Tuesday at the {herbal} Table

Welcome to Tuesday at the {herbal} Table! In my neck of the woods, it's summer {relatively speaking}, and  the {herbal} table is the third month of special-emphasis here at Tuesday at the Table. If you missed the {summer} table or the {picnic} table links, feel free to click back and check out the delicious recipes and awesome table projects that have been shared!

So about those herbs.

The above photo is from the local market (I love their little signs!), but I do have quite a variety of herbs growing just outside my back door, thanks to hubby's green thumb. And I really enjoy using them in my cooking and baking. As a rule of thumb, in most recipes you can substitute fresh herbs for dry herbs by using about 3 times the amount. Ie. if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of dry herbs, you can use 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs. If you're unfamiliar with using fresh herbs in your kitchen, here's a nice little video from one of my favorite TV chefs, Jamie Oliver, telling a bit about the different kinds of herbs and how to prepare them, plus you get his enticing English accent, right?

So in preparation for this herbal theme, I tried several new recipes this last weekend, when we had friends over for dinner. This first one is a super easy appetizer, but it got a 'wow' from the guests, and was fun and tasty.

Greek Salad Skewers - one of my Pinterest pins - will definitely be making these again!

For the main course, I made Grilled Citrus-Herb Chicken - also from Pinterest - and this was the most flavorful, moist grilled chicken I had ever done.

Source: yumsugar.com via Steph on Pinterest

I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts and in making this recipe, I affirmed a few things about my cooking style:

• I rarely, against my own best advice, read a recipe all the way through before I start.
• I like the security of a recipe, but don't always follow it.
• There are few recipes I make over and over. I'm always trying new ones.
• I'm not afraid to try new recipes on guests. In fact, I revel in it.

In this case, it wasn't till I'd plopped the chicken into what I assumed was going to be a marinade that I realized the recipe actually suggested grilling the chicken and then dipping it into the dressing just before serving. Oh well - I will definitely try it per the recipe another time, but it was totally delish marinated overnight before grilling. 

Well that's enough for this go-round, but there's plenty more about herbs I'll be sharing as the weeks go by. As for the link-up, it'll be open through the month, closing at day's end on Wednesday, August 29. Then before the month closes, I'll chose a random winner of the yet-decided prize. Don't feel like you have to link only on Tuesdays - anytime is fine. And though the food focus is herbs, any recipe or table-related project or plain and simple table talk is always welcome. I just enjoy you joining me around the table.