Herbs and How to Use Them in Food and Drinks

Boxwood Basil

 Basil is the herb Megan and I use the most in cooking. We love the flavour of italian basil in pasta or on pizza. Every summer, when tomatoes start coming in, we use basil in tomato salads or in bruschetta as well.  Another delicious way to use basil is in delicious homemade tomato soups.

Due to our love of this herb, we have some cinnamon basil growing in a pot outdoors and we also purchased boxwood basil from our local garden center. I think the boxwood basil is so pretty with how bushy it is and you really don't need to use a knife to cut the leaves, since the leaves are already so tiny.

Unfortunately, basil is an annual in our southern Ontario climate, so we might have to see if we can dig this up at the end of the summer to bring indoors.

Oregano

Like with basil, Megan and I consistently use oregano in pasta by just tossing our noodles with this herb before serving. It adds some earthiness to our pasta dishes. I also love to use this in vinaigrettes.

Lemon Thyme

I haven't used lemon thyme before as this is the first year that we've had it, but previously I've used regular thyme when roasting meats like chicken, or making beef stew. It is also excellent to stir through soups. Thyme is also a natural pairing when sauteing mushrooms. Yesterday, Megan came up with the most delicious mushroom filling with thyme for ravioli.

Sage

Sage is a lovely herb, that is attractive when it flowers, and has a minty flavour. You can use it to make a sage brown butter for pasta or in pumpkin dishes. Megan and I have tried in on a pizza before with squash and pancetta that tasted very good.

Mint

Mint grows like a weed and if it isn't managed, could take over your garden. We haven't found too many uses for it, but it is delicious to make a tea from by steeping it in hot water, and I've even found it is nice as a flavouring in iced green tea. Just make sure you remove the leaves after a few minutes or the tea could become bitter.

Pineapple Sage

Megan and I just bought this pineapple sage and we honestly don't know how we'll use it yet. The leaves smell like fresh pineapple though, so I imagine this would be delicious to enhance pineapple flavour in a salsa or fruit salad.

Jennifer