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 A
great way to instantly add flavor and excitement to your food
is to use fresh herbs. Herbs add an aromatic quality to any
dish that dried herbs can only  mimic.
For those who do not cook on a regular basis — cooking
with herbs may seem like an extraordinary step — requiring
too much time and extra ingredients. But the truth is that
using herbs as a regular addition to your foods does not take
that much effort or an abundance of time and is very much
worth the effort in the end. Remember — living with Celiac
does not mean living without good tasting foods!
The fun part of using herbs is getting to
the point where you understand the characteristics of each
herb and how to use it to compliment your food. If you have
little experience cooking with herbs here are some great tips
to get you started:
- Begin by tasting a leaf of the herb you
are investigating. Treat it kind of like fine wine and fully
grasp its taste and fragrant bouquet.
- Add fresh herbs (a little at a time)
to something rather bland like butter or sour cream. Use
the mixture as a compliment to potatoes or even grilled
meats. Doing this allows the intensity of the herb to stand
out and gives you a pretty good idea of how much of the
herb you should add to various foods.
- Experimentation is the key: add some
rosemary to chicken; add fresh basil leaves to salad; add
fresh basil or oregano to your favorite gf pizza.
There are many, many herbs to experiment
with and I encourage you to try all of them out. You can really
get into it and have some fun with the amazing flavors offered
by these great edible plants. If you are just starting out
here are some of the most commonly used herbs and a general
idea of what works best with what:
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Herbs
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Common Uses
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Chives
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Soups, salads, salad dressings, eggs, dips, vegetables,
chicken, butters, and fish.
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Thyme
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Game, beef, fish, cream cheese, fish, chowders, pâté,
vegetables, and tomato sauce.
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Tarragon
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Chicken, fish, eggs, tomato juice, butters (especially
nice on steak), cream sauces, vinegars, salads, mustards,
sauces (hollandaise, béarnaise and tartar), Soups
(chicken, fish, mushroom and tomato) and marinades for
fish, lamb or pork.
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Oregano
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Sauces (white and tomato), stews, soups, fish, lamb,
pork, vegetables, butters, and vinegars.
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Rosemary
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Beef, lamb, fish, poultry, stuffings, soups, stews,
fruit cups, soups, vegetables, and marinades.
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Sage
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Stuffings (for fish, poultry, and meat), pâté,
eggs, poultry, pork, beef, lamb, pasta, cheeses (cheddar,
cream, and cottage), sauces (brown and meat), soups
(cream and chowder), beef stews, and vegetables.
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Basil
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Pesto, salsas, salads, tomato sauce, chicken, fish,
vegetables, eggs, flavored Mayonnaise, flavored soft
cheese, flavored butters, soups,
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If you’d like to grow your own herbs,
check out our article archives for previous articles on growing
your own herb garden.
-Glutenfreeda
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