my babes mean herbs

late may – i am so happy to see my babes growing. my babes? yes, my edible babes, i mean, herbs. i’m not a green thumb, really. but, once i take a herb home from a garden shop i look after it with love, just like pet owners. if any of them gets sick or a pest attack, i will be very sad. herbs are much easier than cats or even goldfishes to look after, though.
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at the moment, my little green babes are italian parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, coriander, nutmeg geranium (i don’t know how to use this for cooking, but it flowers almost all year around and its heady scent is addictive!) and 3 varieties of mint. they are all fine, growing lush, on my south-faced balcony.
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i love using herbs for cooking. they sometimes even overwhelm other ingredients in my case. basically, i prefer vegetables and fruits to meat, so my dinner plate always looks colourful. meanwhile, one of my favourite japanese herb is 青紫蘇 ao-ji(shi)so (green perilla). as i’ve found that growing it in a pot is difficult, i get leaves from a supermarket.

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青紫蘇 goes with pasta. you can use it like basil. since japanese cuisine has become a global trend, you’ve possibly already tasted it, no? and, i love japanese mushrooms. we have great variety of mushrooms, actually. mushrooms and 青紫蘇 go very well. what about 水菜 mizuna? it is versatile and can substitutes rocket. i always use it for pasta and salad (pics are: linguine with水菜 and mushrooms; 水菜 salad with chopped pelican mongo and balsamic vinaigrette.)

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other dishes i’ve lately cooked with my babes are avocado salsa with shrimps. surely, i used coriander, which is a new face on the balcony. another dish is paella. my paella can impress guests, because not only parsley but saffron is genuinely home-grown. my mother grows saffron crocus every year for me. isn’t she wonderful?

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