Caprese Salad
There is nothing better in the summer than a fresh tomato Caprese salad with Mozzarella cheese, good olive oil, and freshly cut basil. Whether you grow your tomatoes or buy them at a farm stand or Farmer’s Market, they are a true taste of summer. And who does not like a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich with mayo. Put it on homemade sourdough and you may have discovered heaven on earth.
I am the first to admit that I do not attempt to grow tomatoes down here. My best tomato growing was in Massachusetts on my plot in a community garden. The soil was so rich that I could grow anything. Anyone who came near to my house was gifted a cucumber or zucchini. Alas, my vegetable and fruit (a tomato is a fruit) growing days are over. I just do not have the space and exposure let alone the soil.
What edible plants am I able to grow? Well, my basil is the size of a small shrub. I can get my purple Cherokee heirloom tomatoes and Mozzarella at the Farmer’s Market, use some olive oil that I purchased in Spain and have a delicious Caprese salad. My basil is a perfect topping. Basil likes heat and stands up to our humidity. We tend to think of it as an essential part of Italian cooking, but it is used in many cuisines around the world.
Basil is native to India and other Tropical regions from Africa to Asia. A member of the mint family, it gets its name from the Latin basilius which basically means royal /kingly plant because it was used to make royal perfumes. The horticultural Latin name today is Ocimum basilicumand there are over 60 varieties of this cultivar and more are developed by hybridization.
Basil is an annual herb in our region. It just cannot take colder temps in the Winter. Grow it from a small pot and give it lots of sun and heat and you will be rewarded. I do not mind replaing mineevery year. Use the leaves while they are still fresh so add it to a recipe at the last minute. If you pinch off the white flowers, it will continue to put out fresh foliage and that will mean more yummy Caprese salads or perhaps a pizza.
There is also a variety of basil with purple leaves and flowers. It is Thai basil and it is a magnet for bees. Like the green leafed var iety, it is not cold tolerant so treat it as an annual. It grows into a small woody bush and I use it in my garden as an ornamental plant. I have not cooked with it, but you certainly can. It is easy to propagate by breaking off a twig and putting it in water. You will have new roots within a matter of days and you can then plant it much to the bees’ delight.’
Another herb that I grow for culinary uses is parsley. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a flavor maker especially in summer salads. There are two types- flat leaf and curled. Chefs have told me that the flat leaved, also known as Italian parsley, adds more flavor to foods. I really like the look of the bright green curly leafed variety. On a visit to Greenville, SC in the winter, I noticed that parsley was used as a border along the sidewalks of the main street. Everyone commented on how good it looked. And that brings me to when parsley seems to grow best – in the winter. It will last into the summer, but by September, it is looking very sad. It is neither an annual or a perennial, but a biennial. This means that for the first year, it has foliage. The second year it flowers and produces seeds and then dies.
I plant parsley in the autumn for winter interest. In the spring, my parsley is usually consumed by Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. I plant parsley just for them to munch. If you keep on deadheading parsley when it gets a thick stalk with flowers, it will last longer. Although it is native to Greece, Algeria, and Morocco, I think that it is our humidity that adversely affects parsley in our hot summers.
Parsley is a rich source of vitamins K, A C, folate, and iron. I love the Lebanese salad known as Tabbouleh which has quite a lot of cut up parsley along with chopped tomatoes, onions, and bulgur. For many of us of a certain age, we may think of parsley as a garnish on a plate. When I was little, that was a sign of a higher end restaurant along with a relish dish.
It is not too late to try either of these herbs. Remember that basil will fade in the cold, but parsley will continue on happily through our winter months.
