Herbs add freshness and colour to recipes and are often the signature fragrance of a cuisine. They’re easy to grow in pots on the kitchen counter, planter boxes on the balcony or a garden bed, so they’re on hand to brighten dishes all year round. Here are some of my favourite recipes using fresh herbs.
Sabzi Khordan (Persian Fresh Herb Platter) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Persian cooking class! Persian food reminds me of Vietnamese with its love of fresh herb platters served at every meal. In Iran it’s any combination of mint, parsley, coriander, dill, tarragon, basil, chives, green onions and radishes; other wild or seasonal greens […]
Sauce Gribiche Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class! I love this deliciously easy variation on tartare sauce, made using cooked egg yolk instead of the usual raw egg. Parsley is traditional but you can add other herbs – I take inspiration from Matt Moran who uses chervil in his sauce gribiche; […]
Pistou (Provençal Pesto) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the food of Provence! Pistou is the Provençal cousin of Liguria’s pesto, though it doesn’t contain any cheese or nuts and – unlike a classic pesto alla Genovese – the garlic in pistou packs a real punch. On its own as […]
Pesto alla Genovese Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of Liguria! Although pesto means ‘to pound’, the classic Ligurian pesto alla Genovese, from the port city of Genoa, is traditionally made by crushing – rather than pounding – the ingredients in a marble mortar using a wooden pestle. […]
Coriander Pesto Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Caribbean cooking class! I love classic basil pesto alla Genovese (see video below). Pesto means ‘pounded’ – the same as Provençal pistou – so when I had a couple of bunches of coriander leftover in the fridge I wondered what other ingredients might be added for […]
Eggplant Fatteh Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Fatteh comes from the Arabic verb to ‘break up’ or ‘crumble’, which is what’s done to the stale flatbread in this eggplant fatteh recipe. Fatteh is one of those ingenious peasant dishes created to ensure nothing goes to waste and it’s a […]
Tabbouleh Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Along with hummus, tabbouleh (tabouli) is perhaps the best-known Lebanese dish outside the Middle East. It was certainly part of my introduction to Lebanese food and I remember my sister’s mother-in-law – Teta as everyone called her – making it in huge metal […]
Batata Harra (Spicy Fried Potatoes) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Spicy batata harra is one of the most delicious potato dishes I’ve ever tasted; it’s popular as part of a meze and is great as a side dish with any meat, poultry or seafood. Traditionally the potato is deep-fried […]
Fattoush Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Whenever I have stale Lebanese bread I generally turn it into pita crisps, then use some of them to make fattoush, one of the easiest and most delicious salads. There are as many variations on fattoush as there are Lebanese cooks. Some recipes […]
Shish Barak Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Shish barak are little meat filled dumplings cooked in yoghurt sauce, similar to Turkish manti. I find that the longer the dough rests the easier it is to work with, as the gluten relaxes so it’s less likely to spring back when you […]
