fresh chives

Fresh herbs: For the love of chives

Tamara asked for fresh herb ideas. Right now it's all about chives in my house. What's not to love, delicious and totally maintenance free. I can let my kids pick (tear) away without worrying that they will do mortal damage to the plant, hah, just try killing these suckers.

And, oh yeah, possibly the best partner a plain old ho-hum flavor could find. Chives are like that one guy at the dance hall who can drag even the most awkward, rhythm-challenged girl onto the floor and make her look beautiful.

Potatoes, a green leaf salad, grilled fish, you name it. My son, who is not picky eater in any way, has, never the less, been a bit off salad recently. But since the chives came around he has turned into such a salad hog that I have to make sure everyone gets some before he licks the bowl clean. (See recipe below)

grilled porgies

I made grilled porgies tonight. They were OK, but I got home late from work and didn't have time to marinate them they way I usually would. Also, the fish didn't char that well for some reason. The fish itself was sweet, but it could have used more flavor. I ended up spooning little bits of chives from the salad over it, and it was delicious. Next time, I'm going to try and make a simple chive sauce to spoon over the fish (on purpose).

For some other ideas, here and here are some earlier posts that highlight fresh herbs.

A simple spring salad

Ingredients:

lettuce, 4 cups or so
small handful of fresh chives
good olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and black pepper (fresh cracked if possible)

Instructions:

Wash and dry a large bowl of the freshest lettuce you can find.
Mince a bunch of fresh chives (10-15 pieces, tender parts only)
Put the lettuce in a large salad bowl, tear leaves gently into small pieces as you add them to the bowl. Sprinkle the chives on top.
Drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil, toss well so all the leaves are coated.
Drizzle with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, toss again. (Be careful not to overdo the vinegar, less is more in this case.)
Crack black pepper over the top and sprinkle a pinch of salt, toss again. Serve.


posted May 29, 2008 | link | contribute a comment

filed under: Ingredients, Recipes, chives, fish, fresh herbs, porgies, salad

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