Organic Food 101: Three favorite herbs that add zing to dinners

December 23, 6:09 PMOrganic Food ExaminerNatalie Rotunda

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When my Mother had to lay off the salt, her culinary ways underwent a change. She loved potato chips, bacon...all things salty, so it was a huge deal to lower her dependence on salt.  But she wasn't willing to eat bland-tasting foods, so she searched for ways to spice our foods. We never missed the salt!

Heather, my daughter and cook deluxe, learned to cook with both spices and herbs. These are three of her favorite herbs. She usually finds a way to add them to nearly everything she cooks. Let me tell you, she makes good eats, as a result.

• Basil---She uses fresh green basil whenever possible. It also comes in dried and crushed. She keeps a container of dried in the cupboard, just in case she runs out of fresh. The sweet flavor combines a hint of mint, pepper, and cloves. Tastes great in tomato sauce, on chicken, in ground turkey and ground beef; summer veggies like zucchini; pestos; and on green lettuce salads to which she adds thin slices of red onion and green pepper.
• Rosemary---Heather really loves this one. It's available fresh on stems; or dried. The pungent flavor holds a hint of pine. She likes to use it on chicken, in ground turkey, pork; in veggies; in herbed (organic) butter. She's been known to add it to homemade bread. It's so good that it's hard to limit servings to just one piece at a time.
• Sage---She adds this to ground pork, ground beef, and ground turkey; great in stuffings, too. It comes either fresh, dried and crushed or rubbed, and has a delightfully pungent, slightly bitter flavor.

My contribution is to grow and maintain pot containers of each of these herbs, and keep them within easy reach on the sunny deck outside the kitchen door. No reason not to keep a pot of basil handy in the kitchen during the winter, too. It's pretty easy to grow.

For a supplier of certified organic herbs and spices, try this source