Garden Herb Marinade

It’s been a productive garden season partly because of the consistent rain over the summer and the warm weather we’re having of late. I just harvested another batch of beautifully ripe tomatoes. If we don’t get a cold front, I may even procure one more collection! What a great year for tomato growers. It’s been my best year to date– that’s for sure.

My herbs are also still growing strong. I made another large batch of pesto last week. I have so much parsley and oregano, it feels premature to dry them out for winter use at this point.

Parsley is one of my favorite herbs to cook with. It has a spice and earthy flavor but it’s not overbearing. This makes it great to use in so many meals, soups and salads. It’s also a pretty garnish. Besides parsley’s culinary properties, it’s whimsical florets will attract swallowtail butterflies and bees to your garden. So consider planting this herb for all of its benefits next season.

With my abundance, I decided to make a dressing of sorts with parsley, oregano, chives and a bit of basil. How can you go wrong?

Garden Herb Marinade
(makes one cup)

Ingredients:

A handful fresh Italian parsley
A handful fresh oregano
A handful fresh chives
About 7 large basil leaves
1 lemon
½ cup olive oil (Colavita is my preference)
½ cup red vinegar
6 cured black olives, pitted
1 teaspoon parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
Salt, fresh ground pepper to taste.

Directions: Rinse and remove any dead or yellow leaves from all herbs. Cut stems off parsley. Pick basil leaves off the stem. Chop the chives one inch long. For the oregano, hold the top of the sprig with one hand and run your thumb and index finger down the stem. This is an easy way to remove the small leaves quickly.

Combine all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for one minute until blended well.

This dressing is perfect for marinating meat and fish. The longer you marinate, the better. I treated myself to a swordfish steak. It was delicious, soaked in herbs. It can also be used on salads or to drizzle on Italian bread. The garden herb dressing will keep in the refrigerator for at least two weeks. Store in a sterilized, tightly closed jar.