Recipes that use herbs as vegetables?

August 24, 2022 10:22 PM

I like the strong flavors of herbs, and I can get bunches of them cheap at my local farmers' market. What dishes can I make that use herbs in large quantities?

I'll prime the pump with one example: ghormeh sabzi. The linked recipe uses 9 cups of herbs -- parsley, cilantro, fenugreek, and chives. That's the kind of thing I'm after.

The farmers' market vendor I mentioned has an excellent selection including lots of Southeast Asian herbs (pennywort, perilla, rice paddy herb, etc.), as well as sorrel, watercress, and other stuff that's not so easy to find. Bonus points for answers using any of these!

posted by aws17576 to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

Chimichurri comes to mind as a beef steak condiment.

I recall that sorrel icecream was a thing some years back.

Personally, I've likely got some gene combination that makes the "golden" taste of watercress aversive to me.

Mint can be turned into jam/ jelly, or consumed as a major component of Mint Juleps and Mojitos.
posted by porpoise at 10:56 PM on August 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sorrel pesto is pretty great! Tart and savory

Is tabouleh (much parsley, some mint) too obvious?

This Armenian flatbread recipe has hella herbs https://www.lavashthebook.com/dispatches/2020/4/8/jingalov-hats
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 11:04 PM on August 24, 2022

Do they have any "thai basil" or "Chinese basil"? They have more intense flavors than regular basil. They make an excellent salad mixed with tofu, but don't add too much. Would be even more interesting if you tolerate century eggs (pi-dan), those black-shiny duck eggs if you add some slices into a "summer salad" mix.

If that's too intense, thai basil goes great with braised tofu. Just gently pan-fry some firm tofu to develop some char flavor, add some vegetarian "oyster" sauce, then add water so tofu is half-submerged, enough to "dissolve" the oyster sauce, add starch to make it a bit shinier and goopier, throw in a bunch of thai basil, stir again until all are slightly wilted, plate and serve.

Thai basil tofu stir fry (pad kapow) uses quite a bit of thai basil. But that has more stuff like peppers and other ingredients.
posted by kschang at 12:13 AM on August 25, 2022

Best answer: I’ve made very herb heavy risotto a few times and always enjoyed it. The classic is mint and pea risotto; I made it with a huge amount of mint by putting the stems in the stock I was keeping warm and piling the leaves in at a couple different stages of cooking to get the full range of flavor, then adding a small amount of just-shelled English peas at the end. I made a very basil-y risotto with a few bits of parsley and oregano I had left over from something and added sun dried tomatoes and I believe Romano cheese, that was kind of pizza flavored risotto with an almost licorice kick from the big amount of basil. And I made one with tons of dill and shrimp, using clam juice and shrimp shells for the stock, loved that one but I think I wanted to add some kind of creamy element, maybe if I do it again I’ll mix a dollop of sour cream at the end like the blasphemer I am.

I bet you could do a kind of fusion cuisine risotto with perilla and some fancy mushrooms like chanterelles or oyster mushrooms; that would be yummy with maybe some crispy shallots on top with a bunch of chiffonaded perilla.

Watercress is classically paired with eggs. You could do a risotto with lots of garlic and butter with chopped cooked cress, a pile of fresh cress and a runny egg or two nestled on top. The cress will add a peppery bitterness. I’ve had awesome watercress salads with beets before, you could try a bright pink beet risotto with watercress topping, the sweetness and bitterness will come together because both vegetables have a strong undercurrent of earthiness.

A word of caution: some herbs are not commonly used in large quantities because they can have medicinal effects in those amounts. As an example, parsley is an emmenagogue, which means it can cause uterine contractions and mess up your menstrual cycle. I’ve absolutely gone on a summertime tabbouleh kick and gotten wicked cramps with no warning followed by a super intense period. Anyway, just do a little research on what your herbs are sometimes used for outside of the kitchen so you’re not accidentally influencing any medication or hormonal things.
posted by Mizu at 12:33 AM on August 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

Gremolata is a condiment/salad of parsley, lemon, and garlic. The finer you chop it all, the more it comes like a sauce and less like a salad or slaw. It keeps well - parsley is tough- and goes with many many foods.
posted by janell at 1:28 AM on August 25, 2022

I think Persian food is just right for this, not just Gormeh sabz.i
Vietnamese Bun Cha is also traditionally served with a mound of aromatic green things.

When I have an abundance of coriander i make and freeze Zhough sauce or chimichurri if there is more parsley.
posted by pipstar at 1:56 AM on August 25, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Ottolenghi is great for this sort of thing. He's got various recipes for herb salads - this one, for example - which are literally salads substituting (or augmenting) leaves with herbs.

And any kind of taboulleh - again, Ottolenghi has a recipe - but basically you're chopping up fistfuls of herbs and mixing with seasoned couscous.
posted by parm at 2:23 AM on August 25, 2022 [4 favorites]

I stuff the cavity of fish (e.g. Sea Bass, Bream, larger mackerel) with herbs - whatever I have on hand, but usually flat-leaf parsley or coriander/cilantro - with slices of chillies and unpeeled ginger and roast for 20 minutes in a fairly hot oven.
posted by mooders at 3:52 AM on August 25, 2022 [3 favorites]

A cookbook I have says that tabbouleh is supposed to be like this, and in Syria and Lebanon it still is like this. You could simply take a tabbouleh recipe and flip the proportion of bulgur to herbs, using parsley and a little mint.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:55 AM on August 25, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Yeah, Ottolenghi is reliably great for this--I'm a big fan of his rice salads, which are sort of tabbouleh-adjacent (this is one; I think there are a couple of variations across his cookbooks)
posted by pullayup at 4:43 AM on August 25, 2022

Best answer: If you like omlet/frittata, kuku sabzi uses up tons of herbs.
posted by kingdead at 4:47 AM on August 25, 2022

Lately we have been making an herb-heavy orzo with shrimp, feta, asparagus, and snap peas. I like parsley, basil, and mint for this. It's a template recipe we plan to experiment with.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:07 AM on August 25, 2022

Best answer: Chuck Taggart's Gumbo z'Herbes.
posted by offog at 5:08 AM on August 25, 2022

Best answer: Sieben Kräutersuppe
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 5:33 AM on August 25, 2022

How about using herbs as bread? In Korean cooking, perilla leaves are often used as mini-wraps for rice and meat, called Ssambap.
posted by guessthis at 6:11 AM on August 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

I make these Ottolenghi Iranian herb fritters and you just can't pack too many herbs in! I often mix up what I use and change the ratios.
posted by london explorer girl at 6:49 AM on August 25, 2022

I like to make savory dutch babies. Take as much herbs of choice as you like, fry them briefly in the fat you are using before pouring the batter in.
posted by deadwater at 7:25 AM on August 25, 2022

Vietnamese noodles, soups, salads, summer rolls, and other dishes such as bánh xèo use a lot of herbs as garnishes.
Pennywort can be made into a juice.
Dill is great with fish.
There’s always pesto.
posted by eyeball at 7:59 AM on August 25, 2022

A lot of Indian food is this. Here are a couple of Maharashtrian recipes:

Fenugreek bhaji

Cilantro pakoras
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:17 AM on August 25, 2022

Make falafel from scratch, which uses a lot of parsley, mint and/or cilantro. Chives also work well.

Small sorrel leaves are nice in a salad (as a small proportion of the total leaves), as is watercress.

Simpler things: omelette with basically whichever herbs you feel like (lately, I use parsley, rosemary, thyme and chives, but that's just what we have in the garden), roasted chicken coated in herbs, grilled or roasted zucchini with minced herbs and ricotta (and lots of olive oil).

Mexican salsa verde can use quite a lot of cilantro.
posted by ssg at 8:49 AM on August 25, 2022

Came to reinforce that good tabbouleh is a great way to get rid of large quantities of parsley.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:51 AM on August 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

Did anyone yet mention Green Goddess dressing? That uses a variety of herbs in good quantities. There are lots of different recipes. Mine calls for parsley, tarragon, and chives--added to sour cream and mayo with lemon juice, anchovy, and garlic. Great on salads, chicken breast, cold pasta.

Fresh mint can be used in large amounts in sun tea, or you can just brew mint tea on its own.

I use large amounts or mint and/or basil when making Thai beef salad.

I have a delicious Italian meatball recipe from Mario Batali that uses a huge quantity of parsley.

There are many creamed soups that use different herbs, sometimes with spinach, leeks, or potato as the base.

Rosemary stems make great skewers or brushes for meat on the grill. You can also char some rosemary over the coals while grilling veggies and it imparts a nice smoked aroma.
posted by amusebuche at 11:11 PM on August 25, 2022