Weekend Herb Blogging, the round-up: 45 wonderful entries

I've had the most fun this week, hosting Weekend Herb Blogging for Kalyn ... the entries just kept pouring into my inbox, some from old friends, many from blogs I hadn't yet discovered. I've got masses of new feeds in my reader, a new clutch of clipped recipes, and a renewed respect for the friendly knowledgeable wonderful food blogging community. Thanks, all of you, for taking part, for sharing your ideas and photographs ....

I've checked and double-checked that I haven't left anyone out, but email me if I have. And I haven't yet checked all the links, so let me know if any don't work ... I'm going to have a cup of coffee in the garden while the sun's shining, but I will come back later to make sure. And then I'll reply to some of the emails that have gone unanswered as the week got more and more hectic.

PS Tuesday: make that 48 - two late entries, and HUGELY EMBARRASSINGLY I forgot Kalyn's entry ... so here they are, at the top!










Kalyn planted dill in her garden earlier this year, and now she's picking and eating it - this time for a salad made with some leftover salmon, a little celery, some yoghurt. You'll find it at Kalyn's Kitchen.












The Chocolate Lady was inspired by her visit to New Orleans, and when she got back to Greenwich Village she made a vegan jambalaya - a base of red beans and tomatoes, with scapes, mushrooms, radish greens, flavourings.










Anna at Morsels and Musings in Australia has made the quintessential Malaysian dish Kangkung Belacan - a lovely stir-fry with water spinach / Ipomoea aquatica / ong choy. There's lots of information about this popular vegetable, to encourage you to find it in your neighbourhood Chinese shop.









Victoria at Feed Yourself in Seattle bought tomatoes before hearing about the salmonella scare, so she cooked them up into a quick and creamy pasta sauce.













Dhanggit in Aix-en-Provence also made pasta at Dhanggit's Kitchen, this time Cannelloni Diablo, which she says is really really spicy! It looks wonderful, although I'm wimpish enough to want to leave out a little of the chilli pepper.










Maria from Organically Cooked in Crete has cooked something just up my street, a self-crusting carrot and courgette quiche. She says that in Crete carrots are thought of as a herb rather than a vegetable, and gives lots of links to other ideas for using carrots.









Katerina at Daily Unadventures in Cooking says her kitchen is a disaster and she doesn't feel like cooking, so she's made a simple grilled eggplant dip. Looks like cooking to me, delicious too. Mmm









Glenna at A Fridge Full of Food in Springfield, Missouri has made Broiled Orange Seafood over Brown Rice Pilaf. She calls this eating out at home - a way to avoid the extra fat and calories that seem to come as an automatic side to any restaurant meal.










Over at Intoxicated Zodiac, Gwen made a honeysuckle sour - with a Piscean twist, of course.










Over at Je le vous dirais Maggie's a semi-vegetarian living in Mountain View, Ca - she's opted for chunky herbed mashed potato made with fingerlings from her CSA box - they're a delicate French variety with red skin, and she's paired them with rosemary and oregano, and used soy milk for a vegan touch.










In Siri's Corner, you get a fable and a fabulous recipe. The story concerns a king, a peasant, and a large stone; the recipe is for tofu butter masala.










Cheryl from Alexandria, Va cooks Gluten Free Goodness - this week she's been picking alliums from her garden, only she hadn't labelled them, so there was confusion. Once she sorted that out, she roasted spring onions ... mmm













Syrie at Taste Buddies is doing penance for some calorific profiteroles - she need the simplicity of carrot and kale soup, flavoured with ginger and coriander ... actually I'm not sure I'd call that penance ;)










Sue at Coffee & Cornbread in Southwestern Virginia, USA says she's in a herbal rut, as it's the second time she's blogged about parsley in a week. She threw some parsley into her low fat ham crepes.










Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs gives lots of nutritional information on avocados, and then she passes on the recipe for The Perfect Guacamole (heavy on the cilantro) ... she rinses the onion to remove its pungency.
















When Manitoban Fiddlehead Ferns Met Indonesian Kecap Manis is the title of Pepy's intriguing post from Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Check it out at The Art and Science of Food - true to its title, you'll learn about fiddlehead ferns (I'd never heard of them before this summer), and how to cook them.













Cherry and almond sour cream scones are on the menu at Fun and Food - Mansi in California made hers with fresh cherries, but says you can just as easily make them with dried cherries which you've soaked. She also gives ways to vary these scones, using different nuts and fruits.










Chriesi from Almond Corner had the idea of giving a king prawn one last swim - and so created her prawn in chilled canteloupe soup. There's lots of information about melons, too.










Wandering Chopstick's Bun Bo Hue - Vietnamese Hue-Style Beef Noodle Soup - has lemongrass and lots of it. The soup originates in central Vietnam, Hue, but was made in California, and the post shows step-by-step photographs of all the processes, as well as an informative bit about the differences between bun bo hue and pho.











In the Backyard Pizzeria, it's time for "waste not want not" chestnut soup. If, like Pam (who lives in Victoria, Australia), you're in the southern hemisphere, now's the perfect moment to make this. In the northern hemisphere, we'll have to bookmark this recipe for autumn. By the way, Pam mentions that chestnuts are really a vegetable ...










Y has a ginger treat for us at Lemonpi ... Michael Bras's Pain aux épices: a quiet pleasure, a relaxation, a special moment, with a taste of spices that carry you away to a sunny land. Y says it's wonderfully spicy and not very sweet.










You'll find loads of veggies at A Delightful Delicacy in Elizabeth's chunky chicken cacciatore ... she's moving house, so she wanted to use up what's in the pantry, and - understandably - she played safe with tinned tomatoes because of the US tomato scare. It's Elizabeth's first-ever food blog event ... you chose well - mine was also Weekend Herb Blogging ;)










Dish of the week at Cooking 4 All Seasons is palak moong dal - spinach in mung beans. For Srivalli this is the dance of the youth all remembered again - she hasn't made this dish since her marriage because her husband prefers other foods (I've been there too!). Simple, wholesome, and with spinach from her garden, too.








Phool Makhani Curry (Puffed Lotus Seeds Cooked in a Spiced and Creamy Coconut Gravy)
is something I've never dreamt of making, but Sia's clear instructions at Monsoon Spice make it look easy. First you pop the lotus seeds, then you make the curry sauce. Mmm










Sherra's returning to WHB after a long gap, and she's chosen to make a sweet-savoury spin off of the Filipino favourite turon, a banana spring roll. You'll find it at A Taste of Our Life











Gretchen in Lima, Peru, was walking by the river when she found some breadfruit, and her friend Mayra showed her how to boil the seeds - find out more about this exotic cooking at Canela and Comino













Diane and Todd made little mini tangerine and carrot cupcakes for their party, using tangerines and carrots from their garden - you'll find the recipe at White on Rice Couple










At Kits Chow you'll find three ways to cook asparagus, South Beach-friendly and delicious - Christine's also got a nifty little bamboo steamer from the Chinese shop that's made me green with envy, it folds down to almost nothing when you're not using it.










Kevin's Thai lemon shrimp has kaffir lime leaves which he says are hard to track down - but he also says that they keep well in the freezer. There's cilantro in this, too, mmm, and you'll find it at Closet Cooking












The Foodie's dish has the longest name ever: Cheese Ravioli with Butternut Squash and Portabella Mushrooms, in a Sage-Brown Butter Sauce ... which tells you most of what you need to know!













Zorra in Andalucia, Spain, has marinaded a jar of olives with herbs from her garden ... such a useful recipe for those times when you find the olives you've bought don't quite live up to expectations. Parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano - find it at Kochtopf








Pam says the herb that spells summer for her is basil, so she's made a basil sauce for chicken using supplies from her garden - as she says, it's easy to grow, and expensive to buy in those little plastic packs. Find it at Sidewalk Shoes










Elizabeth's paired halloumi with sweet marjoram, and gives lots of information and links about this Mediterranean herb - you'll find it at Blog from Our Kitchen








Laura's Vegetable Curry with Coconut Milk and Yogurt comes from south western India and so is not as familiar as many of the curries found in restaurants around the world. It's full of vegetable goodness, and includes garlic scapes, an early-summer ingredient here. You'll find it at The Spiced Life










Victoria gives us a taste of Morocco with her instructions for making ras-el-hanout using many spices - even rosebuds if you can find them. Check it out at her blog, Flavors of the Sun










There's a feast for the eyes - flowers at Heart and Hearth - not sure if you can eat them, though.













Tomatoes with a twist are on the menu at A Lifetime of Cooking - they're semi-dried and flavoured with pomegranate syrup ...










Martha Stewart gougeres with lots of chives and rosemary are on the menu at I'll Eat You - lovely for a party.










There's a mixed tomato couscous salad over at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, inspired by a visit to the farmers' market, where Natashya found yellow orange and red tomatoes ground in the micro-climate at Niagara. Mmm











Crash-hot potatoes with rosemary and thyme are the side-dish at Technicolor Kitchen - Patricia says they're easy, they look delicious.










Kate at Thyme for Cooking is house-hunting in France, and has funny/good tips for anyone thinking of buying a house there - and a dish which starts out as a quinoa pilaf, then the leftovers morph into a quinoa and lentil salad, both with vegetables and herbs. Just my kind of cooking.













More of the food I love at Palachinka - grilled Atlantic mackerel with parsley garlic oil and lemon ... what could be better?














Check out this beautiful apple and celeriac salad at The Well-Seasoned Cook - Susan says this is quick and bracing, with autumn flavours that work for summer. Seems to me it's a great new twist on a Waldorf salad.









When he got back from holiday, Jerry's thoughts turned to grilled chicken with lemon and thyme, served with orzo salad and asparagus. Yum! Find it at Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants













More celeriac at Cook Almost Anything - this time in a more conventional Waldorf salad. Haalo gives full dietary information on celeriac, as well as beautiful photographs of her lovely salad.










At Do You Like To Cook we've got a grated courgette salad made with produce fresh out of the CSA box ... I love how the restricted choices of the seasonal veg box are making cooks all over the world so inventive.









How about asparagus the Japanese way? You'll find it at Apple Pie, Patis and Paté, dressed in a mustard sauce.










Those of you who know Susan at Farmgirl Fare won't be surprised to hear that her entry was the last to hit my inbox because she was working and moving the sheep all afternoon. But she still had time to make a wholewheat cookie recipe:
Yip Yap Organic Banana Snaps with Chocolate Chips, Raisins, & Nuts. Susan always urges people to buy organic - check out her post on what happens to non-organic bananas, you'll never buy them again.


That's it, 45 entries ... and I've only just realised that I haven't posted one myself! You can find everything you need to know about Kalyn's fabulous event Weekend Herb Blogging here - and next week, Kalyn's hosting.