Chives Are a Useful Herb

Chives are a very useful herb that has a delicate onion flavor to them. The chive is related to the onion and leek family and maybe that is why they taste a lot like a mild onion. Chives are a good herb to use when you want some onion flavor but not an overpowering onion flavor in a dish. Chives are a great source of vitamin A, calcium and potassium so they have a lot of nutrition in them.

Chives are an easy herb to grow. They look a lot like grass as they are growing but they do not smell like grass when they are cut off. If you cut off a blade of chives they smell like onions. The chive plant is a perennial and will come up all by themselves year after year. If you keep your chives weeded they will spread and you can have more chives year after year.

Chives are a tasty addition to a salad. When you cut up a fresh chive and sprinkle it to the top of a garden salad you get a tasty addition to your salad.

Soups also benefit with a few chives in it. Chicken soup, beef soup or any soup that has onions in it can also have chives in it. You can also add chives to a sandwich if you like a mild onion flavor on your sandwich.

Butter can be flavored with some chive added to it. Cut up the chives small and mix it into some room temperature butter. Let the better and chive mixture rest for al least an hour before you use it. Or you can mix the chives into some cream for a mild onion flavor in cream.

Potatoes and chives go together like peanut butter and jelly. Chives complement the potatoes natural flavor and gives the potato a wonderful taste. Mashed potatoes can greatly benefit with some chives added to the potatoes. Or you can put butter or cream mixed with chives on a baked potato.

French bread is livelier when a few chives are added to the top for flavor and looks. A little chives can go a long way when you serve French bread with chives on top.

When you have chives in your garden the chives help to deter against aphids, apple scab and mildew. Chives are a very useful herb that can be eaten in a variety of ways. Chives are an elegant addition to a meal.