I found the cutest little retro cookbook at a thrift store the other day. It’s all about cooking with herbs — fresh, dried, ground, whole — herbs are amazing! I’ve gotten so much inspiration from this book. I’ve even started growing an herb garden! My basil, dill, thyme, and rosemary are all doing well, and I’ve been so excited to use them in my cooking.
Many of the recipes in my herb cookbook call for “herb salt,” and it shows how you can make your own, starting with a base blend and then working your way up to more adventurous herb flavors. This is such a great way to liven up a meal — I can’t wait to get the salts I ordered in so I can make it!
Homemade Herb Salt Blend
Adapted from Herb Cookery by Alan Booker, 1973
Equipment:
Start with:
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt (you could dehydrate and grind your own garlic to mix with salt, or you could buy real, organic garlic salt here*)
- 2 teaspoons onion salt (similarly, you could dehydrate and grind your own onions, or buy real organic onion salt here*)
- 1 teaspoon dry parsley (could dry and grind your own, or buy organic parsley here)
*Note: The salts available on Amazon are sold through a third party without the free shipping benefit. You could alternatively buy the Redmond’s salts from Vitacost, which has a huge selection of stuff and offers free shipping for orders of $49 or more — click here to get a $10 coupon.)
Then next time, try adding to the above:
- 1/2 teaspoon basil (find organic basil here)
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram (find a huge case of it here, or order from Vitacost)
To release the flavors of the herbs, grind them with a mortar and pestle. It also serves to blend them up nicely before they go into the salt mixture. You can do this with either dry or fresh herbs.
These two extra herbs are mild and good for beginning herb salt experimenters. So once you’re familiar enough with the strength of the herbs and how much you like to use, add in a pinch of the following next time if you’re feeling a bit more daring:
- Thyme (find organic thyme here)
and/ or
- Mint (find dried mint here)
You can use your herb salt pretty much anywhere that you’d use plain salt! As a meat rub, over veggies, eggs, soup, sauces, salads, whatever you’d like!
What do you think?
How would you use an herb salt blend? Do you use a lot of herbs in your cooking? I’m sure starting to love them!
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What an awesome idea. I’m so trying this!
Heba @ My Life in a Pyramid recently posted..Creamy 10-Minute Chocolate Pudding Made with Avocados (Raw & Vegan)
What a great idea! I have a mortar and pestle – I should give this a try.
Lea H @ Nourishing Treasures recently posted..Pasteurized Milk vs. Raw Milk Infographic
I still feel new to using herbs so I think sprinkling them on my food would be intimidating. We do love garlic and onion, though, so maybe that would be a good place to start.
It is good to hear that you’re enjoying growing fresh herbs. My husband and I are moving in a couple months and for the first time we will have some outdoor space to do a little bit of gardening in pots. I’m not really sure what to plant but it seems like herbs would be a good option. The only thing that we’ve decided on is that we must plan a ton of basil, because fresh basil is amazing.
Meghan @ Whole Natural Life recently posted..How I Buy Dairy (Since I Can’t Afford All Raw, Grass-fed)
I really need to make up stuff like this at some point. Maybe I should add it to the potential gift list for next Yule…
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