As I mentioned in a recent article on iVillage Canada, I like to frequent farmer’s markets and my mother pushes produce plucked from her thriving garden on me all summer long. Between the two, I thought I knew a thing or two about herbs. I’ve had to get creative to use up what was a bushel of tarragon. I have fresh, dry and frozen curry leaves in my house at this very moment and will soon be housing my own curry plant. But five minutes at the Union Square Market in NYC last month and I realized I haven’t seen even a tiny fraction of all the herbs out there. One vendor sold no less than 25 different types of basil (basil!) so you can imagine that there were herbs on offer I’d never seen the likes of.
You already know that my go-to way to use up herbs that are threatening to wilt in my fridge is to pile them all onto a pasta. It’s surprising how an entire bunch of cilantro, chopped and added to warm pasta dressed in fried garlic, chilies and simply seasoned olive oil makes for one of the most satisfying dinners. And the news is also out that I can’t have enough pesto in the summer and that I’ve discovered the joy of basically drinking herbs. Imagine the concoctions the people who live near Union Square come up with every week? And don’t even get me started on the abundance of varieties of, well, everything else. See for yourself.
