3 Salad Herbs With a Difference

It’s a much more exciting, and healthy, way of getting our daily intake of vitamins and minerals compared to the obligatory boiled vegetables of the past.

One of the quickest and easiest ways of adding flavour to even the simplest of salads is to use herbs, in dressings and vinaigrettes or freshly picked, chopped and added to the other salad ingredients.

Some herbs, like rocket and watercress, are used almost exclusively in salads and little else. Most herbs, however, can be used in salads and my advice is to start with small quantities, adding more as your experience grows.

The three herbs that I love using in salads are

• Rocket,
• Salad Burnet and
• Sorrel.

Each has a distinctive taste and just adding them to a simple bowl of mixed lettuce leaves can create a memorable green salad.

This low growing, bushy perennial has small red flowers and is a good border plant in the flower or herb garden. It grows best if planted in groups of three or more. Otherwise, it is undemanding, requiring ordinary soil and sun or semi shade.

During very hot months it should be watered regularly and in very cold areas it may die back in winter but will shoot again in spring. To keep the plant looking good remove dead leaves and spent flowers.

Salad Burnet leaves contains vitamin C. Use the leaves to make an infusion (herbal tea) and drink as a tonic as well as a diuretic.

• salads,
• vegetables (especially cabbage, spinach, beans),
• light fish and egg dishes with a lemon flavoured zest.

The leaves are full of vitamin C and iron and are best eaten raw or added at the end of cooking. Just be careful not to use an aluminum pan or the leaves will taste metallic. Sufferers from arthritis, gout or kidney stones should only eat Sorrel in moderation because of its high oxalic acid content.

Sorrel is a perennial that looks a lot like spinach with its soft, broad green leaves. It thrives in fertile moist soil in a sunny position and should be watered frequently to keep the leaves juicy. Mulch to prevent the soil drying out and cut flower shoots off to encourage the growth of leaves.

• in salads,
• open sandwiches,
• as a vegetable with roast meat or
• with a medley of Mediterranean vegetables.

Fresh rocket leaves contain iron and vitamins. It is also reputed to help cleanse the body of pollutants.

Rocket is a hardy biennial that grows easily and quickly but to make the most of it there are a few tips to keep in mind. Harvest the leaves regularly because the more you pick the better the quality. Cut the plant down when it comes into flower because the leaves produced after flowering are not pleasant to eat.

Rocket tends to bolt into flower in hot weather so be prepared to cut down the plant two to three times during the season. Just keep the soil moist and feed weekly with a water-soluble plant food.

Rocket can be an untidy garden plant so a good option is to grow it in a pot, not less than 20cm in diameter. Water pots every second day or twice a week in the garden. It likes a sunny position, preferably morning sun and afternoon shade.

Herbal Vinaigrette

This is one of the easiest dressings to make and one that is infinitely variable. Select from the listed herbs, or add your own, to vary the emphasis. Substitute a herbal vinegar or oil for extra pungency.

• 45 ml light olive oil, sunflower oil or canola
• 15 ml wine vinegar
• 1.5 ml mustard
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 45 ml fresh chopped herbs (basil, chervil, chives, dill seed, lemon balm, marjoram, rosemary, rocket, salad burnet, tarragon, thyme)