It's bloomin' thyme!

Wonderful, don't you think?

Ba$il and other Herb$

Basil on its way to the dehydrator

Mr. Big Food asked the other day if I had dried any thyme. I had not, primarily because I have enough fresh English thyme to last a life time. He commented that dried thyme was "crazily" expensive. So since there are occasions when dried is preferable to fresh-- like when it's raining-- I dried some thyme.

I also took stock of the rest of our dried herbs. Good Lord! I had no idea we were almost out of basil. Not to worry, though. I have plenty of fresh.

Mr. Big Food's remark about the expense of dried herbs got me wondering just how much good quality, heirloom, organically grown herbs cost. So I went a-lookin' around the World Wide Web. Holy Moly!!

I looked only at one site, Localharvest.com, which offers a lot of products from a lot of smaller farms. Very nice if for those interested in local products. Mr. Big Food was correct. Dried English thyme is crazily expensive.

Prices per ounce:

Basil $1.75
Greek oregano $2.49
Dill $2.99
Cilantro $2.99
Rosemary $3.24
English thyme $3.75

I sure do feel sorry for folks who don't grow their own herbs. Well. That's a lie. I can't think of any good reason not to grow at least some of your favorite herbs.

A patch of cilantro that self-seeded from this spring's planted patch.

Recipe: Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms

Monday is vegan night and Daughter C and Miss M prepared ans served a delicious pasta dish! I wish I had taken photographs but the big pasta bowl was empty before I realized it! 

They found the recipe at The Food Network dot com, and it's attributed to Nigella Lawson. 

Herbs came straight from the herb garden:

"Mom! Do we have any parsley?"

"Yes. ... No! You passed it," I replied. It was nice, sitting outside on the patio with Mr. Big Food and A. Leland as C & M prepared supper. Relaxing, even.

"Mom! Do we have any thyme?"

"Yes. ... No! Not that thyme," I instructed.

 "Keep walking," advised A. Leland.

We have enough thyme to last a life time. I'm hoping that in another year people will be stepping on it as it creeps across the walk. 

Here's the recipe. I believe they used baby bellas rather than the called for mushrooms. There's not much call for cremini mushrooms out here.  And I do believe I saw Daughter C heading into the kitchen with some basil. That's one of the many nice features of an herb garden, isn't it? Walk outside, pluck some "gorgeously scented" herbs, and commence to cookin'!

I'll note that this is a quick dish to prepare. (And easy clean-up!)

LINGUINE WITH LEMON, GARLIC, AND THYME MUSHROOMS
4-6 servings
prep time: 10 mins.
cooking time: 15 minutes

8 ounces/ 4cups finely sliced chestnut/cremini mushrooms
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp Maldon/kosher salt or 1 1/2 tsp table salt
small clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 sprigs fresh thyme stripped to give 1 tsp leaves
1 lb. linguine
1 buch fresh parsley, chopped, to give 1/2 cup
2-3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Slice the mushrooms finely, and put them into a large bowl with the oil, salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and zest, and gorgeously scented thyme leaves.

Cook the pasta according to package instructions and drain loosely retaining some water. Quickly put the pasta into the bowl with the mushroom mixture.

Toss everything together well, and then add the parsley, cheese and pepper before tossing again. Eat with joy in your heart.

Recipe: Grilled Vegetables with Herb Marinade

Recipe from Healthy Home Cooking: Fresh Ways with Vegetables (Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1986)

Preparation and grilling photos here: Big Food!

GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH HERB MARINADE

Serves 12
Working (and total) time: about 45 minutes
Calories 88; Protein 3g; Cholesterol 0mg; Total fat 5g; Saturated fat 1g; Sodium 52mg

6 medium zucchini, each sliced in half crosswise with a diagonal cut through the middle, each half cut into a fan by making lengthwise slices ¼ inch apart, leaving the slices attached at the uncut end

3 medium onions, each cut lengthwise into quarters

12 large mushroom caps, wiped clean

4 red sweet peppers, each cut lengthwise into thirds, seeded, deribbed

6 ripe plum or small tomatoes, cut in half

3 limes, each cut into 8 wedges

Herb Marinade (below)

(If using bamboo skewers, soak for 1 hour before threading on vegetables and grilling.) Prepare coals for grilling about 30 minutes before you plan to grill vegetables. Thread onions onto one or two skewers. Thread mushroom caps on one skewer. Thread pepper strips onto one or two skewers. Thread tomatoes on skewers. When grill is ready, lightly brush all vegetables with Herb Marinade. Cook vegetables, staggering cooking times so that all vegetables will be done at the same time. Put zucchini fans on oiled grill first; they require about 10 minutes grilling. After 2 minutes add onions. After 2 minutes longer add mushrooms. Add peppers and tomatoes for the last 4 minutes of grilling time. Baste vegetables with any remaining marinade as they cook, and turn them as they brown. Remove vegetables from skewers and arrange on a platter. Serve hot, accompanied by lime wedges.

HERB MARINADE

¼ C virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried leaves

1 tsp fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried leaves

¼ tsp crushed hot red pepper

¼ tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and warm mixture over medium heat until it begins to bubble gently, then cook 4 minutes longer. Remove from heat to cool.

True Greek Oregano

One dehydrator batch

True Greek oregano is a wonderful herb. From Botanical Interests:

Perennial. True Greek oregano is the superior, true culinary type of oregano prized by Italian and Greek chefs. It is highly aromatic and flavorful, combining superbly with fresh tomatoes or tomato sauces, egg and cheese combinations such as omelets and quiche, marinated vegetables, meat, fish and poultry. A good container variety. 

[snip]

Cut branches when needed after the plant is at least 6" tall. Some oregano experts claim the best flavor comes just before plant flowers. Pruning off the branches also encourages fullness and fresh, new growth on the plant.

I'm with the experts on this one. I cut some yesterday, put it in the dehydrator, and left for about an hour. We returned to an oregano aroma home. Wonderful!