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| Dill, basil & garlic scapes (not an herb) |
I had already planned to make a chicken and chickpea salad for lunches and thought this is the perfect spot for the basil. The neat thing about this basil is that it does not taste like normal Italian basil; it has more of a twist and spicier flavor to it. It was a great addition to the salad. I love this salad by itself or on a whole wheat pita with lettuce greens. So good! It's really great for lunch because it's not mayo-based and is easier to transport. I'll post the "recipe" at the end of the post.
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| This yellowish tinge - that's using flash when blogging, evidently I will avoid this in the future. |
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| Why didn't I use a more attractive serving plate? Well you get the picture folks. |
Next up was the dill. I really enjoy the taste of dill but honestly do not buy it often. I thought about putting it into cream cheese and using it as a spread or dip - J was excited at this idea as well. So while at the grocery store we had a great debate over fat free versus low fat cream cheese. We went with the fat free and I will tell you from here forward low fat is the way to go. The spread lacks something in its fat freeness. Oh well, lesson learned. I spread the mixture on a couple slices of bread and sliced some cucumbers for a light sandwich. Joel has been dipping random veggies in it all week. Overall it was fine but not great. I attribute this to the fat free business.
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| Dill spread with cucumbers |
Chicken and chickpea salad
1 rotisserie chicken, off the bone without the skin
1 can of chickpeas rinsed
1/2 large red onion finely diced
1 green pepper finely diced
a handful of cherry tomatoes cut in half or quarters depending on the size of the tomatoes
basil
Add all of the above ingredients to bowl and toss with balsamic vinaigrette.
Balsamic vinaigrette
2:1 ratio of balsamic vinegar to olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Joel will love this... just wait. The last time I bought dill (and I buy it all the time) was to make hush puppies (aka deep fried fritter goodness) and I made a Greek yogurt and dill dipping sauce with it. I have to say, it was glorious. It surely wasn't lacking in the "fat" department.
ReplyDeleteFor basil, I like to do a nice caprese salad or white pizza. It also makes a nice pesto or a good substitute for lettuce on chicken sandwich (or a burger).
I like your tatziki idea - we should do that next. Plus I love that on a salad. Hush puppies dipped in it well we'll see.
ReplyDeleteOh caprese salad - I love! :)
BTW you are my most loyal reader/commenter, merci!
If you have an appropriate space for either you can always dry the dill and basil and store them somewhere. We bought a ton of fresh dill last year for canning pickles and had a ton left over that we didn't want to just ditch. So, we hung it in the basement to dry and then we used it again - it's not as good as fresh dill, but it makes you feel better about not wasting!
ReplyDeletebasil=pesto... lots and lots of pesto.... dill tastes good in just about everything. make hummus with dill (puree the chickpeas, add some olive oil and dill and whammo...beautiful, good tasting fresh hummus....)
ReplyDeleteDill tastes AWESOME over fish....I bet it would even be good in tuna salad... I put basil in many a mexican dishes with cilantro.... basil also tastes good with vodka ;)
keep up the great work Amy (and joel) :)
Amy and Joel....I love the blogging! If you figure out how to keep basil alive for more than 5 minutes let me know....Zach and I buy it and by then 5 minutes later it is dead.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the posts, I love them and if you ever need a recipe taste tester, I am your girl :)
Lisa - thanks for the drying tip, I hadn't thought of it. Also, what a bummer about the delay in your box! We actually were delayed by a week too - so. much. rain.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing what you all use the herbs for Jody! And thanks for checking out the blog. :)