A delicious and he althy salad is part of almost every meal. To make it taste really good, you should use different salad herbs. These are always quickly at hand when a herb bed has been created with your favorite herbs. This means there are always enough herbs available to make your own salad herb mixture. Both classic and Mediterranean herbs can be planted in the bed, so a different mixture can be chosen for each salad.
Classic salad herbs
Grandmothers have already refined the Sunday salad with various, classic salad herbs that they picked from their own garden. These include parsley, dill, chives, chervil (also known as Maggi spice) and borage. Recently, wild garlic has also become increasingly popular as a herb for salads, as it has the garlic aroma, but the person who eats it does not exude the typical smell later. The basic mixture should always consist of parsley, dill and chives. The other herbs can be added according to taste and desire.
Dill
Dill is an aromatic herb that is not only used in salads but also in many other dishes. The annual herb is ready to harvest in summer. Freshly harvested dill should be used immediately, otherwise it will quickly turn yellow when stored. The taste is characterized as follows:
- mild
- herbaceous
- especially the tips are used
Tip:
So that the tasty dill does not lose its essential oils, it should only be added to the salad dressing shortly before serving.
parsley
Parsley, one of the oldest culinary herbs, has two known varieties: curly and flat-leaf parsley. The leaves of both varieties are feathery and resemble the leaves of celery. The main advantage of parsley is that it is a biennial plant that grows again and again over the summer months and thus offers a rich harvest. The taste of parsley is very intense and spicy, although the smooth variety is spicier than the curly variety and is therefore better suited to a salad.
Chives
If you don't like using onions in your salad, you can alternatively use chives in your salad herb mixture. Because chives have an onion-like taste, grow back again and again throughout the year and can therefore be harvested again and again throughout the warm months. The fine stalks are cut with sharp scissors or a knife and thus release their essential oils, which primarily include sulfides, which are also found in the onions.
Tip:
If the chives already start with the blue-purple flowers, the flowers can add a decorative touch to the salad because they are also edible. The colorful flowers can simply be placed whole on top of the salad.
Chervil
Even though the tasty chervil is mainly used in soups and stews, it also makes the herb mixture for the salad even spicier. The leaves are similar to those of parsley, but the taste is different. Chervil was discovered in the industry many years ago for the popular Maggi spice and has been known by this name ever since. The typical taste is as follows:
- Fennel
- Aniseed
- parsley
After flowering, chervil loses its aroma and should therefore be harvested and processed before flowering to make your own mixture of salad herbs.
Tip:
Chervil is always a component of “fines herbes”, a well-known French herbal mixture.
Borage
Borage is also called cucumber herb because the culinary herb tastes particularly well with cucumbers. This tasty herb always belongs in a herb mixture for a cucumber salad. Borage has the following characteristic properties:
- Leaves are rough and hairy
- belongs to the roughleaf family
- only grows for a short time in summer
- Essential oils give off the smell of cucumber
If borage and dill are used together, then this is the ideal taste complement.
Tip:
Borage is not only a salad herb but is one of the seven culinary herbs used for the Frankfurt Green Sauce.
Wild garlic
Wild garlic exudes a pleasant garlic aroma without leaving behind the typical smell after consumption. For this reason, the tasty wild garlic has become increasingly popular in the kitchen in recent years. Wild garlic is also a must in a herb mixture for fresh salads. The herb is also considered a medicinal herb and can be used for the following complaints:
- Stomach pain and bloating
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Voice problems
- as a trigger for contractions in overdue pregnant women
Tip:
Wild garlic found in the wild can easily be confused with the very poisonous lily of the valley. Therefore, you should be very careful when harvesting if it does not come from your own garden or a vegetable shop. The smell of garlic must be recognizable.
Mediterranean salad herb mix
If you would like to be reminded of your last vacation in Provence or want a Mediterranean taste, there are other Mediterranean herbs that should not be missing from the salad herb mixture. These primarily include wild oregano and basil. Rosemary, thyme and sage can also be added depending on your taste.
Oregano
If you want to make your own Mediterranean herb mixture, you can't do without oregano. This is particularly characterized by the fact that it is used dried in the kitchen. Oregano is an herb that grows primarily in mountainous regions, for example in Greece. Here the herbs are collected and dried and can then be purchased commercially. If you want to prepare a Greek farmer's salad, you definitely can't do without oregano. The tasty culinary herb can also be cultivated in the home garden bed. The plant is characterized by:
- Resilience
- Winter and frost hardiness
- Perenniality
- Flowers, stems and leaves can be used
Basil
In Mediterranean cuisine, it is difficult to imagine a dish without basil. The herb belongs above all in a homemade herb mixture for the Mediterranean salad. The taste of real basil is primarily reminiscent of pepper with a sweet and aromatic note. Fresh basil is mainly served with eggplant, zucchini and especially tomatoes.
Rosemary
The needle-like rosemary has been known since ancient times and is very popular because of its essential oils and should therefore not be missing from Mediterranean salad herb mixtures. Anyone who plants a rosemary bush in their garden will be able to enjoy the spicy herb for a long time. The needle-like leaves are used in the kitchen and have a taste reminiscent of eucalyptus and camphor.
Tip:
In France, rosemary is always part of the herbal mixture “Herbs of Provence”, which also includes thyme and oregano.
Thyme
Thyme is not only known as a tea, but also in a Mediterranean mixture of salad herbs. Its slightly peppery, spicy and yet sweet to sweet taste is unique among herbs. The herb has the advantage that its aroma intensifies when dried. Thyme is an integral part of a salad herb mixture with oregano and rosemary. The easy-care herb can also be cultivated in your own garden or in a balcony box and is therefore available at any time.
Sage
The white felted leaves and the aromatic scent are typical of sage. If you want to make your own Mediterranean herbal mixture, you shouldn't miss out on sage. It can be cultivated well on the balcony or in the garden for your own harvest, as the plant is quite undemanding. Sage has the following properties:
- slightly bitter
- spicy
- Flowers also edible
- especially a good accompaniment to tomatoes
- young leaves are milder
Make your own salad herb mix
To create a tasty and he althy salad dressing, it is important to treat the herbs correctly. If these are prepared incorrectly, they lose their essential oils and he althy ingredients. Even fresh herbs picked directly from the garden bed or balcony box are no longer as he althy as expected if treated incorrectly. Therefore, when preparing the mixture, attention should be paid to the following:
- Always use a sharp knife
- alternatively sharp scissors
- this is how the herbs are cut
- often crushed with blunt knives
- then essential oils come out
Once the herbs have been chopped into small pieces, they are simply mixed with the desired vinegar, an oil to taste or yoghurt and a pinch of s alt and pepper and the homemade salad dressing is ready. As an alternative to yogurt, sour cream also tastes good.
Preserving the mixture
The homemade salad herb mixture can also be preserved. The advantage here is that the work only has to be done once and the mixture is then available. There are two ways to preserve herbs. They are either frozen in portions or dried. Freezing is recommended as the mixture will last for over a year in a closed container or bag in the freezer. Dried herbs, on the other hand, tend to lose their aroma over time. When preserving, you should proceed as follows:
- harvest fresh herbs
- shredded with a sharp knife
- put together the desired mixture
- freeze in portions in small containers
- alternatively also in small freezer bags
- put in the freezer
- alternatively, dry the mixture on a flat surface
- also possible on a baking tray in the oven at low heat
- put dried herbs in an airtight container
If necessary, the dried herbs can be mixed together immediately and the frozen salad herbs after thawing with the other ingredients such as vinegar, olive oil or yoghurt as well as a pinch of s alt and pepper to create the desired salad dressing.
Tip:
If you like variety, make different salad herb mixtures, each with different herbs. However, you shouldn't forget to label here.
