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A Thai curry dish

Top Thai Dishes Filled with Fresh Herbs and Spices!

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With Thai New Year fast approaching, we thought we’d look at some of the most popular Thai dishes and the herbs and spices used in them.

We’ll start with some of the most common questions people have about Thai cooking ingredients, then offer some tips on where you can find the best Thai recipes so you can celebrate Songkran in style!

What are the leaves used in Thai cooking?

Some of the herbs you’d expect to see in the best Thai foods include:

  1. Bay leaves
  2. Coriander (and coriander root)
  3. Culantro (not to be confused with cilantro, which is another name for coriander!)
  4. Curry leaves
  5. Dill
  6. Holy basil
  7. Lemon basil
  8. Lemongrass
  9. Lime leaves
  10. Mint
  11. Pandan
  12. Parsley
  13. Rosemary
  14. Sweet basil
  15. Thai parsley
  16. Thai basil
  17. Vietnamese Coriander

Below, we’ve picked out some tasty ideas that include everything you’d expect from a typical English breakfast, along with one or two more left-field ideas to spice up your breakfast plate.

What are the seven Thai spices?

When people in the West think of ingredients used in Asian cooking, they inevitably think of Chinese five spice and Thai seven spice. You can make your own Thai seven spice blend by using the following ground up herbs and spices. Then you’ll be prepared to make some of the best Thai dishes around.

  1. Black pepper
  2. Chilli powder (we recommend making it from fresh chillies)
  3. Cumin
  4. Garlic powder
  5. Ginger (for a fuller flavour, we suggest grinding it down from fresh root ginger)
  6. Ground cloves
  7. Star of anise

What are the most popular Thai dishes to make at home?

The following suggestions would make it onto any respectable list of the top 10 foods to try in Thailand. Yet with the right recipes and ingredients, you can enjoy them without even leaving your house!

1.     Thai red or green curry

When it comes to a list of ‘Thai best dishes,’ you can’t fail to include the country’s signature curries. The red variety is typically a little hotter, while the green curry is a little creamier and easier on the tongue. Both share many common ingredients however, including coconut milk, lime leaves, Thai basil (just good old fashioned standard basil leaves will do in many cases), garlic and fish sauce. The red variant also includes ginger, which gives it much of that extra kick! Plus of course you’ll need a curry paste of your choosing, which you can find these days in most major supermarkets.

Recipes: Thai red curry and Thai green curry, both at BBC Good Food.

2.     Tom yum and tom kha soups

Image credit: Recipe Tin Eats

Tom yum soup is a super tasty clear, broth-based meal made with fresh ingredients, including hard herbs lime leaves and lemongrass, chillies, coriander, garlic and galangal, along with king prawns, mushrooms, chicken stock, tomatoes and more. It can be prepared clear, or turned into tom kha soup by simply adding some chilli paste and coconut milk to the broth – giving you two of the best Thai recipes here in one!

Recipe: Recipe Tin Eats

3.     Kao phat with prik nam pla

Kao phat is a Thai fried rice dish that’s simple to make but goes down incredibly well thanks to its flavour-filled combination of fresh ingredients, and is best served with a spicy prik nam pla sauce that gives it a real kick!

The recipe we like best comes from Thai Caliente, and includes the use of Thai bird’s eye chillies or jalapeno chillies to give the sauce its intensity. We also like to add a little coriander on top for garnish, just to give it a little extra colour.

Recipe: Thai Caliente

4.     Pad Thai

Easily one of the most popular Thai dishes in the UK, pad Thai is an ever-so-tasty noodle dish that’s easy to make and even easier to eat! It’s also incredibly versatile, lending itself well to poultry, seafood or vegan-friendly tofu options – making it one of the best Thai foods if your household has varied culinary preferences.

Our favourite fresh ingredients in a pad Thai include chopped fresh ginger, chilli flakes and chopped spring onions – although we like to use chives instead. You’ll also need a slightly unusual rice vinegar (not to be confused with standard malt vinegar!) – and of course, oodles of Thai noodles!

Recipe: Feasting at Home

5.     Larb

Thai dish larb

Image credit: Taste Australia

A minced meat and herb salad dish, larb can be prepared with beef, chicken, tofu or even with just vegetables. It’s incredibly impressive placed in the middle of a dining table to eat family style, and can work as lunch, a starter at dinner time, or as an accompaniment to a main course.

Packing in green chillies, coriander leaves and fresh mint, it’s got bags of fresh flavour, and as a bonus it even gives off a lovely aroma that’s sure to draw people to the dining table. Definitely some of the best Thai food for almost any time of the day.

Recipe: Taste Australia

6.     Phat kapharo

Phat kapharo is a classic rice-based street food that essentially translates to ‘fried holy basil leaves.’ So as you can imagine, it definitely includes the holy basil we mentioned in our list of Thai leaves above! It also packs in chillies, shallots, minced beef and garlic, alongside both fresh lime juice and lime leaves that give the dish a nice and distinctive zing. Oh, and did we mention the fried egg that’s served on top?! That makes this one of the best Thai dishes if you’re looking to make eyes go wide at your Thai New Year dinner.

Recipe: The Nosey Chef

7.     Kuay tiew rua

Translated as ‘Thai boat noodles,’ kuay tiew rua is a spicy noodle dish with pork balls and soy sauce, and certainly one of the top Thai dishes to try this Thai New Year.

The dish is most distinctive for its deep brown broth accented by the green of the coriander and red of the red chilli pepper, both of which are used as a garnish. If you arrived here having Googled ‘Thai best dishes,’ this is one you’ll want to try – it definitely doesn’t disappoint!

Recipe: Fine Dining Lovers

Thai dish Kuay Tiew Rua

Image credit: Fine Dining Lovers

8.     Som tam

This one is a little bit different. A cold shredded salad, the key ingredient that makes a som tam stand out is papaya. Indeed, the recipe we’ve linked to below doesn’t include any meat or fish whatsoever – although the meal does lend itself well to prawns or even chicken if you prefer. Herb-wise, the star of the show is the Thai sweet basil, and the kick comes from the large number of fresh chillies – although you can tone that down if you don’t like it quite so hot!

Recipe: Eating Thai Food

9.     Pa plao

Our second recipe from Eating Thai Food is also a little unusual. Where we’ve so far presented a lot of curries, salads and ‘mixed bowl’ meals, pa plao is a juicy and salt-covered Thai grilled whole fish dish stuffed with lemongrass, and served with a hot chilli-based seafood dipping sauce. As Thai best dishes go, we think it’s one of the most impressive you could put on anybody’s plate.

Recipe: Eating Thai Food

10.     Foi thong

We’ve saved the sweetest for last with our final recipe – literally! ‘Foi’ in Thai means thread, and ‘thong’ means gold – which is appropriate for this authentic Thai dessert dish that’s essentially a deliciously sweet golden string made from sugar and egg.

It’s served on pandan leaves and traditionally eaten with chopsticks. But if you’re serving this up as one of the top Thai dishes at a British table, let’s be honest – a fork wouldn’t be cheating, would it?

Recipe: VR Recipes

Looking for more delicious herby food ideas?

So those are our suggestions for the Top 10 foods to try in Thailand this Thai New Year – or, more realistically, to make and enjoy at home for the family instead!

If you decide to make any, please do let us know how it goes in the comments below.

Want more recipes full of creative ways to use herbs and other fresh ingredients? Check out our blog ‘The Chopping Board,’ or jump to some of the most popular blog posts we’ve previously published below.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2022

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As part of our commitment to ethical farming and trade, this month we’re looking at what we believe is one of the most important events in the food industry calendar, happening this year from 21st February – 6th March.

If you love fresh food as much as we do, and believe it should be sourced in a way that supports the planet, this post about Fairtrade Fortnight is for you!

How did the Fairtrade movement begin?

Founded in 1992, The Fairtrade Foundation (part of Fairtrade International) was jointly established by some of the world’s most well-known charities, including Christian Aid, Oxfam and the World Development Movement, to answer appeals from small-scale farmers in Mexico for fair trading treatment.

Growing from those humble beginnings, the Foundation launched its first certified products – Green & Black’s Maya Gold Chocolate, coffees from Cafédirect and Percol, and Clipper tea – in 1994. Then in 1995 it held the world’s first Fairtrade Fortnight.

So what exactly is Fairtrade Fortnight?

Image credit: Fairtrade Foundation

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual campaign taking place during two weeks over February and March each year. Designed to raise awareness of trade justice, it brings together campaigners, businesses and farmers who share their stories of people who grow and source the things that go into our food and drinks, alongside other important, naturally-occurring trade resources like gold and cotton.

This year, due to the ongoing pandemic, Fairtrade Fortnight’s official celebrations are being held online. There will be expert panels on climate change, video bake-offs, coffee mornings and a host of other virtual events taking place. However, these can be supplemented by anyone wishing to host their own in-person or digital events to spread the word of this year’s central themes. (More on that directly below!).

What is the theme of Fairtrade Fortnight 2022?

Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 highlighted the plight of farmers and farm workers in some of the world’s least polluting countries, who are feeling the effects of climate change more than anyone – including people in the most pollution-creating ones. Since then, the United NationsCOP26 climate change conference in Glasgow has taken place, where unfortunately the world’s wealthiest nations delayed a promised $100bn annual funding to the most climate vulnerable countries until 2023.

Ahead of COP27 in Egypt this November, Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 urges people to ‘Choose The World You Want’ and support the farmers on the front line of the climate crisis, in order to show world leaders that now is the time to act on climate change.

Why we care about Fairtrade Fortnight

Did you know that 80% of the world’s food, for nearly 8 billion people, comes from just 500 million family-owned farms around the globe? Many of those farms are in low-income countries, where rising global temperatures and the resultant weather conditions represent a clear threat to the very livelihoods of the people involved.

With a changing climate comes the need for new equipment and innovative measures in order to keep producing food. Yet many of those countries are simply not able to afford those measures. It’s a problem created by the world’s wealthiest countries, where the financial burden is felt in the poorest ones. Put simply, as the climate crisis continues, the world’s ability to grow fresh produce is being put under threat.

As a fresh herb and ingredients supplier, at R&G Fresh we feel passionately that climate change is a problem for the entire world to band together and overcome. Our suppliers operate in countries as far off as Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa, and we work with them regularly to make sure their growing practices care for their lands, rather than damaging them.

We also outsource much of our production process to our growers, meaning the money we would otherwise spend on waste goes into paying them higher wages. These ethical practices not only keep our supply chain greener, they also mean more money stays in those climate-vulnerable countries, where it’s needed now more than ever.

Image credit: Campaign Exchange

You don’t need to be fair trade certified to get involved with Fairtrade fortnight. In fact, you don’t even need to be involved with existing fair trade companies.

Ways to get involved with Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 include:

  • Run your own online or public event. You can even get in touch with the Fairtrade Foundation to request a guest speaker appearing for a virtual talk!
  • Reach out to local environmental or social justice groups near you and join together to share the message
  • Order Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 resources from The Fairtrade Foundation. These include posters and an explainer leaflet
  • Sign up to be a Fairtrade Fortnight VIP. Doing so will give you more Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 resources including campaign materials and a free quiz on Fairtrade and Climate Justice. You’ll also get first look at competitions and fresh Fairtrade products available to tie in with the Fortnight
  • Browse the Foundation’s updated climate key messages and FAQs to make sure you’re as knowledgeable as can be going into Fairtrade Fortnight
  • Plus use the online resources available in the Fairtrade Foundation resource library, including social media banners, press releases, pictures, videos, virtual Zoom backgrounds and more besides!

Additionally, if you’re particularly passionate about fair trade in all its forms, keep an eye out for World Fair Trade Day 2022 this May from the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO).

Proud to work with ethical produce

At R&G Fresh we’re immensely proud of the way we work, and the fact that every day we really do live our values around ethical practices, sustainability, and fairness for all.

For more on how we operate, see our How We Work and Our Produce pages, or learn even more at the links below.

 

Cover image credit: Fairtrade Foundation

A full English breakfast

Herby Treats For Farmhouse Breakfasts

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Since 2000, January has been the time for Farmhouse Breakfast Week. However, After last year’s alternative lockdown take on the event, this year it seems to have gone on a hiatus. But that won’t stop us from taking matters into our own hands and sharing some of our favourite tasty breakfast ideas packed with fresh herbs!

What is a farmhouse breakfast?

A farmhouse breakfast (sometimes called a farm kitchen breakfast) is a breakfast using many of the ingredients you’d expect to find grown or reared fresh on a farm – from wholesome grains to delicious eggs and juicy meats. In truth, the term ‘farmhouse breakfast’ is often used interchangeably with a full English breakfast. So that’s what we’ll be focusing on here!

Below, we’ve picked out some tasty ideas that include everything you’d expect from a typical English breakfast, along with one or two more left-field ideas to spice up your breakfast plate.

What should be in a full English breakfast?

There’s no set definition of what a full English contains, but typically it’s a fry up breakfast including things like bacon, sausages, beans, eggs, toast, hash browns and freshly cooked vegetables like mushrooms and tomatoes.

The farm kitchen breakfast recipes we’ve sourced below include creative uses of fresh herbs and other ingredients. We’re biased, of course, but we think they make for the best English breakfast going.

Country-style full English breakfast hash with fresh parsley

Over in America, they call these dishes ‘country breakfast skillets.’ In the UK, we refer to them simply as a ‘hash.’ Either way, you’re getting an English fry up with a difference. Rather than presenting everything separately, you enjoy a jumble of delicious food, all cooked in a single pan where the flavours can meld together.

Image credit: Best Recipes UK

The British breakfast hash recipe we like the most is from Best Recipes UK. It packs in new potatoes, red onions, bacon lardons, free-range eggs and pork sausages alongside some finely chopped parsley, which gives the dish so much texture and richness. If you haven’t tried it, you simply have to – it’s that good!

Not eating meat? Try this one-pan veggie full English with rosemary from Alpha Foodie instead.

Image credit: HEB.com

This is one of the two left-field ideas we mentioned earlier. Avocado certainly isn’t a staple of a traditional English breakfast, but it’s become far more commonplace with the Americanisation of breakfast cuisine. And we have to say, we love it. It’s healthy, tasty, and works amazingly well with fresh herbs and spices.

When it comes to using avocado for breakfast, there are plenty of options. But we find these English muffin tostadas from HEB to be a particular delight. The combination of lemon and chives gives them a tangy yet rich, slightly oniony flavour that works together so well, and the addition of coriander lends even more depth to the taste. We also like to add some salt that isn’t in the recipe, further bringing out the satisfying richness of the avos!

A full breakfast in its own right, you can also spread these thinly and use them as a delicious alternative to buttered toast to have alongside a more traditional full English breakfast.

One word of warning: because this is an American recipe, you may need to convert some US measurements to UK-friendly ones. This page at Fab Flour should help.

Herb scrambled eggs with thyme, oregano, parsley and chives

If you like your eggs scrambled, this herby offering from Chev Savvy could be perfect either on its own, or as part of a larger English fry up.

Herb scrambled eggs with thyme, oregano, parsley and chives

Image credit: Chef Savvy

It’s actually a very slight ingredients list, with herbs making up most of the items. Which we absolutely love to see!

The parsley here acts as a garnish, while the thyme and oregano are designed to go into the egg mix itself. The chives meanwhile can be used either way. Or you could do what we do and use them as a bit of both!

Like your eggs a different way on the side of a full English? Try this perfect herb omelette recipe from Taste Australia instead.

Green chilli and parsley-infused yam hash browns

This novel hash brown recipe from Ndudu is the second of the two quirky and unusual recipes we mentioned earlier – and we absolutely love it, for precisely that reason!

It comes from a blog dedicated to modern West African dishes, and features grated yams and onions with pepper, parsley and deseeded green chillies for a little residual heat. It’s all bound together by an egg and then fried in a pan over a low heat. Easy!

Of course, yams are plentiful in both West Africa and America, yet can be especially hard to come by in the UK. But if you’re hoping to use this technique for your own English breakfast – fear not! Simply swap the yams for a grated sweet potato or two instead and keep everything else the same. It won’t be exactly the same, but it will still be darn tasty.

This recipe is great anywhere you’d typically want a hash brown, but it goes especially well with Ndudu’s full English, which you’ll find here.

Veggie breakfast fry up with rosemary or thyme and chilli flakes

Veggie breakfast fry up with rosemary or thyme and chilli flakes

Image credit: BBC Good Food

Lastly, we come to the quintessential British breakfast – but with a twist. This full English recipe from BBC Good Food is entirely vegetarian!

You can make it in just 30 minutes, and for our money the standouts are the liberal uses of either thyme or rosemary – along with the heat from the chilli flakes. (We tend to dry out our red chillies to make our own). At just 500 calories per serving, it’s a great way to get a full English into you while still committing to a new year diet. The lack of meat also means it’s a little lighter on the stomach, which is never a bad thing if you have a busy morning ahead.

Missing the meat from this recipe? Just swap the veggie sausages for meat ones, plus add bacon, chorizo bits, the hash brown, egg or muffin recipes we’ve shared above – or anything else that takes your fancy!

How do you like to use herbs at breakfast time?

So those are our suggestions for farmhouse breakfasts with a herby twist. Will you be trying any? Let us know in the comments below.

If we’ve whetted your appetite for more herb-filled tasty treats at breakfast time, then check out this page at Organic Authority for six more amazing ideas. Or head to The Chopping Board to get more inspiration on cooking with fresh herbs.

Have Yourself a Herby Little Christmas

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It’s that time of the year again! Thankfully, after last year’s bubbled-up six-person festivities, this year we can finally all return to throwing big festive bashes for families and friends alike.

Here at R&G Fresh, we’re always looking for ways to use fresh herbs and spices in our food and drink, and at Christmas we love nothing more than finding creative festive recipes to let us do exactly that!

These are some favourites we can’t wait to use this year. Read on for some of the best ways to incorporate herbs and fresh ingredients for Christmas 2021.

Red hot Santa Tini cocktail

Starting off your Christmas party with pre-dinner cocktails? You couldn’t get more festive than a Santa Tini!

This spicy blend of chilli-infused vodka, chocolate liqueur and whipped cream from Mix That Drink comes with a real kick that’ll work nicely as a tasty appetiser before the main meal. Our favourite part is the decorative red chillies that set the Santa Tini apart from other Christmas cocktails. Definitely one for the spice lovers in your life this holiday season!

 

Santa Tini cocktail with red chillies (easy on the tini)

Image credit: Mix That Drink

Roast Carrot & Black Bean Paté with ground coriander and ginger

Image credit: Yummly

Roast Carrot & Black Bean Paté with ground coriander and ginger

Who doesn’t love a little paté before a roast dinner? This recipe from Yummly is the perfect starter for your Christmas dinner because it’s a little lighter than your typical meat-filled spread.

The carrots and black beans work together deliciously, and the coriander and ginger, together with lemon and garlic, all serve to add a richness and zing that’ll go down a treat. For our money, coriander and ginger are two of the best Christmas herbs to use in food, and they work brilliantly here.

Christmas turkey crown full of fresh rosemary and flat-leaf parsley

Another two of the best Christmas herbs to use are rosemary and parsley. This scrummy BBC Good Food roast turkey crown recipe packs them both in alongside sliced pancetta, garlic cloves, lemon and even grated parmesan. (We’d also consider adding some thyme for extra earthy richness!).

The whole thing will take just over two and a half hours to prepare and cook in a pre-heated oven, and being a crown means there’ll be no bones to contend with when it comes to carving. Bonus!

Christmas turkey crown full of fresh rosemary and flat-leaf parsley

Image credit: BBC Good Food

Big herby Yorkshire pudding with chives

Big herby Yorkshire pudding with chives

Image credit: Food Network

Christmas dinner wouldn’t be the same without a Yorkshire pudding, and we absolutely love the novelty of this giant one from the Food Network.

Better still, the batter mix is infused with mixed herbs (the recipe recommends chives, and we’d go with that too) before being baked in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. The only real challenge is that with the size of it, finding space for it on the shelves amongst everything else could be tricky. We just hope you have a big enough oven!

Fruit mince tart with sage pastry

Fruit mince tart with sage pastry

Image credit: SBS

For dessert, we’ve ignored the traditional Christmas pud and gone for a twist on an altogether different British classic – the humble mince pie.

This festive mint tart recipe by SBS uses sage in the crust to give it a slightly bitter, lemony flavour that perfectly complements the ingredients in the spiced fruity filling.

Speaking of spices, the recipe doesn’t specify what goes into the spice mix, but we like to use equal amounts of cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice (all ground to a fine powder). And that’s part of why we love this dish – it’s just one of the very best ways to incorporate herbs and spices for Christmas.

Homemade mulled wine

And finally, once everyone’s feeling full, why not wash down all that good festive grub with a hearty mug of warm mulled wine?

This mulled spice mix from All Recipes is made from a cinnamon stick and ground cinnamon along with cloves, nutmeg and more ground ginger (a particular Christmas favourite in this piece!).

Better yet, place these little spice packages in a fancy box with a bow around it and they make a great Christmas gift – meaning you can give the gift of fresh produce this festive season.

Homemade mulled wine

Image credit: All Recipes

What will you be eating and drinking this Christmas?

So, those are our suggestions to help you have yourself a herby little Christmas. In fact, if you looked very closely, you may have noticed that we worked 12 herbs and spices of Christmas in there:

  • Chillies
  • Coriander
  • Ginger
  • Rosemary
  • Parsley
  • Thyme
  • Chives
  • Sage
  • Cloves
  • Nutmeg
  • Cinnamon
  • Allspice

Just about the only thing we haven’t mentioned is mint. You can find that in this Merry & Bright festive cocktail mentioned over in our blog about using herbs and ingredients in drinks, and lots of food examples in our piece on our favourite herby lamb preparations.

And with that said, all that’s left to do is wish you a very Merry Christmas from everyone here at R&G Fresh!

A herby salad bowl of vegan-friendly food

Live Vegan for Less: Eating Green and Staying Sustainable

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At R&G Fresh, we’re fully committed to farming, picking and packing the freshest produce possible in a way that works with (rather than damages) the land.

Here on our blog The Chopping Board, we’ve already covered how our suppliers grow their produce using ethical practices, and why stopping food waste matters more than ever. Now, to celebrate World Vegan Month this November, we’ve decided to look at the vegan life of eating green and staying sustainable.

Before we dig into the details, however, it’s first worth addressing one of the biggest blockers many people have to going green with their diet…

How much more expensive is it to go vegan?

It’s actually a misnomer that eating vegan is automatically more expensive than being a meat-eater. The truth is that meat alternatives like tofu are usually equivalently priced to meat, if not actually less costly. So, when it comes to expense, switching to a plant-based diet could even be considered appealing!

It might, however, be more accurate to say that there are currently many examples in supermarkets where a ready-made non-vegan food exists, but a vegan alternative does not. In these situations, creating a fresh vegan option from scratch can prove pricey by comparison.

For example, a non-vegan fresh cream cheese and chive snack dip at your local supermarket may cost in the region of £1-1.50. However, the ingredients for this spicy vegan cashew cream recipe based on nutritional yeast, raw cashew nuts and a vegan milk of your choice, will set you back considerably more.

As with any food choice, then, it depends on what you fancy at the time. Trade-offs are sometimes necessary between flavour and expense, but on the whole, the differences between eating a meat-inclusive and meat-free diet are typically far less than you might think.

Ways to Eat Green and Stay Sustainable

A vegan-friendly fresh salad bowl

If the idea that a vegan diet isn’t expensive surprised you, prepare for another shock: eating vegan doesn’t necessarily mean that your choices are good for the planet.

It’s all to do with the greenhouse gases given off by both farming and transporting different produce.

That’s not to say that animal agriculture isn’t the very worst thing from an environmental perspective. It inarguably is. Especially when you consider that it gives off a greater proportion of greenhouse gas emissions (14%) than all of the world’s vehicles (13.5%) put together. (In fact, Oxford University researchers found that if we did away with using livestock for meat and everyone on the planet went vegan, we could cut greenhouse gases by a whopping 73%!)

However, anyone looking into the vegan life of eating green and staying sustainable should be mindful of not only what they’re eating, but where it’s coming from and the environmental cost of growing and delivering it to their shopping basket.

Some green foods aren’t as green as you think

Asparagus, for instance, has the largest carbon footprint of any vegetable eaten in the UK, giving off a sizeable 5.3kg of CO2 for every kilogram – owing mainly to the fact much of it is imported from Peru. This is dwarfed by the average carbon footprint of beef at 36kg of CO2 per kilogram, but still over half of the carbon footprint of chicken (10kg Co2 per kg) – a fact that’s surprising, when you consider just how popular chicken is across the world.

Similarly, if you want to eat fruits like strawberries and blueberries out of season, they will have to be flown in from warmer climes – contributing to a larger carbon footprint and lower sustainability value. That’s not to mention more exotic fruits like cantaloupes and watermelon, which are imported into the UK all year round.

The issue of water

Some other fruits and vegetables meanwhile can exact a different environmental cost to the areas they’re grown in. Almonds, mangoes and avocados all require enormous amounts of fresh water to grow. A kilo of mangoes, for instance, needs 686 litres of water. Cashew nuts – one of the most popular protein sources in vegan-friendly dishes (including the cashew cream mentioned above) – consume a whopping 4,134 litres of fresh water per kilogram. And you might need up to 272 litres of water just to grow a single avocado. That’s a lot of Evian for just one small bowl of guacamole.

Of course, the issue of water may not sound damning in a country like the UK, where that particular resource is plentiful. But consider that many avocados in particular are grown in Chile, where there’s a notable water shortage, and it starts to look like a much bigger problem when it comes to sustainability.

Time to go organic?

It’s also worth noting how much more beneficial for the planet authentically organic produce is over foods grown with artificial fertilisers. The chemicals in the latter account for around 3% of all global greenhouse gas emissions – meaning any vegans (or would-be ones) looking for ways to eat green and stay sustainable might also want to consider going organic-only.

From all of the above, it’s clear that staying sustainable as a vegan means much more than just eating green. Paying attention to where your food comes from is incredibly important, and choosing foods that are in season, don’t use scarce natural resources to grow, and don’t rely on artificial fertilisers, can all make an enormous difference to your cuisine’s planetary impact.

A wooden sign pointing the way to a vegan lifestyle

Are you considering going vegan this World Vegan Month?

Whether this post has gotten you thinking about trying veganism, or you’ve been thinking about it for a while, there are a whole host of reasons to do so – as well as some incredibly helpful resources to help you make the switch.

For starters, over on The Vegan Society website they have a tool called The Veganalyser, where you can input your age and then see the number of animals you will save each year onwards by cutting out meat-based products.

The same website also includes benefits to your health and the environment, plus information you may not have known about the honey, dairy and egg industries. They even have vegan meal planning tips to help you make the change!

However, possibly the most impactful thing you can do to live the vegan life of eating green and staying sustainable is download the VeGuide app for iOS and Android devices. It’s designed to make going vegan easier than ever, with motivation, video guides, a progress tracker, and a whole section devoted to delicious vegan recipes – including these eminently affordable ones.

And once you’ve started on your very own vegan menu – don’t stop there! Check out these 150 incredible vegan recipes on Budget Bytes, designed to tickle your taste buds without breaking the bank.

Finally, if you find vegan dishes really need a fresh herb fix, make sure to check out our post on how to use herbs in vegan recipes for even more amazing meat-free dish ideas.

Five Herb-Filled Dish Ideas for World Pasta Day

Five Herb-Filled Dish Ideas for World Pasta Day

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25th October is the third annual World Pasta Day – an international celebration of all things related to one of our very favourite food types.

Pasta is fantastic because it’s so very versatile, offering endless ways to get fresh herbs and other ingredients into wholesome, filling recipes. All of which can tickle the taste buds whether you prefer creamy dishes or tangy tomatoey ones.

So with that in mind, these are five of our favourite pasta dishes featuring fresh herbs. Enjoy!

Cheesy chive pasta

pasta dishes that include delicious fresh herbs

Image credit: The Feed Feed

Everybody loves a good mac n cheese, and this is like a nicer, posher version! Simply boil up a pasta of your choice and while it’s on the hob, make a thick béchamel sauce using two tablespoons of flour, two tablespoons of butter, around 240ml of a milk of your choice (we find plain soya or almond work well if your diet is non-dairy) – and add around 130g of grated cheddar to add the cheesy taste. (Go for extra mature to make it as cheesy as can be!). Then pour the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with chopped chives for that extra bit of fresh-tasting crunchiness!

Simple, quick and ever so tasty, this cheesy pasta is one of our favourite ways to use fresh herbs with pasta.

Sausage pasta bake with chorizo, basil, thyme and melted brie

the best herbs to pair with pasta

Image credit: Kitchen Sanctuary

You can’t beat a hearty pasta bake on a cold autumnal evening, and this is a delightful way to do that with two of the best herbs to pair with pasta – basil and thyme.

On top of that, in the pre-Covid times, the last week in October also used to be UK Sausage Week – so we thought we’d pay homage to that with a sausage-filled recipe you’re guaranteed to love!

Packed with bangers, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, fresh baby spinach, mozzarella, brie and of course the aforementioned fresh ingredients (there’s even a small bunch of parsley in there too!), this recipe from Kitchen Sanctuary is just a great antidote to a long workday as the nights draw in.

Vegetarians and vegans can always swap out the animal-based ingredients for alternatives, too – so everyone can enjoy this delicious dish on World Pasta Day. It’s big enough for the whole family to enjoy – or if you’re cooking for one, you can always put it in Tupperware and place it in the fridge to enjoy for the next few days.

Greek spaghetti Bolognese with dried or fresh oregano

best herby pasta dishes

Image credit: Marley Spoon

Here we have a fresh twist on a classic. You’ve almost inevitably had Bolognese before – but what about Greek Bolognese?

The twist in this recipe comes from the Baharat spice mix that includes cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg – but for our part, we also like to add a little fresh ground ginger and shredded turmeric to give things an added kick!

The Marley Spoon recipe also calls for dried oregano, but we prefer the freshly picked and packed variety. Whichever you go for, though, you’ll find this to be a rich, succulent pasta dish with a bit of zing on the tongue. Definitely one of the best herby pasta dishes we’ve tried in a long, long time.

Shrimp spaghetti aglio olio with parsley

ways to use parsley with pasta

Image credit: My food Story

It might look like a labour of love in the picture above, but with just five key ingredients (garlic, chilli flakes, shrimp, parsley and parmesan – alongside oil, salt, water, and a spaghetti of your choice), this shrimp spaghetti aglio olio can be made by anyone in around 20 minutes.

We’ve picked this particular recipe because we’re big fans of seafood – but also because it’s one of our favourite ways to use parsley with pasta. Parsley has a complex and earthy flavour that doesn’t always translate well to rustic dishes, but here it makes the whole concoction sing. Give it a go; we’re sure you’ll love it just as much as we do!

Chorizo, iberico ham and tarragon linguine

five of our favourite pasta dishes featuring fresh herbs

Image credit: Great British Chefs.

We’re finishing off our list of five pasta dishes featuring fresh herbs and ingredients with another novel twist on a classic. We promise you’ve never had a linguine quite like this before!

The long list of ingredients for this creamy, rich, cheesy pasta dish includes a juiced and zested lemon, fresh peas, shallots, garlic, parmesan, double cream and shredded turnip tops, alongside the headline ingredients named above. The tarragon adds a zingy, refreshing aniseedy taste to the dish that perfectly complements the creaminess of the sauce and cheese, and it’s all served tossed in thick, delicious linguine pasta – making for a delightfully Italian-inspired World Pasta Day. Or, indeed, any day of the week you choose to cook this on!

What will you be eating this World Pasta Day?

So those are our five suggestions for different pasta dishes that include delicious fresh herbs. Will you be making one – or perhaps rustling up your own original recipe instead?

Whatever you’re eating, we hope you #HaveAGoodPasta – and don’t forget to share your culinary creations with us on Facebook and Instagram using that very hashtag.

A plate, knife and fork on the union jack to celebrate British Food Fortnight

British Food Fortnight: Less Waste, More Taste!

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Early autumn is a fantastic time for foodies, with a ton of top food festivals to attend and two particularly prominent and long-running campaigns that will interest anyone with an interest in British cuisine or ethical food practices.

First up between 6-10 September is Zero Waste Week, an international movement now in its 14th year that encourages people to look after the planet by being more mindful of (and ultimately doing something about) the amount of food and other disposable items they throw out.

Then between 18th September – 3rd October is British Food Fortnight, an annual campaign designed to promote eating traditional British food produce, now celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Being passionate about both causes, we thought it was time to look at them in a little more depth and give you an idea of how you can get involved in them!

What is zero waste and why is it important?

The idea behind zero waste is that items which you might once have absent-mindedly decided to throw out can instead be reused in an alternative way (maybe repaired, or possibly repurposed entirely) in order to get full value from them. This extends their shelf life, lowers the amount of waste in the world, and even helps save you money.

But what is zero waste week 2021?

An illustration of two hands holding the Zero Waste Week logo with

Zero Waste Week began in September 2008 in response to a natural disaster which left founder Rachel Strauss determined to leave behind a better life for her child.

It started as a blog where she encouraged people to check what was in their fridge and track what they threw out. It’s since grown into a movement followed in over 80 countries, with the #ZeroWasteWeek hashtag shared over 56 million times on Twitter.

Why does Zero Waste Week matter?

A video on the Zero Waste Week website makes the answer to this clear:

  • Only 1% of the things we buy are still being used after six months
  • An entire third of the food produced globally is wasted. Despite this, many third-world countries still experience famine and people dying of starvation
  • To grow all of that wasted food, people need a land mass larger than China – meaning an enormous logistical and pollutive effort for absolutely no benefit to anyone
  • To make the point on a more local and relatable level, however, the average UK family spends £810 a year on food they then throw out.

Whether on a humanitarian level, viewed through the lens of climate change, or considered purely on the basis of individual expense, food wastage in particular is an enormous problem. Addressing it is therefore crucially important to people from all walks of life, as well as to the longevity of our planet.

How can you get involved with Zero Waste Week?

The Zero Waste Week campaign works with businesses, local authorities, schools and householders to help them act more mindfully about their daily wastage. The first step is to do a waste audit.

“Just live your normal life,” says Rachel, “don’t try and make any changes for about a week. And then jot down everything you’re throwing away. And then you can start to make a plan as to what you’re going to do with it.”

If you’re interested in knowing more about Zero Waste Week, head to the website to sign up to the mailing list. You can also donate to keep Zero Waste high on the agenda, or download posters and other materials to print over at the press page.

Additionally, you can follow the campaign on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, joining the conversation with the hashtag #ZeroWasteWeek.

British Food Fortnight: everything you need to know

A selection of British food in front of the Union Jack flag

First conceived as a modern mainstream version of the traditional British Harvest Festival and patroned by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, British Food Fortnight has been running since 2001 and celebrates the diversity and deliciousness of fresh British foods, produce and ingredients.

Why buy and eat British?

The Love British Food website gives many compelling reasons, including:

  • British meat is more humanely reared than almost anywhere else: 70% of the pig meat imported into the UK comes from a farming system that would be illegal in the UK
  • British people want to buy British: 63% of consumers for instance want the chicken they eat to be reared here in Britain
  • Eating in-season British fruit and veg isn’t only good for you – it travels less far, meaning a lower carbon footprint, which is far better for the planet.

What does British Food Fortnight involve?

During the fortnight there will be literally hundreds of events up and down the country, in all sorts of establishments. They include:

  • Schools: Fun activities, foodie lessons and special school menus in schools.
  • Pubs, restaurants and hotels: menu promotions and visitor attractions.
  • Hospitals and care homes: Love British Food menus
  • Universities: Themed menus in unis where Fresher’s Week coincides with the Fortnight.
  • Shops and markets: Promotions, meet the producer events and tastings
  • The food service sector: Special menus in places from staff restaurants to sports venues
  • Across the country: The Love British Food Harvest Torch travels with a National Harvest Service every year.
  • Plus: An annual competition will run to find the most imaginative community event during the Fortnight.
  • Villages, market towns and cities: Community celebrations of all shapes and sizes!

How to get involved with British Food Fortnight

Whether you’re an individual or work in any branch of the British food industry, there are an incredible number of ways to get involved with the foodie festivities this British Food Fortnight. They include:

  • Consumers: Buy British, seek out British Food Fortnight menus and encourage local shops and restaurants to take part.
  • Retailers: Highlight British foods in-store, expand your range and offer tasting sessions.
  • Pubs, hotels etc: Highlight British food on your menu and name the farms your produce comes from. You could even launch offers, promotions and bookings to make the most of local pride in British produce!
  • Food service: Source British food, promote the Britishness of your menu and contact suppliers so you can buy in bulk (But make sure you don’t let any go to waste!)
  • Public sector: Hospitals, care homes, government offices and the like could consider banding together to aggregate food costs and running special menus in on-site canteens
  • Schools: Use the Fortnight as motivation to find British suppliers, buy in-season products, and promote your actions to local media interested in eating and buying British. You can even use point of sale material with the BFF or Union Jack to make your participation more noticeable
  • Universities: Offer cookery demos, produce case studies and market your participation in British Food Fortnight on your website and social media channels
  • Councils: Champion local business that buy and sell British produce and distribute our ‘How to take part’ packs. You could even sponsor or run local events, or offer regional food producers’ tastings or awareness courses that speak to the importance of buying, selling and British.

You can also apply to become a Food Hero in order to support the campaign in this and future years. Plus, the Love British Food site lists an additional 14 things you can do to promote the Fortnight. And don’t forget you can get involved with the conversation on social media using the hashtag #BritishFoodIsGreat.

Whatever you choose to do, don’t forget to tell the organisers of British Food Fortnight what you’re doing so they can promote it too. You can email them at info@lovebritishfood.co.uk.

How we support great-taste, low-waste British food

At R&G Fresh, we care deeply about reducing waste and delivering the freshest, and where possible locally-sourced produce, that can make every dish you prepare taste incredible.

Not only have we previously blogged about preventing food waste, we actively outsource the majority of our production process to our growers so that our food arrives pre-bunched. It’s a process designed specifically to reduce food waste while allowing us to pay our growers more at the same time – all part of our commitment to ethical food business practices. (In fact, 96% of our raw produce is bought through our sustainable sourcing strategy).

Speaking of our growers, at R&G Fresh we work with some of the finest on the planet – including several based in the UK. We feel passionately about providing the freshest in-season produce possible; picked, packed and shipped locally whenever the season allows. We also make sure our suppliers work with the land to enhance it rather than damaging it; thereby ensuring our practices are great for Britain, and the British food industry.

And over in the recipes part of our blog The Chopping Board, we showcase some of the best ways to use that freshly-picked British produce in recipes for quirky and traditional British foods alike.

To discover more about what we do, visit the How We Work and Our Produce pages, or browse the links below.

4 lamb chops with herbs

Love Lamb Week: Our Favourite Herby Preparations

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One of the questions we get asked most by meat lovers is, “Which herbs go well with lamb?” The answer is: there is no set answer! However, we find that rosemary and mint are firm favourites, but basil, thyme, tarragon, coriander, parsley and oregano can all work exceedingly well too, depending on the dish.

So to celebrate Love Lamb Week on 1st-7th September, we thought we’d put together this post detailing the best herbs to compliment your lamb and showcase some of our favourite luscious lamb recipes packed with fresh herbs and ingredients.

Herb crusted rack of lamb with minty yoghurt sauce

A little more elegant than a lamb roast but slightly more upmarket than simple lamb chops, a rack of lamb is an excellent choice if you have dinner guests.

This recipe from The Cookie Rookie packs in fresh thyme, parsley and basil leaves alongside breadcrumbs, Dijon mustard and kosher salt, all of which make for a deliciously herby crust – and adds mint, garlic and pepper into the yoghurt for a rich, tangy dip!

lamb with herbs and mint sauce

Image credit: The Cookie Rookie

Prefer your lamb on the bone with a Greek twist instead? Give this Greek lamb chop with oregano recipe a look instead.

Herby lamb kebabs with rosemary and mint

The second of our favourite herb picks for Love Lamb Week is the tried and tested combination of fresh mint and rosemary.

Both are prominent features of this simple yet ridiculously tasty lamb kebab recipe from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Add some ripe cherry tomatoes and onions, and you’ve got the makings of a truly pukka barbecue.

(And if you want more tips for BBQing with fresh herbs, check out our blog on that very subject here!)

lamb kebabs with herbs

Image credit: Jamie Oliver

Lamb and tarragon pie

Gousto is great when you want a diverse selection of home-cooked meals, made in minutes with fresh ingredients. Of course, Gousto gives you all of the ingredients you need in one box – but you can also gather them separately yourself and follow their recipes like any other.

We came across this tantalising pie recipe on the Gousto website that, amongst other things, packs in fresh tarragon, potatoes, onions, leeks and minced lamb. We’ve made it ourselves – and you should too!

lamb and tarragon pie

Image credit: Gousto

The aniseedy flavour of the tarragon really stands out, which for us makes it one of the best herbs to compliment your lamb when it’s prepared as thoughtfully as it is here. That’s why it’s one of our favourite herby preparations for Love Lamb Week.

Tried this and want another hearty lamb pie recipe with a slightly different feel? Check out this recipe for a herby lamb cobbler containing parsley and other fresh herbs over at BBC Good Food.

Lamb keema with ginger, green chillies and coriander

We love a lamb keema. It’s essentially a low-key, quick-to-cook minced lamb curry that’s packed with spices, herbs, and fresh earthy flavours – often offset by a creamy cooling yoghurt. It’s fab with rice, bread, or even on a pizza!

When it comes to which herbs go well with lamb keema, coriander is a clear winner – especially when packed in alongside fresh root ginger and green chillies.

That’s the case with this taste bud-teaser from Taming Twins, and we think you should certainly give it a go!

lamb keema dish

Image credit: Taming Twins

Roasted leg of lamb with rosemary and thyme

We’ll finish with a classic – because no post about which herbs go well with lamb could leave out a good ol’ lamb roast joint, could it?!

The method for this particular roast lamb recipe over at Damn Delicious admits that lamb can seem a daunting dish to make, but makes it simple in just six steps. One of those involves making a rub from garlic, olive oil, rosemary, thyme, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper. The next one involves adding that rub to the lamb – before the penultimate step of putting it in the oven, and the final one of serving it all up.

It’s not scary at all – but it sure is delicious!

Roasted leg of lamb with herbs

Image credit: Damn Delicious

The parsley-and-chive-loaded mini hasselback potatoes are another nice touch for a surprisingly straightforward dish that will take people’s breath away when it comes out on a platter during Sunday dinner. What better way to celebrate Love Lamb Week than this?

Have we tickled your taste buds for more herby recipes?

Head on over to The Chopping Board to see more of our favourite food and drinks ideas with fresh herbs.

Or for more info on Love Lamb Week, visit the campaign page over at the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board website.

Want to learn more about how we source our fresh herbs and the ethics that drive our business? Visit our How We Work page.

The ultimate herb-filled food picnic platter

The Ultimate Herb-Filled Food Picnic Platter

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With National Picnic Week happening from 19th-27th June, we decided to help you elevate your picnic with fresh herb recipes the whole family will love!

Read on to learn about the fresh herbs to make your picnic better – and discover the recipes we reckon might make up the ultimate herb-filled food picnic platter.

Fennel and sage pork pies

Image credit: Sorted Club

You can’t go wrong with the humble pork pie – and we think this recipe from Sorted Club offers one of the very best herb-filled foods for a picnic.

Packed with pork belly and pork shoulder alongside echalion shallots, plus the titular fennel seeds and sage herbs, it also includes a sharp cider jelly and hot water crust pastry for a mouth-watering picnic treat!

Sage and onion sausage rolls

Sage and onion sausage rolls

Image Credit: Cookipedia

These sage and onion sausage rolls from the wonderfully named Cookipedia are called a Christmas favourite over on their website – but we say they’d be ideal for the ultimate herb-filled food picnic platter!

Just two teaspoons of finely chopped fresh sage brings a real richness to a recipe that also jams in sausage meat, chopped onions and poppy seeds into a fantastically flaky puff pastry casing.

Garlic and herb cream cheese

garlic and herb cream cheese

Image credit: allrecipes

You can’t have a picnic without a little bit of cheese (or a vegan alternative!) – and we’re especially big fans of a creamy one that’s equally suited for spreading or dipping.

That’s why we’ve picked this garlic and herb cream cheese from allrecipes for our ultimate herb-filled food picnic platter. The herbs included are dried dill weed, oregano, basil and thyme – all of which you can dry in a variety of ways.

With butter, cream cheese and parmesan all in there too, it’s probably not one for anyone on a health kick, or those avoiding dairy. However, this cashew cream-based vegan option from Minimalist Baker makes for a very tasty alternative!

Quinoa cucumber salad with feta, dill and mint

Quinoa cucumber salad with feta, dill and mint

Image credit: The Bojon Gourmet

No picnic would be complete without some leaves, and this quick fresh salad recipe by The Bojon Gourmet is one you and your picnic pals won’t want to leave alone until every last bit is gone!

The cucumbers and radishes give it a really satisfying crunch, while the feta gives it a creamy edge that’s perfectly complemented by a dressing made from garlic, olive oil, lemon, and vinegar. However, it’s the dill and mint we really love, adding a freshness and earthiness that’s rare, even for a homemade salad! Definitely two of our favourite fresh herbs to make your picnic better.

Cheesy ham and herb quiche

Image credit: Homemade in the Kitchen

Rosemary, thyme and parsley play a starring role in this summery quiche recipe from Homemade in the Kitchen. The blog’s author Carla says “the addition of fresh herbs paired with the saltiness of the ham really kicks the flavour up a notch” – and having tried it out for ourselves, we completely agree!

It’s definitely one of our best herb-filled foods for a picnic. Give it a try yourself; we’re sure you’ll think so too!

Rosemary-infused chocolate mousse

Rosemary-infused chocolate mousse

Image credit: The Flavour Bender

Like with any big meal, it’s always nice to finish with something sweet. And this rosemary-infused chocolate dessert from The Flavour Bender is a rich and delicious little bit of luxury that’s easily amongst the best herb-filled food for a picnic.

The rosemary adds an earthiness that’s unusual for a mousse, and really does balance out the sweetness of the chocolate – just as the recipe says. The best bit though is you can change up the amounts and types of chocolate you use, giving each batch you make a bit of a different flavour.

Being a mousse, you can place this dessert in ramekins or small Tupperware pots and whip them out to surprise guests at the end of your picnic. We’re sure they’ll love it – as long as they have room left by that point!

Happy picnicking!

So that’s our six tantalising recipes that make up the ultimate herb-filled food picnic platter for National Picnic Week and beyond. Which one are you most excited to try? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking for more tasty ways to use fresh herbs in your cooking? Head on over to The Chopping Board.

Steak and rosemary - a classic combination!

BBQing with Fresh Herbs: Our Top Tasty Combinations

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Barbecue season is finally upon us – though you might not know it from the UK weather in recent weeks! Hopefully the sun comes out to play soon and you can enjoy trying out the recipes we’ve featured below.

Here at R&G FRESH, we think fresh herbs can really up your BBQing game, creating a mix of wonderful flavours that are sure to impress family and friends alike.

So, to give you some summer grilling inspiration, we’ve collected ideas for what we think are the best herbs for a BBQ and how to use them.

Grilling with fresh herbs

One of our favourite herbs for grilling is rosemary. It has intense flavour and stands up well to the rigours of a high-heat grill. As it’s so robust, rosemary can also be used when smoking – just add whole stems to your smoker.

One great example of grilling with fresh herbs are these steak and rosemary skewers by My Garden Life. Simply remove the leaves from the bottom two-thirds of the rosemary stems, then, skewer the cubed meat and any vegetables you fancy adding to the mix. Finally, brush the kebabs with a marinade or olive oil and season with salt and pepper

steak and rosemary skewers

Image Credit: My Garden Life

BBQ cooking tends to lean toward strong-flavoured meats and fish, so you might also like to try cooking with thyme. It can add its own punchy flavour to the mix, making it easily one of the best herbs for a BBQ (in our opinion!).

An excellent grilling recipe involving fresh thyme is this grilled whole fish with lemon. The mix of flavours here makes for something much more interesting than your standard burger and sausages!

Making dry rubs with fresh herbs

If you’re wondering how a BBQ with fresh herbs can be even better, a rub could be just what you’re looking for!

Making a fresh herb dry rub for your next BBQ can add a whole new dimension to the flavour of your meats and fish. The fresh herbs you use can be down to personal preference, but a good rule of thumb is:

  • Rosemary, parsley, sage or basil go well with beef
  • Tarragon, basil, oregano and coriander go nicely with chicken
  • Sage, rosemary and thyme are great with pork
  • Oregano, thyme, fennel or dill is terrific with grilled fish.

Making a dry rub is fairly simple. Start by combining the finely chopped fresh herbs in a bowl with some salt and pepper. Then rub the mixture on both sides of your chosen meat or fish, cover it up, and leave it to marinate for at least an hour.

marinaded chicken

Fresh herbs with grilled veg

Fresh herbs don’t just go well with meat and fish; they also work amazingly with veggies! Especially when added to the dish toward the end of the cooking process or just after removing the vegetables from the grill.

A few ways you can add fresh herbs to your vegetables include:

  • Tomatoes can be accented with; basil, bay leaves, chives, dill, garlic, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, and thyme
  • Carrots go well with bay leaves, chives, dill, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, tarragon and thyme
  • Sweetcorn can be enhanced with: dill, marjoram, parsley or thyme.

We especially love this veggie kebab recipe from All Recipes. They’re made with mushrooms, onion, red peppers and green peppers, along with fresh thyme and fresh rosemary.

veggie skewers

You can make them by threading the vegetables onto a skewer, alternating them as you go along. Once the skewers are prepped, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then brush the mushrooms and peppers with the mixture.

After that, just place the skewers on the BBQ and cook until the mushrooms are tender and cooked through!

(We added some extras to our skewers. What would you add?)

Feeling inspired to get the grill going?

So that’s our blog on how to BBQ with fresh herbs! Have we inspired you to try some new recipes for any barbecues you have this summer? Let us know in the comments below.

For more of our recipes, check out The Chopping Board.

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