You won’t need to use much, if any, salt in your food when using fresh herbs because they have a great flavour that awakens your taste senses. Here are some examples of the flavours of fresh herbs and how to complement them with other ingredients:
Basil:
Flavour of basil: Sweet and fresh
Prep: Prepare the leaves by rolling them firmly and using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to carefully slice or chop them.
Advice: Include right before serving in a dish. Most recipes call for basil instead of mint.
Match with: Low-sodium soups, summer veggies, eggs, poultry, and fish dishes; pastas, salads, low-sodium salad dressings; low-sodium pizza;
Make it easy: Arrange tomato slices, low-fat, low-sodium mozzarella, and basil leaves in layers. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a couple grinds of black pepper.
Cilantro
Taste: Reviving
Prep: Prepare by using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to cut gently.
Advice: Avoid cooking. Add right before serving to a dish.
Serve with: Rice, salads, low-sodium salad dressings, low-sodium, low-fat yoghurt sauce, beans, tomatoes, corn, peppers and avocados.
Make it easy: Add chopped red bell pepper, chopped jalapeño, chopped cilantro, canned black beans without salt added, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Stir and mix.
Mint
Taste: cold and sweet
Prep: Prepare by using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to cut gently.
Advice: Chewing fresh mint leaves your mouth feeling clean.
Serve with: Fruit cups, cucumbers, carrots, salads, peas, lamb, beans, sweets, water, low-fat yoghurt without added sugar, and unsweetened iced tea.
Make it easy: Cut cantaloupe and watermelon into bite-sized chunks. Combine with low-fat or fat-free vanilla yoghurt that has no additional sugar. Add a few mints.
Oregano
Taste: earthy
Prep: Prepare the stem by removing the leaves. Throw away the stem. Just before using, roughly slice the leaves with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.
Advice: Three common flavours in Greek cooking are oregano, mint, and lemon.
Go well with: Tomatoes, tomato sauce without additional salt, zucchini, potatoes, peppers, beans, mushrooms, eggs, salads, pastas, fatty fish and poultry.
Make it easy: Combine the fresh lemon juice, mint, oregano, vinegar, and olive oil in a whisk. Drizzle over the cooked red potatoes.
Parsley
Taste: Italian flat-leaf has a bright, fresh flavour. The curled kind tastes a little like pepper.
Prep: Prepare by using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to gently slice the stems and leaves. Add to a dish right before serving or in the last few minutes of cooking.
Advice: The most adaptable type of parsley in recipes is Italian flat-leaf parsley, which resembles cilantro. Little curled leaves make up curly leaf parsley.
Go well with: Egg dishes, chicken, fish, shellfish, salads, low-sodium soups, potatoes, pasta, tomatoes, tomato sauce without additional salt, carrots, and eggplant.
Make it easy: Olive oil, lemon juice, chives, parsley, mint, and garlic should all be whisked together. Serve with grilled white fish, like flounder or cod.
Rosemary
Taste: tart and woodsy
Prep: Prepare by pinching the top of the stem with your finger and thumb, then firmly pulling down to remove the leaves. Throw away the stem. Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut leaves firmly.
Advice: Use rosemary sparingly because it has a strong flavour.
Serve with: Low-sodium soups, fiber-rich whole-wheat breads, roasted root vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, cabbage, oily fish, prawns, pears and apples.
Make it easy: To grill prawns, skewer them with sprigs.
Thyme
Taste: mild and lemony
Prep: Because thyme is delicate, remove the leaves more gently than you would with rosemary. The leaves don’t need to be chopped because they are so tiny.
Advice: For the finest flavour, add just at the start of cooking.
Match with: Low-sodium soups, chowders and stews; chicken; carrots, corn, mushrooms; potatoes; tomatoes; and green beans.
Make it easy: To a roasting pan, add chopped tomatoes, onion, olive oil, and thyme. Roast slowly at 300˚F for one hour. Over cooked whole-grain pasta, spoon.