The other day I went to the farmers market with my boyfriend and we bought a huge bunch of basil. I have found that since herbs are usually sold as a huge bunch for a very low price, it is worth only buying 1 or 2 types at a time. A lot of recipes include a few herbs at a time, but in order to not let any go to waste, I have had to scrap my fantasies of multiple herb salads while only cooking for two. Instead, I have just started putting the herb of the week into everything I make. Sometimes the combinations are matches made in heaven, while other times you find that you don’t like the way certain herbs accent other flavors. However, in the end, you end up learning what goes well with what by taste. And you don’t have any waste. For example, in the beginning of the summer, I found Apple Mint at the market. I was fascinated by the new herb and bought the bunch. It was so much mint that I did not know what to do with it, so I just started throwing it into everything. We ate it in salad with tomatoes, on fish, in mojitos, in everything. I loved its flavor, but when I finally used the rest up in an ice cream I had discovered my favorite use for it. Apple Mint Ice Cream was my great success for the month of July.
This week our intensive herb was basil. I have been using a leaf or two as a garnish for everything, but last night it appeared in almost every dish. For cocktail hour I made a basil- cucumber mojito. Along with the drinks I prepared a ceviche with fresh Stonington, CT scallops (local for me). I cut the scallops in half both ways and set them in lemon and lime juice with a hint of garlic to “cook” in the acid. After about an hour and a half, I seasoned them well with salt and mixed them with diced heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, and thinly sliced basil. Following that we had cantaloupe melon with feta cheese from Beltane Farm and basil chiffonade. And of course for our main dish there was a side of pasta with a classic pesto. I love basil, but what I love more is learning about what it goes well with and what it does not. There is no shame in throwing an herb in something and later realizing that it was not the best choice. The reward of learning all of the flavor nuances of the herbs is much greater than wasting Summer’s verdant bounty.