WHB Giveaway #1: Tell Us Your Favorite Herb of 2008 and You Might Win a Fantastic Prize!
Take just a minute to leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite herb of 2008 is, and you could win one of three amazing prizes, as part of our Week-Long Celebration for the three year anniversary of Weekend Herb Blogging. Thanks to New West KnifeWorks and Fissler USA who have donated two amazing prizes. I’m also is giving away a set of my three favorite cookbooks of 2008. Keep reading to see how to enter.It’s easy to enter! First, read more about the prizes at the post announcing the anniversary celebrations. Then come back to this post and leave a comment naming your favorite herb of 2008. If you’re a blogger, you must sign in using Open ID or name/url so we can contact you if you’re the winner. Readers who are not bloggers must leave an e-mail address typed into the body of the comment. Use the format kalynskitchen (at) comcast (dot) net to protect your e-mail from spammers. Any comments without either a blog link or an e-mail waddress will be deleted, as I can’t verify who the comment is from. (Remember comments are moderated, so you won’t see your comment until I approve it. If you’re in Europe or Asia and I’m asleep in my part of the world, that might take a while!)
More Chances to Win!
There will also be voting for favorite vegetable (Wednesday) and favorite fruit (Thursday) so be sure to come back and leave more comments! Comments will close at 10:00 P.M. (Utah time, which is MST) on Friday, October 31, and the winners will be announced in the Anniversary Edition of Weekend Herb Blogging on Sunday evening. (Duplicate entries on the same post will result in all comments from that person being deleted, so please be careful to enter only once on each post.)
Kalyn Recommends:
Of course I can’t enter to win the prizes, but nothing can stop me from doing a little campaigning, can it? I’m endorsing cilantro for favorite herb; certainly no one is surprised about that. Here are three reasons I think you should be voting for cilantro:
Vegan Tomato Salad with Cucumber, Avocado, Cilantro, and Lime was definitely one of my favorite salads of 2008!
Another salad I loved this year was Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime and Cilantro. I’ve probably made this ten times since I posted the recipe.
Finally, the salad inspired by one I had at a party, and another one I’ve been making over and over with different types of beans, this Pinto Bean Salad with Avocado, Tomato, Red Onion, and Cilantro is another complete winner.Are You Blogging About Herbs?
Of course, Weekend Herb Blogging is really about the posts that are submitted each week, by great bloggers from all over the world, so here is information about how to submit a post if you’d like to join in this week for the anniversary edition. You can write about your favorite herb, favorite vegetable, or favorite fruit for this special edition.
(P.S. I can’t publish off-topic comments or respond to questions in comments on these give-away posts because it will foul up the numbering system for the random number selection.)
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
194 Comments on “WHB Giveaway #1: Tell Us Your Favorite Herb of 2008 and You Might Win a Fantastic Prize!”
Chives, because I started a brand-new herb garden and that’s the traditional first planting.
TARRAGON is my favorite this year because the plant I planted last year had a very good year this summer, so good that I was googling recipes every week to use it. And the plant was absolutely gorgeous in my garden–such a lovely deep green. Every time I passed it I would take a taste. One of my most successful recipe finds was “Cod in Tarragon Tomato Broth” from Fine Cooking #36. Delicious. carolepip (at) verizon (dot) net
Cilantro! Of course!
Ooo. If I had to choose just one, I would say Thai Basil. Congratulations on 3 years of WHB, Kalyn!
My favourite herb is cilantro and mint. I used to add some of cilantro in cooking with soups, gravies, curries, raitas and chutneys. For Mint, I used to make indian korma curries with gives great aroma and fragant to the curries in both veg and non-veg along with some cilantro.
Basil. No question. It was the one thing I was determined to grow this year and the one that I had the hardest time with.
Oh this is an easy one!
Hands down BASIL!!!!
That is how I found your blog too BTW, I was looking up how to save my fresh basil as I was getting so much of it from my CSA shares.
Thank you, I now have basil until spring packed neatly away in my freezer!
my favourite 2008 herb is thyme!! Cause this year finally I arrived to have it fresh, onto my balcony! 🙂
I really thought so long and hard about all the 3 questions, how hard it is to pick ONE, hehe … ginger gets my vote for fave herb of 2008! can’t get enough of it and I try to sneak it into the cooking … ultimate comfort food ingredient for me 😉
Love all the advocacy for herbs! I can’t ever get enough of most of them. But right this minute, rosemary is my favorite — I picked it because I’m so in love with kebabs of all kinds made on rosemary skewers.
Hey Kalyn – you [b]know[/b] that for me it is cilantro. We can’t get enough of it. We pulse it into a pesto, toss it with noodles to make pad thai, add it to a salad, put it on a sandwich, use it in an omlette or make a mean cilantro martini. To us it rocks!
Keep those other wimpy herbs – basil, rosemary, sage, oregano . . . no thanks. Bring on the cilantro!
To those of you who say cilantro tastes of soap . . . pass a bar of [b]that[/b] soap MY way!
I forgot to leave my email: phallman (at) charter (dot) net
Italian flat leaf parsley. I know it seems like a boring herb, but I just love it’s fresh taste. I put it on or in everything! 🙂
Cilantro.
I thought I was all original until I read all the other comments…well if not original, at least I’m in good company.
Is Basil more original…is it too late to change my answer.
No wait, Italian Parsley…yeah that’s it.
I would have to go with chives for favorite herb. I love cilantro and rosemary, but chives have been my go-to herb for the last few months. Toss them in with eggs for a dash of flavor, add them to cream cheese for a tasty spread, good in just about everything.
I guess I have to go with lemon thyme this year. I’ve used almost constantly with chicken, fish, beef- I do love cilantro and basil though too and use them a lot, but I still have to say lemon thyme.
Mint for me!
Thanks for organising this, and happy birthday to WHB!
my all time favorite is cilantro, i add it to all sorts of dishes.
My favorite is rosemary. It goes in a lot of dished and it’s easy to grow!
I never met an herb I didn’t love so I agree with you all about your herb choices. My herb to praise is going to be tarragon because this poor little guy doesn’t get appreciated quite enough and he is tasty, I tell you! Especially in anything with a mayo base like chicken salad, egg salad, bearnaise sauce, etc. Thanks for the oppertunity to express my love for herbs! Rock on!
Cilantro is great with lots of dishes, but I love Thai basil the most. It compliments my noodle soup very well and I can’t enjoy the noodle without it. Not very easy to find in my area though
juan_hurrican (at) yahoo (dot) com
oooohhhh….I was going to hands down pick cilantro, but because of all your blogs about and recipes, and wonderful tastes that I tried with it…..SAGE is my fave for 2008!!! I have always loved the plants, they’re gorgeous, but didn’t know much what to do with it. I will now be growing more varieties and colors of sage next year and look forward to introducing others to its wonderful taste. Christine
Gardnwest(AT)aol(DOT)com
Rosemary and Thyme! I can’t pick just one, they’re both great!
Cilantro…yum! Cilantro, tuna, tomato and avocado salad…in soup…yep, cilantro. Debbie
dandrews(at)chcb(dot)org
Just has to be Basil, followed by Basil, then Basil, maybe Sage.
I love them all! Rosemary is uppermost in my mind now, maybe because the weather is (finally) cooler & Rosemary roasts so well. But, like others, cilantro is tops. I was first introduced to cilantro in Mexico in frijoles a la charra & from then on, they started showing up in everything I prepared. What a versatile herb.
My vote would have to go to Cilantro,,,,,,,love it in just about anything!!!
I like rosemary the most. It is so good on oven roasted potatoes. Garlic would be a close second.
My favorite herb is ROSEMARY! I love rosemary and SO many things even though I am not really a big herb fan (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!).
cseybt [at] gmail [dot] com
Am I too late? Probably. But cilantro is tops!
I am crazy about most herbs but my favorite this summer was a perlargonium or scented geranium with the most vibrant – if a scent can be said to be vibrant – lemon scent. Every time I brushed by it in my garden boat, it exploded with lemon, an odor so reminiscent of long, lazy, sunny summer days. It’s great in salads, drinks, baking, dried or fresh.
My favorite herb of 2008 is THYME because there can NEVER be too much thyme!!! (PUN intended!)
Rosemary! My family now asks, “So how much rosemary is in this” before they eat anything I put before them..haha.
esrotu@gmail.com
My favorite herb is shiso / perilla. Found in our pork, eggplant, and shiso soup, among other recipes.
I will always claim cilantro as my favorite. I could use it in almost everything!!!
Fresh basil, sandwiched between a slab of fresh mozzerella and a thick slice of bright red garden fresh tomato, with a drizzle of olive oil. Oh man, I MISS SUMMER!!
Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage. Not sure what it is about that plant, but i also love the way it looks growing in my pot.
I’d have to go with Basil, this is the first year I’ve had some to harvest in my new backyard and I just love the sweet fragrant smell.
Also, technically not a herb, but I’m also loving kaffir lime leaves, especially wonderful in Thai fish cakes!
My favorite herb of 2008 is lemon verbena. My plant is three years old now and beautiful and lush. It’s one of the first herbs as well as the chives to appear in the Spring.
I’m with you. Cilantro is my hands down favorite. We put it on just about everything, whether it belongs there or not!
I’d say my favorite herb would be basil. I just love how FRESH it is, tastes and how easy it is to grow!
My favorite is marjoram, which I’m able to grow year round in northern CA. I love to add it to almost anything, especially soups and pastas, by the handful!
johnandannie(at)yahoo(dot)com
Definitely basil. Mmmm…. pesto.
I love love love thyme in all it’s glory!!
canole07 at yahoo dot com
Basil, basil, basil! I try (and use) lots of others, but always come back to – basil.
Jo Anna
edjoannaaz at hotmail dot com
My favortie herb would have to be basil. I use it in so many dishes. I grow my own and harvest it in the winter so that I always have some available.
Basil. Has been for years and probably always will be! I put it in everything and I don’t think I could live without jars of home-made pesto lined up in the freezer for winter!
So many to chose from! Cilantro would probably be top on the list but oregano is what we have used a lot this summer… I can not seem to grow cilantro and my oregano plant is taking over the garden!
So hard to decide! …I’m between Basil and Cilantro! My two fav!!
But since I am a latin girl, I’ll choose CILANTRO! 😉
karina_ms at hotmail dot com
Cilantro has been my favorite herb for years. We use it in soups, salads, guacamole, dips, marinades, you name it. Delicious and versatile!
Not to be a suck-up or anything…but yeah. It’s Cilantro.
Cilantro is my favorite. Hands down.
For 2008, my favorite herb is Cilantro. I started off making a fresh salsa with corn and black beans that uses an entire bunch of cilantro- there is so much of it, it’s almost like the lettuce in a salad. Now I am throwing cilantro in everything, asian glazed salmon, tuna salad with avocado, and my slaws. I buy a bunch or two a week! I remember when I used to have that kind of a basil habit. Thanks for the great contest!
This year I fell in love with Rosemary.
sixsnowflakes(at)yahoo(dot)com
This is an easy one for me. I guess it can be an herb, it is sold that way dry at least. On a trip up near Mount Shasta in California, we visited a farm that just had fields and fields of lavender. Before this I was under the impression it was just a flower and that nobody cooked with it or used it for culinary reasons. Hey I never looked at what was in herbs de provence, have you? Well after some lavender lemonade I was given at the farm I became hooked. It looked like pink lemonade but it was not.
Anyways from that point on I was hooked on lavender. It became my secret herb of the year.
i still can’t go past coriander (cilantro). it’s compulsive for me.
CILANTRO!
I use it very liberally. I have to stop myself from thinking less of people who hate cilantro. j/k. LOL. 😉
BASIL!! Love it! And it helps that it’s one that grows well here in Alaska.
Sign me up!
lydia.bower @ gmail.com
After my trip to Greece, earlier this year, my favorite herb has to be dill, which brightens up vegetables beautifully and brings back memories of greek dishes.
My answer is the same year in and year out: basil. It’s fantastic with tomatoes, in vinaigrettes, in sauces … can’t get enough of it.
sarahATsarahscucinabellaDOTcom
My favorite herb is cilantro. It’s fresh, clean taste is just perfect. It is always available at the grocery and adds to the flavor of many of our favorite recipes. Jancd
janwes@sbcglobal.net
Cilantro has been and always will be my favorite herb. It’s like crack to me. It makes everything taste better – chicken, soup, salad, pizza. Everything.
chefsquire at ymail dot com
I love mint!
It never fails to give me a warm feeling =)
katch05(at)gmail(dot)com
I’m tempted to say mint, because I drank A LOT of mojitos this summer…but I can’t turn my back on rosemary. The mere smell makes me swoon. It’ll always be the fave.
Basil tops the list! Fresh basil brightens every dish! Close to the top would be fresh rosemary and fresh cilantro.
I am a lurker here, but have enjoyed trying some of the delicious looking dishes you have posted!
Thanks!
My favorite herb of 2008 is … parsley! Really, I have started using it more often in everything from pasta sauces to meatballs to salads, because of the bright green flavor that it has, and how long it will last in my fridge (so much longer than basil, which used to be my frontrunner). Go parsley!
Even before I read your post I knew I was voting for cilantro. I’ve used it more in the past year than in my entire life, and I love it!
can I enter twice? 😉
I am going to stand firmly behind Rosemary – I love the way it grows in my garden, I love the way it makes roast chicken super yum, and I generally just think it is great.
Definitely dill!
i’m gonna have to go with oregano. it’s the only one that survived the move indoors this year. plus it made my take on italian green beans over the top. yum!
Oh my…the pressure! Picking one…how do I choose? Maybe combine several to make one…Cildillbasage? Ha! Kidding….I think I am going to go with dill. 🙂
I love so many of them but thyme goes with just about everything!
I definitely would have gone with Cilantro until this year when I tasted True Greek Oregano for the first time. Wow! You’ve not tasted Oregano until you’ve tasted this. My partner planted it in the garden, it’s an heirloom variety and it’s out of this world. The smell, the taste… ahhh! It makes any dish it’s added to. Even dried it keeps it’s flavor really well. So for 2008… I vote for True Greek Oregano.
this year i discovered lemon verbena and love it!
Great minds think alike because before I got down to your food items, I was thinking about cilantro. Basil is a close 2nd choice.
Cilantro for sure! I love the flavor and it just makes dishes look so pretty. 🙂
I luv Cilantro!! I use it in just about everything 🙂
Much as I love cilantro (and I know just how much Kalyn loves cilantro!) and basil during the summer months, the herb growing in my garden that I will go out and pick no matter the season is thyme. Fresh or dried, it never disappoints. My choice for favorite herb is thyme.
My favorite herb is sage. It’s earthy, furry, you can fry it, you can have it cooked, raw, chopped, whole, fresh, dried…you can use it in sweet or savory applications and it’s what dirt would taste like if we were meant to eat it, I think. It embodies the scent of the earth, too. And is an entirely underused herb (even though I’m sure others would disagree).
I have experimented with lots of different herbs, but I always come back to basil. I love picking up bunches from the farmers market to make fresh pesto.
sparkelle (at) gmail (dot) com
My favorite herb is Lemon Thyme. I keep a plant on the kitchen windowsill and use it in almost everything. It gives a deliciously fresh flavor to everything it goes into.
Basil… I love Basil. First of all, it always does the best for me in my herb pots. Second, it adds such intense flavor and I love the smell of it!
I love love love basil. So versatile, so tasty.
I think I will have to go with ginger. It is so versitile and can go in savory and sweet dishes.
Okay, not original but always there in the garden when you need it….BASIL! Just the smell stimulates the appetite. Grew it from seed and will try more varieties next year!
My favorite new herb would have to be pandan (screwpine) leaves – they should make a room freshener out of that stuff:)
My favourite herb this year is the Scented Geranium (Pelargonium)which I use mainly in making spoon sweets and for savory dishes, fennel.
i really love cilantro and as i read through the comments here i am not alone 🙂
Basil has been my favorite until this year when Cilantro has move far ahead.
My favorite herb is definitely Basil. It’s good both fresh and dried. I had a big healthy Basil plant at the last place we lived and I really miss it.
If I lived by myself, I would use cilantro in every dish I could, however, the latest cries from the family is “NO CILANTRO”. Coriander overload has caused younger members to rebel. So begrudgingly I’ve had to resort to parsley a lot of the time, which is still a very versatile and great herb, and has filled the leading role of cilantro very competently. Dexterous parsley is my vote for this year.
I’d have to say basil. Fresh basil is amazing!
tinkerbellx2 (at) sbcglobal (dot) net
Cilantro!!! Gotta have it!!!
It sounds dull, but I became re-enamored with parsley this year. I use it all the time and it really makes such a difference.
I LOVE Mexican food so I have to go with cilantro. clbeth (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Well, that’s a touch choice, but I’m going to say dill.
I would have to say Basil…Just can’t live without it!
Hands down, it would have to be cilantro! (Basil comes in 2nd…) I keep my cilantro in a special container in my fridge and ALWAYS have some available. I not only use it in my salsa but now I add it to my stir-fry, sprinkly some on huevos rancheros, drop it into my albondigas soup, etc.
I love cilantro too, but I’d have to say my favorite herb is dill. It’s just so fragrant.
I grew “holy basil” this year and am now addicted to it. But in small quantities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocimum_tenuiflorum
It has been in nearly every salad and stir-fry all summer.
chef (at) mz-pi(dot)com
There’s no need to convince me to vote for cilantro. Oh how I love it. Cilantro 08!
My favorite herb always has been and probably always will be basil. In fact, I better get busy freezing some of mine before the cold weather gets to it!
Congratulations on 3 years of WHB!
My award for Herb of the Year goes to sage – This is the first year I've dried it myself, and using home-dried sage is so much nicer than the powdered stuff in the bottle from the store. I've also used it fresh in some of my favorite recipes such as Polenta with Sage & Parmesan
I definitely choose cilantro…from the taste to the fragrance, I love everything about that herb!!! 🙂
My favorite is basil. I am trying to grow it myself – not having very good luck. Sigh.
It’s a toss up between cilantro and chives. I love them both!!
My favorite herb this year was dill, which I have grown for the first time and used in several dishes. I will do it again.
Hmm, I do love cilantro, but I think I will go with rosemary since I am craving roast chicken right now, and rosemary is my favorite with chicken.
courtney(dot)metz(at)lavafrog(dot)net
Cilantro is my favorite herb. I think it is a love/hate herb and I love it.
This is really tough. I would have to go with cilantro since I use it so much. Living in Texas, I cook A LOT of tex mex and cilantro has become a staple in my home.
Cilantro is my new fave… yummers!
I’d have to go with cilantro, too. I use it in most of my recipes; we’re heavy on the Mexican and Asian dishes here.
There are sooooooooooo many to chose from, but I think I chose Basil. While it is truly a necessity with Italian cooking, it is so versatile. I use it with chicken, beef or fish. I use it in sauces and soups. It has to be my all around favorite and most used herb.
Basil !!!
jyasyin (at) yahoo (dot) com
Dill! I grew so much dill this year and learned just how versatile an herb it is. YuM!
amy.elizc (at) gmail (dot) com
I would have to say Rosemary. I love it with potatoes, all sorts of vegetables and even in Apple syrup (
http://www.acatinthekitchen.com/?p=366 )
I grew quite a few this year, but the ones I used most were the cilantro and the sweet basil.
I’d have to say – in a LOVELY Mojito!!! Honestly I never liked mint that much before and when I tasted a REAL Mojito with a strong mint taste I was hooked!!
Sage is my new favorite herb. I’ve been sticking it under the skin of roasting chicken, crumbling it up over pasta, frying it crisp in oil, stuffing it into ravioli, and basically stuffing my nose into the plant.
I can’t think of an herb I don’t like! But my favorite has to be dill. I think I feel a loaf of dill bread coming on …
I have to vote for BASIL. Without a doubt it’s my most versatile and sbsolute favorite!
cathy (dot) reaves (at) gmail (dot) com
Thanks!
Cathy
Mint, definitely mint. I wish I used it in more things but with summer just coming to an end mint sticks out most in my mind.
Though Cilantro is close to the top, I have to choose Dill. I’ve been on a dill kick latley.
blizzard.rw (at) gmail (dot) com
It’s nearly impossible to pick just one, but I think I’m going to go with basil this year. It’s the only plant that, so far, I’ve been able to keep alive in California!
wow only one. i think it would have to be basil. it adds such a fresh taste to dishes. i also love to just eat it plain.
LOL! I knew you were going to pick cilantro 🙂 That’s my close second choice.
However, my favorite this year was BASIL. I think almost everything I made lately had basil.
I’m going with basil, definitely. I had one lonely little plant on my fire escape all summer, and even though it never produced enough at a time for a good pesto, I really enjoyed adding a few leaves here and there to salad, pasta, just about anything!
Sage for the win – probably my love of sausage leads me to try adding it to as many meals as possible. Next year, my fave may be something far different 🙂
Thanks for the great blog!!
Cilantro is one my favorite flavors, but I’m picking dill as this years favorite, because my husband and I have really enjoyed making dill pickles together many time this year…
Favorite herb – basil! It’s so versatile, and so easy to grow. Even I can’t kill it 😉
Basil is my fav!
livviebrooke (at) yahoo (dot) com
My favorite herb has to be rosemary…you can throw in a sprig into almost anything and it just perks it up. Mmmm….rosemary!
I have to go with fresh basil. Here in Denmark they sell it in little pots at the grocery store so you can always have a bunch to harvest on your windowsill.
Of course I can't disagree with you about cilantro. Just the scent alone has me thinking of so many delicious, and healthy salsas, salads & marinades. But I thought about my posts from this last year and believe that thyme is what found its way into most of my recipes — and in not so normal ways. I've used it in several baked goods to add something different, fragrant, and unobtrusive. It's a lovely flavor that I'll continue to experiment with.
I’m going to go with thyme myself. I’ve put 2 parts thyme to 1 part black pepper in a spice mill; my weekly roasted chicken gets this ground over it until my wrists are tired, then I throw it in the oven and wait for the smell/taste explosion.
Mint! Love adding mint to unexpected dishes!
My favorite is cilantro. I live in Texas and so it’s in almost everything you can eat. I love the color and the flavor. I always ask for extra to sprinkle on my mexican food. Yum!
This year, I grew lemon thyme and oregano in my small backyard planter. While I love fresh basil and rosemary, I really enjoyed using these herbs…which were unusual for me.
Kelly
Sounding My Barbaric Gulp!
http://www.barbaricgulp.com
I love cilantro! It’s the yummiest!
i love cilantro from simple lentil soup to complicated biryani recipe, I can use it in everything. And then some in mexican, thai… I’ll have t vote for cilantro.
Rosemary is my standard favorite, but it’s fall, and the time of year when I use the most sage. Going to go with sage this year.
I always love basil. It is the BEST!! But we grew lemon verbena this year, thanks to you introducing it to us…and I have to say it is fabulous! I love it!!
It’s always difficult to decide which is my favourite herb – so many are my favourites! (And of course, you almost swayed me into changing my mind with your beautiful photos of coriander leaf, Kalyn.)
But, I’m holding fast. My favourite herb today is thyme. The adage is true; there’s NEVER enough thyme!
-Elizabeth
Another vote for basil. One of the first herbs I ever grew. And I just love pesto! But oregano is a close second.
While I know my bf discovered thyme this year, to his heart’s delight, I’m going to jump on the MINT bandwagon. I am in love with mint in savoury recipes. Yes.
While I do love basil and rosemary, I use cilantro more often than any other herb: in Mexican, Thai, and Chinese foods. Those sure are some pretty knives!
I love, love, love cilantro. In fact, I’m off to make your Asian coleslaw recipe now, which uses quite a bit! Thanks for a wonderful blog. sheepish56 (at) aol (dot) com.
I really have to say Rosemary – I cook with it all the time no matter what the dish – Always adds amazing flavor and the aroma is wonderful!!
Fresh rosemary is fabulous!
d(dot)maier(at)gmail(dot)com
Mmmm this is a tough choice… cilantro, parsley, oregano. But when it comes down to it, my choice has to be basil! Fresh, green basil with tomatoes and mozzarella, thai basil with a good stir-fry, etc. Definitely basil!
It’s so hard to pick just one!!! I’d have to say rosemary, though. Not only is it delicious, but it’s anti-inflammatory and a great source of antioxidants, too!
Most definitely basil!
hands down, basil! your campaigning can’t work on me kalyn, i can’t stand cilantro! tiny tiny quantities only! 🙂
Dill weed is my current favorite as it pairs so well with such a variety of foods, from seafood to summer squash and peas. My favorite, though, is Sabzi Polov or Persian Green Rice with Basmati rice and fava beans. YUM!
OK, I too have to enter! And even though I know that it will not win, I have to say that PARSLEY must be the one herb I would take with me on a desert island, it makes any dish rise to freshness and goodness!
Fresh basil! So clean and bright.
Basil is my favorite — followed closely by thyme.
Kalyn, I know this is going to be such a cliché, but my favorite herb is basil! 🙂
Ooooo—definitely basil!
lostinabook4 (at) yahoo (dot) com
I also must say cilantro! I am starting to use this more and more in my cooking and just LOVE the flavor.
Sooo hard to choose only one – but lately I’ve been partial to rosemary.
I’d say mint was my favorite herb. I love it’s fresh flavor and use it one everything from fruit to salads to salsas.
I love Rosemary… The smell and the flavor are amazing!
definitely BASIL! love it
Cilantro is great but my favorite herb for 2008 is the LEMONGRASS of which I’ve written several posts using lemongrass in soups, grills and salad. It is quite refreshing and goes well with meat, fish, and poultry.
This is a toughie really. My first inclination was lavender, but since I’ve only had one dish really work well with it so far, I’ll choose the one I’ll miss the most this winter: Basil. I just made a giant batch of your Italian sausage and zucchini soup and some cornbread using the last of my garden’s basil this weekend. I can’t wait to pull some soup out of the freezer this winter and reminisce about the summer.
from: floccus (at) gmail (d0t) com
It has to be sage because without sage there would be no Saltimbocca and that is something I don’t even want to think about.
I would definitely have to say basil. I used to have two knee high plants and had a blast figuring out what to do with all of it. Then the military moved us to a winter wonderland *sigh*
I should check into an Aerogarden – have you ever used one?
Oh, no! Cilantro it is for me, too. I’ve gone from hate to love with this one. It’s so incredibly versatile, raw or cooked, dried, seeds. . . and it complements a huge range of flavors and cuisines. Can’t go wrong with cilantro!
I’m going to have to go with my all-time favorite: cilantro!
It’s so hard to choose! Basil, mint, and rosemary, oh my! 🙂
I’m going to have to pick cilantro. Why? I have never liked cilantro but have grown it for my husband to use in his dishes. However, this year I made a few Thai dishes and to my surprise I now love cilantro! It surprised me that I could change my tastes but what a pleasant change.
Thanks for a great blog!!!
Well, BASIL, without any hesitation. I planted the Ararat type (with gorgeous purple leaves)and the Greek sort (with very small, bright green, leaves)and made any sort of Italian stuff with them… well, that was simple: I am Italian 😉
My favorite herb of 2008 is oregano, I use it all the time!
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This is a hard choice! In the fall & winter, it's all about sage. Spring and summer are dedicated to basil. If I have to pick one, I'll go with basil. I love pesto on pasta, chicken and fish. And then theres the joy of a Caprese salad. Yep, basil.
There are lots of herbs I like, I grow in my garden and I use in my kitchen…cilantro is going to be next, ’cause it’s not so easy to find it everywhere, and I’m going to appreciate it a lot…but my best one for ever is basil!…I could’nt imagine my sunny kitchen without it!
Thyme, it is warm and brings a depth of flavor to any dish. I enjoy it in meat as well as vegetable dishes.
Kalyn, I had Cilantro or coriander leaves in mind and I see that you have recommended it as well. Cilantro it will be.
This year, my favorite herb was dill. I had SO much of it in my garden (hence the name dill WEED) I couldn’t help but use it at every possible chance.
What??? No basil yet.
I do love cilantro and I’d feel devastated without it. As I would without mint, thyme and certainly rosemary.
But I’m sure that the world would stop spinning without basil.
So I’m voting basil.
Oooh, norrmally I go for cilantro too, but I have been using a lot of mint, yes mint, this year.
2008: Greek oregano – easy to grow, beautiful and lush, and deeply flavorful.
I agree Cilantro ROCKS just made the Cafe Rio chicken recipe on sunday and the whole family loved it!!!! food at stephaniesells dot com
Definitely coriander! This is the most delicious and versatile herb I have used yet! So many different flavors from one plant!!! I use the plant and seeds in many recipes. What’s a Mexican dish or an Indian curry without fresh cilantro? I haven’t tried cooking Thai yet, but many recipes call for coriander root. This is one plant that can give it all.
That would have to be Basil for me. I grow it and I love it, I even eat it on ham sandwiches I like it so much.
My favorite herb this year is sage. I cook a lot of chicken and turkey and it really brings out the flavor!
I’m always torn when asked this question, and truthfully I love most herbs…there’s always a variety in my fridge and on my window sill.
That said, basil still reigns Queen.
I’ll have to vote for cilantro as well. When I think of what herb I most often pick up at the farmer’s market, cilantro is it. So versatile, so flavorful- it has spiced up so many dishes for me this year!
My favourite spice this year would have to be ginger, contributor to so many wonderful meals – kimchi, stew, stirfry, marinades, the list goes on!
I am relativly new in the world of herbs, but my utmost favorite is…Mint! It truly grows wild around my house and I use it in everything. Thanks for all the ideas that you have provided and keep doing the great job you are doing!
Looking back at 2008, I’d say mint was my favourite herb.
What a hard decision!
For me, 2008 is definitely the Year of Cilantro. Between my love for Mexican and for Thai cuisines and always looking for inventive meals to serve to my vegetarian hubby, Cilantro is definitely the king of our castle!
I LOVE cilantro and use it all the time but the herb that I uncharacteristically used the most this summer would be parsley…so I’ll go with parsley 🙂
Without a doubt…Rosemary. I fell in love w/ this plant this summer. Not only is it the “bomb” to use in cooking, it is a great in door plant to give as a gift, let grow into a topiary, train to wind up a dowel… I’m lovin’ my Rosemary plants all season long…
Did you know I was going to choose cilantro? Really! This is one of Hubby’s favorite herb (along with green onions). Also one of the first herbs I planted in our balcony garden. We always add this to our soups, salad and salsas. Very versatile herb!!! Here, this is also known as the Chinese parsley. It is sometimes used in traditional Chinese medicine for its cooling effects.