How to Use Fresh Herbs

Fresh herbs can wake up your taste buds with delicious flavor, eliminating the need to use a lot of salt, if any, in your dishes. Here’s how some fresh herbs taste and how to pair their flavor with other ingredients:

Basil

• Flavor: Sweet and fresh
• Prep: Roll the leaves tightly and gently slice or chop them with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.
• Tips: Add to a dish just before serving. Basil can be substituted for mint in most recipes.
• Pair with: No-salt-added tomato sauce, pastas, salads, low-sodium salad dressings, low-sodium pizza, low-sodium soups, summer vegetables, eggs, chicken and fish dishes
• Make it simple: Layer slices of tomato, low-fat, low-sodium mozzarella and basil leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a few dashes of black pepper. 

Cilantro

• Flavor: Refreshing
• Prep: Gently chop with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.
• Tips: Do not cook. Add to a dish just before serving.
• Pair with: Beans, tomatoes, corn, peppers, avocados, rice, salads, low-sodium salad dressings and low-sodium, low-fat yogurt sauce
• Make it simple: Stir together no-salt-added canned black beans, corn, chopped red bell pepper, chopped jalapeño, cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Mint

• Flavor: Sweet and cool 
• Prep: Gently chop with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.
• Tips: You can chew fresh mint for a clean-tasting mouth.
• Pair with: Fruit cups, carrots, cucumbers, salads, peas, lamb, beans, desserts, unsweetened iced tea, water and low-fat yogurt with no added sugar
• Make it simple: Chop watermelon and cantaloupe into bite-size cubes. Stir together with fat-free or low-fat no-sugar-added vanilla yogurt. Sprinkle with mint.

Oregano

• Flavor: Earthy
• Prep: Strip the leaves from the stem. Discard the stem. Firmly chop the leaves with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors just before using.
• Tips: Oregano, mint and lemon are a common flavor trio in Greek dishes.
• Pair with: Tomatoes, no-added-salt tomato sauce, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, beans, mushrooms, eggs, low-sodium soups, salad, low-sodium pizza, pastas, oily fish and poultry
• Make it simple: Whisk together fresh lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, oregano and mint. Pour over cooked red potatoes.

Parsley

• Flavor: Italian flat-leaf is light and fresh. The curly variety is slightly peppery.
• Prep: Gently chop both stems and leaves with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. Add to a dish during the final minutes of cooking or just before serving.
• Tips: Italian flat-leaf parsley looks similar to cilantro and is the most versatile in dishes. Curly leaf parsley has little curly leaves.
• Pair with: Chicken, egg dishes, fish, seafood, low-sodium soups, salads, potatoes, pasta, tomatoes, no-salt-added tomato sauce, carrots and eggplant
• Make it simple: Whisk together olive oil, fresh lemon juice, parsley, mint, garlic and chives. Serve over broiled white fish such as cod or flounder. 

Rosemary

• Flavor: Woodsy and lemony
• Prep: Pinch your finger and thumb at the top of the stem and firmly pull down to remove the leaves. Discard the stem. Firmly chop leaves with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.
• Tips: Because rosemary is a strong-tasting herb, use in small amounts.
• Pair with: Roasted root vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, cabbage, oily fish, shrimp, pears, apples, fiber-rich whole-wheat breads and low-sodium soups
• Make it simple: Use sprigs as skewers to grill shrimp.

Thyme

• Flavor: Lemony and light
• Prep: Remove leaves similarly to how you would prepare rosemary but more gently as thyme is delicate. Because the leaves are very small, there is no need to chop them.
• Tips: Add at the beginning of the cooking process for the best flavor.
• Pair with: Chicken, carrots, corn, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans and low-sodium soups, chowders and stews
• Make it simple: Add chopped tomatoes, onion, olive oil and thyme to a roasting pan. Slow roast for one hour at 300˚F. Spoon over cooked whole-grain pasta.

For tips on how to store fresh herbs, check out Tis the Seasonings.