These are some of my garlic chives.

The other day I was weeding my herb garden and putting more old hay mulch in areas that needed it.  The herbs are doing well.  I have oregano, thyme, parsley, mint, rosemary, cilantro, garlic chives, and basil growing.  As I sat on my knees bent over the plants, I could not help but be struck by the smell.  I was having so much fun with my hands touching the damp earth as the aromas of each herb wafted up to my nose.  It was delightful and it was starting to make me hungry!  I was overcome with the need to cook with some of these herbs.

As I was already thawing out salmon fillets, I decided right then and there to create a herbal marinade for the fish.  I cut some oregano.  Then I cut some cilantro.  I picked a leaf from my garlic chives.  As a last thought, I picked a few leaves of mint.  After rinsing the herbs with water and patting off the excess with a towel, I set out to create a memorable meal.

First, I brewed some tea with the mint leaves for a refreshing change.  I chopped up the oregano, cilantro, and garlic chives.  I had about 1/4 of a cup of both oregano and cilantro.  I had about 1 tbsp of garlic chives when I was done.  I pressed a large clove of garlic into a small bowl.  Then I add my chopped herbs to the bowl.  I squirted 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard.  I then added about 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil.  I stirred the mixture.

On a baking sheet, I sprayed it with olive oil and placed the salmon fillets on the pan.  Then I spooned the herbal marinade on top of each fillet.  Let it sit and soak in the flavors for a 5-10 minutes while the oven preheats to 375 degrees.  Bake the fish uncovered for 12 minutes making sure the fish flakes with a fork.

The salmon fillet with herbal marinade.

As we sat around the table eating our meal of salmon and rice, I waited for comments.  My children believe they are food critics.  Not many meals go by without someone offering an unsolicited critique of my cooking.  I was preparing myself for the worst since fish is not my children’s favorite source of protein.

After waiting through a few minutes of unusual silence around the table, my son, Jake, did not disappoint me.  He asked, “Mom, can I have some more?’

“More of what, Jake?”  I asked.

“More salmon,” he responded.

“You want more salmon?”  I could not believe it.  Of course, I gave him my permission.

As he came back to the table with another salmon fillet, he smiled and said, “Now this is the kind of fish I like to eat!”

I don’t know a mother who would not want to hear a comment like this at the dining room table.  So try my recipe or create your own herbal marinade with what you’ve got growing.  I would love suggestions for expanding my herb garden.  If I have overlooked raising one of your favorite herbs, please let me know so I can expand my own herb garden.

Tags: herb marinade, herbs in food, mint tea, salmon recipe

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 7:38 am and is filed under Gardening, Homesteading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.