How to Cook with and Grow Herbs

Today's chefs have a challenge: Create delicious food without an overabundance of calories.

Herbs are powerful tools in a chef's arsenal of flavors that can be adjusted for delicate subtlety or strong statements. Green herbs barely register a blip on the fat and calorie meter, but many soar on the vitamin and cancer-fighting phytochemical scale.

Learning deft use of herbs is easy, and growing them is fun. Savoring dishes made with herbs is rewarding in both taste and a smaller waist.

Herbal enhancement

Add fresh herbs to your recipe at the end of the cooking process to achieve the best flavors. For example, don't put fresh oregano in your tomato sauce until just a few minutes before taking it off the heat. Over-cooking fresh herbs dilutes them.

To store fresh herbs up to a week, wrap in a damp paper towel and place in a sealed plastic bag in your refrigerator.

Dried herbs are usually more potent than fresh, so use less of them than fresh.

It's a good idea to toss out old dried herbs. If you have some that have been sitting in your cupboard for more than a year, they won't provide optimal flavor.

Instead of automatically reaching for the salt shaker, try adding fresh herbs instead.

Sharing the magic

Several coastal South Carolina chefs shared some of their herbal secrets. Experimenting, they said, is the best and most fun way to discover new uses.

Orobosa Uwagbai, Orobosa's Lowcountry Café, Pawleys Island, S.C.: "One of my favorites is thyme. It wakes up many things that otherwise would have laid low. Basil gives you the kind of flavor that you can taste it inside you. It opens all of your palate so you can taste what's coming next. I like rosemary sauce for lamb. If you take rosemary and garlic and mix them together, it makes the lamb a very successful dish."