Best Herb Paste Recipe From Mediterranean Cuisine

This is the best herb paste recipe, my favourite of all fresh herb recipes. Before temperature outside hits zero, I harvest and process all herbs from my garden. It’s time my family was waiting for because they know: everyone will receive a jar and start converting their everyday meals from boring to delicious.

My Secret Sauce

This herb paste makes cooking really easy. No wonder everyone wants a jar. It is very concentrated, so you use very little and it lasts you a long time. You can add it to anything: dip or soup, sandwich or potatoes. The result is invariably awesome. Any simple meal becomes sophisticated and delicious as soon as you mix this herb paste in. At the end of this article, I share 10 simple ways to make your cooking healthy, quick and delicious with the help of this one recipe.

Health Benefits? Too Many To List

And I am glad my people like it because I WANT my family to use it as much as possible.

• This herb paste is extremely good preventative medicine in the season of flu and cold.
• It has great antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory qualities.
• It contains potent antioxidants, helps in fighting stress and improving brain function
• It aids in reducing high blood pressure, keeps your cardiovascular system young and your arteries flexible and unplugged…

The list goes on and on.

Herbs For The Paste

I grow all the herbs in my garden: sage, rosemary and thyme. I also add oregano or marjoram and create new variations.

• Sage is a beautiful perennial attracting bees and butterflies. If you don’t yet have it in your garden, I highly recommend it. It’s very low maintenance while the health benefits of it for you and your environment are so big. You only need one plant.
• Rosemary grows from a tiny seedling into a 1.5-2 feet tall plant during short Canadian summer. I tried to take it inside for the winter and it never liked it, so I just have to pull out the whole rosemary bush and use it in herb paste. I usually base the amount of herb paste on the amount of rosemary I grew this year, because other herbs either grow in abundance, or are easily available at the store. You might want to plant two rosemary bushes.
• Thyme is a beautiful plant that I have to replant every year. I plant 8-10 plants and never have enough. So here is my tip: check Chinese or Thai supermarkets for inexpensive thyme.

The recipe is easy but it is not quick. Cleaning thyme takes the most time. You will be rewarded by the popularity of your simple creation and the good feel of giving the gift of health to the people you care about. It makes your future recipes quick and easy.

Best Herb Paste Recipe

Ingredients

• 10 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, snipped
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 1 Tbsp tarragon or white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Good variations I tried: 8 garlic cloves, ¼ cup oregano, old-fashioned mustard, 1/8 or ½ cup olive oil.

Bad variations: tried to cut the corners and not chop the herbs before putting them into my Vitamix. Not a good idea.

Directions:

1. Separate leaves from stems of the thyme plants. You can use whole tips of these plants as the stem is usually very soft and blends without a problem. Contrary to what displayed here, it is easier to hold the bottom part of the stem and move your hand towards the top. Use gloves or your hands will be brown.

   

2. Same for rosemary and sage, except it is much easier to do.

   

3. Pulse garlic in food processor three or four times or until garlic is finely chopped. Some people use a mortar and pestle. Add sage, thyme and rosemary. Pulse three or four times until finely chopped. Add mustard and salt, pulse until blended.
4. Add vinegar as you process. Gradually add oil, processing as blended. If your blender is not powerful enough, you might end up adding more oil.

How to store herb paste

Store it in the fridge in the tightly closed container.

I collect small jars throughout the year to store and give away my Mediterranean herb paste . You can store it in tightly closed small Pyrex containers. It won’t go bad in the fridge: it contains garlic, salt and vinegar, all well known as preserving agents.

If it’s too much garlic for you, try to reduce garlic to 7-8 cloves.

Simple Ideas How To Use Mediterranean Herb Paste

1. Making an omelette or frying eggs? Spread a little bit on top
2. Tortilla wraps – spread a bit on a tortilla
3. As a bread dip or bread spread
4. On top of boiled potatoes. Yummy!
5. In the soup….
6. In the stew…..
7. Scones to use with soup
8. Add to veggies
9. Add to sour cream or plain yogurt and use on baked potatoes
10. Best with pasta.

So here you go. Use this recipe without fear. By the way, I did not invent it; it comes from my favourite Vitality magazine. I cannot believe people gave it only three stars out of five. And if you never had a chance to read Vitality magazine, pick it up at any Toronto health store one day. If you are not from Toronto, check it out online. I love it for its recipes, updates on the most recent legal battles for the quality of our food and natural health products, and for the list of the natural health events happening around Toronto. This was another excellent recipe by Pat Crocker; I encourage you to check out more of Pat’s recipes and articles.

And please let me know whether your family liked this recipe and what variations you came up with.

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