How to Use Your Herbs.
Cooking herbs are a fantastic way to add extra dimensions of flavor, aroma, and color to any dish, be it savory or sweet; and knowing what herb to use for which dish can help you out a ton.
Today, I will share with you 12 herbs that are utilized by chefs and home cooks worldwide and help give you ideas of what sort of dishes you can make with them.
Before moving on, I need to answer a simple question: What is an herb?
In short terms, herbs are fragrant plants whose leaves and stems are full of aroma and flavor that can enhance any plate of food.
Most herbs are sold either fresh or dried. I know many chefs will tell you that freshness is everything, but dried herbs do provide excellent flavor and are great to add to spice rubs, stews, curries, salad dressings, and sauces for an extra pop of flavor.
Do remember that dried herbs are a lot more potent than their fresh counterparts, so if you are going to use dried herbs, then I’d suggest using about 1/3 of what you’d use with fresh herbs.
Herbs are divided into two categories: Soft and hard. Soft herbs have soft, tender stems and the leaves are often chopped up for garnish, while hard herbs have woodier stems and are ideal for cooking into dishes to impart flavor.
I will first review the soft herbs I like to use. Keep in mind that, while the leaves of herbs are pretty to look at, the stems of soft herbs are packed with flavor and are ideal to slice thinly to sauté into dishes as they won’t wilt like the leaves.
Going in no particular order, I will now begin with…
Cilantro
Believe it or not, there exists a gene that causes some people to believe that cilantro tastes like soap. I do not have this gene, so I am fortunate to know that cilantro has a crisp, fresh, almost citrusy flavor.
Cilantro, also known as coriander, is popular as a garnish for Mexican dishes, Thai and Vietnamese dishes, Indian dishes, and Greek dishes, and is great when mixed with some natural yogurt as a dipping sauce for fried food or anything spicy.
Parsley
One of the most popular herbs in restaurants, parsley’s grassy flavor and dark green color lends it to being commonly sprinkled on top of dishes as a green, herbal garnish.
It can also be bashed into an herb butter for a steak, blended into salad dressings, or fried with some breadcrumbs for a crispy garnish on pasta dishes.
Parsley comes in two basic varieties: Italian flat-leaf parsley and curly-leaf parsley. Both offer the same flavor, but the flat-leaf parsley is more popular because the flatter leaves are easier to chop.
By the way, do you know how to tell the difference between cilantro and parsley? Well, there’s a few things you can keep in mind.
Cilantro has lighter, rounder leaves that smell cool and refreshing like water, while flat-leaf parsley has pointier leaves that smell grassier.
Chives
A member of the onion family (alliums), chives have a mild, sharp onion flavor similar to green onions. When sliced thin, chives are great to sprinkle onto potatoes, fish, chicken, steak, and a favorite of mine is folding them into scrambled eggs for pops of color and flavor.
Heat does tend to destroy the flavor of chives, so I suggest using them as a garnish or a finishing herb that you add towards the end of cooking to preserve their natural color and flavor.
Mint
When some people think of mint, they likely think of toothpaste, but mint’s refreshing, cooling flavor makes it an herb that anyone should work with.
Mint is a great all-rounder to be used in sweet dishes like a berry tart, savory dishes like summer rolls, and even for cocktails, as it’s delicious when muddled with lime and sugar and then mixed with rum and soda water for a classic mojito.
Dill
Dill is one of those herbs that is a bit underrated. It has a bright, sweet flavor that’s a cross between anise, parsley, and celery and has little leaves that are great to be picked off in small bundles for any garnish.
Many of us are familiar with dill being used in pickles, but fresh dill offers lovely flavor to chicken soup, fish dishes, Greek spreads like tzatziki, and almost any salad.
Have some soft herbs like dill, basil, or parsley that are about to go bad? Don’t worry about it! What you can do is chop up the herbs finely, divide them into the holes of an ice cube tray, cover the herbs with olive oil, and place that in the freezer.
Pop those out, and you’ve got cubes of herb oil that are great for tossing with pasta, finishing a soup, or melting down to sauté fish.
Tarragon
One of the more expensive herbs that you can get, tarragon has a bright, anise flavor that makes it an herb that chefs seek after year-round.
Tarragon’s flavor is great to add an anise kick to summer salads, it is used to make a classic bearnaise sauce (Hollandaise that has a reduction of vinegar, peppercorns, shallots, and tarragon added to it.) and is great for fish!
Basil
My favorite herb in the world. Basil’s mild, sweet, peppery flavor and floral aroma make it an all-mighty herb.
The uses for basil go on and on. It can be blended with pine nuts, lemon, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan for a classic pesto, sliced and tossed into pasta salads, sprinkled on top of any pasta dish, rolled into a spring roll, be mixed into any spread or dressing, and so much more.
Basil also has its uses in sweet dishes and is great when paired with strawberries, pineapple, and almost any fruit for a tart, shortcake, or simply berries with basil cream.
Also, if you’ve ever seen darker basil with thick, purple stems, then you are looking at Thai basil, which has a stronger flavor than the sweet Italian basil and is great for salads.
To prepare basil leaves, and mint for that matter, the best way to do so is with a chiffonade.
Find the largest basil leaf you have, then stack the other leaves on top of that. Roll the leaves tight like rolling a cigar, then slice the leaves across so you end up with thin basil ribbons.
Well, all of that is great information about soft herbs, if I do say so myself, but what about hard herbs?
Bay
Bay leaves are loaded with a floral, citrusy flavor that is brought out during long, slow cooking processes like braising or stock making and is often removed before serving. It might seem like one of those herbs that doesn’t need to go in, but you do taste the difference when you don’t add the bay leaf versus when you do.
These days, almost all bay leaves sold are found in dried form, but I am fine with this as, when stored at room temperature, they never expire. Bay leaves can also be ground up into spice mixes like a classic Old Bay seasoning and Garam Masala blends.
Sage
A potent but delicious herb, sage provides a strong, earthy, slightly musky taste and aroma that is common among Italian and British dishes. It can be fried as a garnish for soups and salads, sauteed with brown butter as a sauce for gnocchi or ravioli, and has a fantastic place in Thanksgiving stuffing and turkey.
I do not recommend placing sprigs of raw sage on top of dishes because the stalks are like trying to drink perfume in a solid form. The same goes for any of the other hard herbs.
Oregano
Oregano is another herb that is often bought dried and used for soups, dressings, and spice rubs, but the fresh version is incredibly underrated and deserves much more love.
Fresh oregano’s slightly sweet, bitter, peppery leaves can help to liven up chicken, tomato sauces, eggplant, fish, potatoes, and casseroles. I like using some of the leaves in place of basil for a unique take on a classic pesto.
To prepare oregano, as well as thyme and rosemary, grab the oregano at the top of the stem then pull the stem up with your other hand to pick off all of the leaves that you can chop or sprinkle on whole.
Thyme
One of the most popular hard herbs, thyme’s sweet, floral flavor is a great addition to stocks, soups, seafood, pasta dishes, and almost anything. To be honest, because the leaves of thyme are so small, I often don’t even bother with chopping them.
If you notice that your thyme has slightly dried out, don’t worry about that! Hold onto that and use it the same way you’d use any dried herb, as that will have more flavor built-in than the dried herbs you find at the grocery store.
Rosemary
To finish things off, I have the herb that is as potent as it is delicious, rosemary. Rosemary has a powerful woodsy aroma along with flavor notes of pine, sage, citrus, lavender, and evergreen.
Because the leaves of rosemary are so firm, this is not the kind of herb that you would chop up raw and sprinkle on top of a dish, but what it is good for is being cooked into dishes like stews, sauces, and braises as their sturdy leaves won’t wilt like basil or parsley.
It also has a place in sweet dishes, especially when paired with lemon in a stunning olive oil cake.
All of the herbs mentioned are unique in that they each bring their own notes of flavor and aroma to any dish, but don’t forget that, while each herb is delicious on it’s own, using a blend of herbs can take your dishes to another level entirely!
So what are you waiting for? Find some herbs that you like, give them a good smell, then get cooking!
