Fresh herbs (Recipe: roasted potatoes with lemon thyme vinaigrette)

My husband Ted and I, and our friends Candy and Dave, dug the first herb plants into the ground the summer after we moved to our log house.

I'd never had much luck growing herbs on my windowsill in the city, and I was nervous. I shoved my black thumb into a gardening glove and tried to forget about all the plants I'd lost over the years.

We put in the Simon-and-Garfunkel herbs (you know, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme). We planted chives, because what's easier to grow than chives? We had no idea that the anise hyssop would outlive everything, and would spread more quickly than the mint, which also spread quickly.

The parsley never reseeded, and the basil grew so tall it fell over, but that first summer, we learned how wonderful it is to cook with fresh herbs.

Each year the garden has grown, and though we share the harvest with beetles and rabbits and deer, we're hooked on walking out the front door, clippers in hand, and snipping off a sprig of this or a few leaves of that.

What's growing in our herb garden?
Basil, flat-leaf parsley, tarragon, rosemary, Greek oregano, thyme, lemon thyme, sage, chives, garlic (Chinese) chives, spearmint, chocolate mint, lavender, anise hyssop.

How/where to store fresh herbs:
Trim the stems and store upright in a glass of water, for several days (change the water every day). Or, wash the herbs, roll in paper towels, and place the rolls inside a plastic ziploc bag in the refrigerator; the herbs will stay fresh for 2-3 days.

More facts about fresh herbs, and ingredient photos, in The Perfect Pantry:
Fresh herbs, three bricks, one cookbook (Recipe brick-grilled chicken thighs)

Do you have an herb garden or a windowsill garden? What are you growing this year?

 

Roasted potatoes with lemon thyme vinaigrette

If you have lemon thyme in your garden, it will be great in this recipe. If not, thyme plus lemon zest does the trick. These potatoes make a nice change from mayonnaise-based potato salads. Serves 6.

Ingredients

24 oz baby new potatoes
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp fresh thyme or lemon thyme leaves
2 Tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters, to make uniform bite-size pieces. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes and garlic cloves with 2 tsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and just beginning to crust on the cut sides.

In the meantime, combine 3/4 cup oil, lemon zest and juice, thyme and parsley in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. When the potatoes are cooked, add them to the dressing and toss frequently for 15 minutes, until the potatoes have cooled. Serve warm or cold.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Basil pesto
Fava bean salad
Couscous salad with herbs
Fresh Vietnamese salad rolls
Cheesy omeletta

Other recipes that use fresh herbs:
Chevre with sauteed grapes and fresh herbs, from Herbivoracious
Fresh herb muffins, from Chocolate & Zucchini
Panzanella (bread and tomato salad), from David Lebovitz
Egg white omelet with fresh herbs, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes, from The Hungry Mouse
Bulgur salad with oranges, cashews and fresh herbs, from Enlightened Cooking

Comments

Lydia, that potato salad looks perfect!

I wish I could grow herbs. My busy schedule and the constant moving really not help!

Nice - the best of roast potatoes and potato salad!

The perfect recipe for me!!

I miss my garden herbs but grow what I can on my deck. Love this potato dish Lydia.

Is the basil surviving?

This lemon thyme vinaigrette is the perfect accompaniment to roast potatoes. I also love to cook with fresh herbs and relish my garden's bounty each summer - rosemary, sage, 3 kind of basil, chives, mint, tarragon, oregano, savory, parsley, and dill.

Your potatoes with lemon thyme look delicious! We have an herb farm in Wisconsin and would like to encourage everyone to try growing herbs. They are typically very easy to grow and there are so many varieties that come up year after year. Great fun to experiment! We also grow herbs that are not hardy in Wisconsin and winter them over indoors. This year we purchased lemongrass and soon plan to stuff a chicken or turkey with some fresh lemongrass.

Gorgeous potatoes. I know that nothing has changed my cooking as much as learning to cook with fresh herbs!

The potatoes looks so tender and I can almost taste the LEMON THYME VINAIGRETTE. Lovely pictures too.

I grow some herbs on my patio - rosemary, sage, mint, spearmint, basil, thai basil, and thyme. When I had a garden, I planted basil (grown from seeds) in between my tomato plants, and they flourished!
My space is limited, but I still enjoy snipping a twig or two for a meal. Nothing else compares!
I'll try growing lemon thyme next year. It would go wonderfully with Mediterranean dishes.
And one can never have enough roasted potato recipes!
Greetings from California.

Anh, I never realized how much fun growing herbs would be until I finally moved to a place with garden space. But you're right, it does take a bit of time to get the garden planted and keep it tended.

Mary, Jane: this really is such a nice twist on mayonnaise-based potato salads (which I do love, but not all the time).

Bellini Valli, even when you grow in pots, it's such fun to walk outside and pick a few leaves of basil or parsley, isn't it?

Pauline, a few plants are surviving but not thriving, and the rabbits continue to feast on the basil but leave everything else alone. I kept one basil in the pot, and I'm trimming from that. But no batches of pesto this year, I'm sad to report.

Cookin' Canuck, it sounds like you have a full complement of herbs there!

Deb, chicken stuffed with lemongrass sounds divine.

Kalyn, I agree. I always throw a few fresh parsley leaves into scrambled eggs, because the taste of garden-fresh parsley is amazing. I never used to do that before I grew my own.

Best cook, lemon and thyme are a great combination.

Lana, you have a wonderful selection of herbs! Lemon thyme is fantastic with fish, with potatoes, and in vinaigrettes. I'd never heard of it until I put in my garden; I found it at the garden center and couldn't resist the lemony aroma.

I just made some roasted potatoes myself, and I wish I saw this earlier, coz that lemon thyme vinaigrette sure sounds great! I don't take mayonnaise, but I love potatoes, so any potato salad without mayo is a must-try for me. Bookmarked!

While I don't have fresh thyme growing, I do have plenty of mint (from the previous owner of my house, a Greek lady) and a huge rosemary shrub that is taking over the front yard. I also have fresh basil in my kitchen that was bought 4 weeks ago! I stuck it in a small vase of water and put it on the windowsill where it gets bright light. I'm still using it! Four weeks later!! Amazing!

I grow basil and oregano.
Basil because I do that every year and I love it. Oregano because my mother grows it and gave me some. Space is limited and I usually waste my time and garden space on lettuce that bolts, radishes too hot to eat and 47 cucumber plants because I forget every year how many cukes come. As an added bonus this year I am growing cauliflower and brussel sprouts -neither appears to be producing but boy they are tall, lush and green.
no green thumb here but the basil always does great!
In fact you have inspired me for tonight's dinner and my next post (which I am over due on!)

Potatoes + herbs = food coma

I have had so many problems keeping my herbs alive... the Texas heat just makes my garden shrivel. Great recipe though!

Love the idea of a a roasted potato which reminds me of a recipe called Potato Lyonnaise. Thanks for the post and will definitely try to make this recipe at home