Herbs just take every single dish up another level, don’t you think?
Two years ago I planted my first few herbs and since then the amount and variety are increasing constantly. They are taking over my garden as reigning plantpower (although the pumpkin seems to attempt a coup this year ;–))
I know that most people would prefer vibrant, colourful flowers to decorate their garden, but I am totally into those different greens and modest, but beautiful blooms. And when you give them a chance and walk up close to them, they will completely charm you with their amazing range of fragrances. Yes, a rose does smell good, but have you ever smelled a lemon verbena? OMG, if there is space for only one single plant in your place, take this one! I promise, each time you pass it, you will want to smell, smell, smell… That light, summery, lemony fragrance turns each breath into a little dose of holiday. Makes an awesome tea too – fresh or dried leaves, depending on the time of year.
Obviously, with all those amazing smells, they are a great addition to your kitchen. And lucky as we are, they don’t just enchant our noses, but also our taste buds :–) What a difference it makes to eat tomatoes+mozzarella or tomatoes+mozzarella+BASIL, right?? Traditional Austrian cuisine without parsley and chives? Impossible! Just like I need my coriander leaves in my Brazilian beans…
Herbs simply give the taste of food so much more depth and sometimes it’s just a small humble green leave that makes a dish come “alive”.
Such a pity that most herbs don’t want to stay around for the winter season. So it is high time to collect some now to stock up on those incredible taste-boosters! A wonderful way to do that is to make yourself a little collection of herbal salt. It is SO easy to make and puts SUCH a lovely taste on pretty much anything savoury I can possibly think of. Sprinkle it on top of your potatoes and on your salad, stir it into your yoghurt dip, make it your secret ingredient in hummus, season your fish filet or simply give your cheese sandwich a little extra “yummy”. Your imagination is the limit ;–)
When I make herbal salt, I like to just grab my scissors and harvest whatever herbs I feel like. I am not really working along a very strict recipe here and so far the mixes always turned out really well :–) I particularly like rucola and chives as base, then add in other herbs as I see fit. Lovage would be a great base too.
So, have fun mixing up those herbs and enjoy their magic until spring brings us fresh greens :–)
Ingredients:
- 30 g dried herbs of your choice (self-dried or store-bought)
I like to use:
10 g rucola
5 g chives
5 g rosemary
3 g sage
3 g nasturtium (blooms and leaves)
1 g thyme
1 g oregano
1 g curry plant
1 g lavender (blooms and leaves) - 50 g salt of your choice (rock salt, sea salt, fine or coarse…)
Directions
- First off, you need to decide whether you want a fine, powdered salt or rather coarse salt that you might use in a salt mill – or something in between. Accordingly, the next step is either pulverising or chopping your dried herbs to small/tiny pieces (use mortar/knives or your food processor/coffee grinder).
- Secondly and finally (told you it’s easy ;–)) mix herbs and salt and transfer to a container of your choice that keeps away moisture (e.g. a twist-off jar). Enjoy!