bounty.

Branch Out
“Branches of woody herbs such as rosemary can be used as garnishes in mixed drinks,” advises Sinclair Philip of Victoria’s Sooke Harbour House. While rosemary makes a great swizzle stick, delicate herbs like mint, coriander and lemon balm can also add zip to your summer cocktails.
Top photo: Oregano patch overlooking Trinity Bay near Fishers' Loft Inn, N.L.


Up in Smoke
Philip also recommends reserving a few of those sturdy rosemary branches to use as skewers for grilled kabobs. Fragrant thyme, sage or rosemary can also add flavour to barbecued food just by tossing a few dampened bunches of them directly on hot coals. The oils mingle with the smoke imparting an unusual smoky-herbal essence to whatever you’re grilling.
Photo: Honeydew Melon Sage  from Sooke Harbour House, B.C.


Vaporize ‘Em!
Chef Paul Rogalski of Calgary’s Rouge has his own unique ideas for abundant herbs: “In the productive months we steam fish or seafood on the leaves; or even put herbs into the steaming water. We also do fun things like make aromatic water and atomize them at the table to perfume the air.”
Photo: Picking herbs at Rouge, Calgary, Alta.

 
Just Sip It!
Next time you crave a cup of herbal tea, don’t search the cupboard for a stale teabag. Instead, peruse your garden for the most aromatic herbs you can find and steep them until you have a fragrant, fresh infusion. “I always have lemon verbena in my personal garden,” says Jean-Pierre Curtat (executive chef at Nuances in Montréal) who enjoys an herbal tea at the end of his workday. “It makes a great tea that can be mixed with other herbs or flowers.”
Photo: Late summer Shingeku, or Japanese Chrysanthemum at Sooke Harbour House, B.C.

Surprising Sweets
Although herbs usually conjure up savory thoughts, they also lend themselves beautifully to sweet preparations. Sinclair Philip points out that “herbs are excellent in many sorbets,” and his colleagues agree, recommending basil, lavender, rose, and edible flowers such as scented geranium as “excellent flavourings for all kinds of desserts.” Peggy Fisher (Innkeeper of Newfoundland’s Fisher’s Loft Inn) says that besides sauces and sorbets, simple baked goods can also benefit from the addition of herbs. A popular treat at her inn, for example, are the blueberry-sage corn muffins. Why not try adding a few chopped herbs to your own favorite fruit-muffin recipe?
Photo: Sorting late flowering lavender at Sooke Harbour House, B.C.


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