Tuesday at the {herbal} Table

Welcome back to the {herbal} table! I know at least one person besides me has had herbs on her mind this week, and I just have to give her a shout-out. It's Lynne from pieceful, who harvested a big ole bunch of herbs from her garden, dried some for later, and most impressive of all, made her own herb salt. What fun!

                                                                                     photo credit: pieceful used by permission

I've been looking through some of my cookbooks for herbal recipes. (If you need any ideas, I found some tasty-sounding ones on Williams-Sonoma's website too -  there's a whole Cooking with Herbs section!) Meanwhile, here's another dish I made for the company dinner I told you about last week.

It's one of my tried-and-true favorites from Stonewall Kitchen Favorites - Arugula, Prosciutto, and Grilled Asparagus Salad with Lemon-Chive Dressing - a long, detailed name for an easy, uncomplicated recipe. Basically, arrange some arugula on a platter, tuck in some thin-sliced prosciutto, top with roasted asparagus, and then drizzle with a simple chive dressing. Here's the dressing:

Lemon-Chive Dressing
juice of 1 large lemon (about 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tb. minced chives (can also substitute basil)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Obviously, I like to top with some goat cheese; some oil-cured black olives would also be a great add.

And speaking of olives, here's what was next on my list to try - Thyme and Garlic Olives. This one's from a book that's been in my collection a long time, The Herbal Pantry.

It was another easy and fun one to put together - though it's suggested to leave these marinating in the fridge for at least two days, so I'll have to report later how they are. But from the sneak taste I tried last night, things are looking good!

Thyme and Garlic Olive

3/4# black olives (I'm using my favorite kalamatas.)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 Tb. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. peppercorns
olive oil to cover

So now it's your turn to share. If you have an herbal post to share, great. Otherwise, any recipe or table-related project would be perfect! Just link up here.