Be inspired to make the most of fresh herbs this summer with these 4 easy recipes with fresh herbs, showcasing basil, tarragon, parsley, mint and more… Plus find the linky for #CookBlogShare Week 31.
How is it the end of July already? The months are really whizzing by at the moment! July has been a good month – lots of fun end of term stuff with the kids, the start of the summer holidays – including lots of cooking and baking fun, and best of all… my daughter’s cast finally came off – whoop whoop! (She actually only had it on for 5½ weeks but it felt like FOREVER!)
July has been a busy old month on my two blogs as well – mostly because I have been writing blog and scheduling blog posts like a mad thing, to make sure I have enough blog posts to last me over the summer – so I can take some time off this summer and hang out with my kiddos 😀
This month on Easy Peasy Foodie I’ve shared 2 pair of recipes… First up, my Easy Peasy Tzatziki – which makes a perfect partner for my Lamb, Feta and Mint burgers. And then, my Easy Homemade Chicken Stir Fry made with my Easy Homemade Stir Fry Sauce!
Easy Homemade Chicken Stir Fry
Over on Productive Blogging I’ve been sharing posts on…
- Project management for bloggers – the skill you didn’t know you needed!
- 11 benefits of attending a blogging conference
- How to avoid paying for unsubscribed contacts in Mailchimp
- How to edit a blog post (by an ex English teacher turned blogger) + CHECKLIST
Next week I am off on my hols (an epic road trip round Northern Europe – more about that in my next #CookBlogShare roundup) so things will be a bit quiet on my blogs in early August. But I’ll be back at the end of August. Hope you have a fab summer!
4 Easy Recipes with Fresh Herbs
I love fresh herbs and they are a big feature in my recipes. In fact, it’s rare to find an Easy Peasy Foodie Recipe that doesn’t include fresh herbs! I just think herbs are such an easy peasy way to add bags of flavour to food, without taking lots of time or effort. It’s amazing how just adding a small handful of herbs can really ‘lift’ a recipe and taking it from ‘OK’ to ‘amazing’.
I am a hopeless gardener, so my herbs come in ready cut bunches from the supermarket or greengrocers – but it is my ambition one day to grow my own herbs in my back garden!
This week’s recipes all showcase at least one herb – including basil, tarragon, parsley, mint and more… but they are all also fabulously quick and easy recipes – perfect for summer days when you don’t want to spend to much time in the kitchen!
Beetroot and Mint Vegan Sausage Rolls
First up is this delicious sounding recipe for Beetroot and Mint Vegan Sausage Rolls from Midge over at The Peachicks Bakery. These gorgeous giant sausage rolls are made using amazing rainbow beets from Midge’s allotment (I love reading Midge’s blog for her tales from her allotment!) – but if you aren’t quite as green fingered as Midge and her girls, they can also be made with those vac pack beets you can get from the supermarket! Mint and beetroot are such an amazing combination – you just know these vegan sausage rolls must taste amazing…and, as an added bonus, they can be made gluten free by using gluten free puff pastry.
Fattoush with Sumac Hummus
Next up we have this amazing looking Fattoush with Sumac Hummus from Choclette over on Tin and Thyme… well sort of. Actually this salad is actually from the new book Seriously Good Salads from Nicky Corbishley (also a blogger – you can find her at Kitchen Sanctuary) and this recipe is the one Choclette chose to feature in her review of Nicky’s book. Fattoush is a kind of chopped salad – Middle Eastern in origin. It includes tomatoes, cucumbers and other salad ingredients, but most importantly, warmed up stale flatbread and lots of fresh herbs. Nicky’s version features both parsley and mint and a big dollop of sumac hummus – sounds amazing!
Shrimp Thai Basil Stir-Fry
Our next herby recipe is this wonderful Shrimp Thai Basil Stir-Fry from Michelle at Flipped Out Food. This gorgeous dish is packed full of amazing flavours, including prawns (shrimp), peanuts, chillies, peppers and lots of Thai basil. Thai basil can be hard to find – Michelle recommends looking in an Asian grocery store for it, but if you can’t get hold of it, you can substitute with regular basil. This stir fry would be fab served with either jasmine or basmati rice and garnished with more peanuts, some fresh coriander (cilantro) and extra Thai basil!
Leftover Roast Pork Stroganoff
If you are a regular round here, you will know that I am a big fan of creative meals using Sunday roast leftovers (check out my ideas for leftover chicken, lamb, turkey and beef). So, this Leftover Roast Pork Stroganoff from Donna Dundas really caught my eye among the recipes linked up last week. This is such a great way to use up leftover roast pork – simply add to a delicious sauce, made with mushrooms, white wine, smoked paprika and soured cream, and serve with pasta, rice, potatoes or bread. And the herb here? Donna recommends garnishing her pork stroganoff with fresh tarragon – I think if I was making this recipe, I’d be tempted to stir a bit of tarragon into the sauce as well!
#CookBlogShare2019 Week 31
And so we come to this week’s linky. You can link up any foodie post that you have – both old and new posts are welcome. All you need to do is:
- Link up a recipe or foodie post by clicking the blue ‘add your link’ button below and following the instructions (maximum of 4, please).
- Add a link from your post back to this post (so everyone else can find it and link up too!) and / or add the #CookBlogShare badge to your post (you can find the code below).
- Comment on one of the host’s posts and a minimum of 2 other posts linked up here, and generally share the love with a bit of social media action!
If you wish, you can tweet a link to your recipe to me @easypeasyfoodie and also (if you have room on the tweet!) my co-hosts Jacqui @recipecrumbs and Monika @monikasecipes, using the #CookBlogShare hashtag and we will retweet them. You can also post your recipe on the Cook Blog Share Facebook Page.
Need some help on Instagram? You and me both…so let’s help each other! Whenever you post to Instagram, use the #CookBlogShare hashtag, then quickly hop over to the #CookBlogShare feed, liking as many as you can and commenting on any that particularly catch your eye. Not a big job at all, but if we all do it, it would make a BIG difference!!
I will comment on a selection of my favourite posts this week and pin them to the Cook Blog Share Pinterest Board. I can’t wait to see what you’ve all been making!
Just to remind you, by joining in, you are giving the #CookBlogShare hosts permission to use your pictures in a round up and on social media, if your recipe is selected as one of our favourites!
The next #CookBlogShare will be hosted by Jacqui at Recipes Made Easy 🙂
Pin 4 Easy Dinners with Fresh Herbs for later
Choclette says
You’re so right. Fresh herbs are wonderful. I’d be lost without growing my own. The first thing I did when we moved, was to plant a load of herbs. I managed to bring my chives, marjoram and sage from Cornwall, but was less successful with others.
Thanks for featuring the Fattoush – it’s so good. Love the sound of that beetroot roll too.
Eb Gargano says
A pleasure, Choclette! Good to hear you were able to bring some of your herbs from Cornwall 😀 Eb x
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook says
I love fresh herbs especially in roasted chicken or with salad. 😀 Thanks a lot for hosting this week, Eb. Have a wonderful week!
Eb Gargano says
Oh yes – fresh herbs with chicken is so good! Hope you have a great week too 😀 Eb x
Midge @ Peachicks' Bakery says
What a fab round up! & thanks for including my vegan sausage rolls! I love just being able to wander around the allotment and pick the herbs to go with dinner. They just make a dinner so much better. Sometimes for tea we will just pick handfuls of rosemary, thyme & oregano and sprinkle them over bread dough to make flatbreads. You really don’t need any more than that! Also means we can grow more unusual ones like orange mint & pineapple sage (it really does taste like pineapples!!)
Eb Gargano says
Wow – I have never even heard of orange mint and pineapple sage – now I really want to try them! I am very jealous of your allotment – it sounds wonderful 😀 Eb x
Donna says
Thanks for including my recipe Eb, they all look fab, I’m a big fan of a fresh herb!
Eb Gargano says
A pleasure, Donna! Glad you like the roundup 😀 Eb x
Monika Dabrowski says
All these recipes sound lovely and summery but the beetroot sausage rolls is my favourite. I am a beetroot junkie but I’ve never tried to put in in a sausage roll. Great idea!
Eb Gargano says
It’s such a good idea, isn’t it? They sound delicious 😀 Eb x
Janice says
I see that Easy Chicken stir fry featuring on my menu very soon, especially as I have loads of sugar snap peas in the garden. What a great round-up, herbs are so easy to grow and add so much flavour to every dish.
Eb Gargano says
Yay! Glad you like it – sugar snap peas are lovely in this. I am very jealous of you having them in the garden! Eb x
Sylvie says
Cooking with fresh herbs is probably one of my favourite thing ever, it always brings so much freshness and flavour to a dish! Cannot wait to try all of those recipes 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Totally agree! 😀
Vicki Montague says
Hi Eb! I hope you’re not reading this and you have a really wonderful holiday! Much deserved. xx
Eb Gargano says
Haha – I did read this comment on holiday… but I saved replying until I was back 😀 I had a lovely holiday thank you… but now playing catchup – aaargh! Eb x
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food says
Thanks so much for the awesome write-up of my Shrimp Thai Basil Stir-Fry! These all look absolutely mouth watering. Thanks for hosting, and have a great week!
Eb Gargano says
No worries – it looks and sounds so delicious 😀 Eb x