Herbs and spices you love and hate

Likes:

-Basil - fresh basil and tomatoes - it doesn't get any better. I always grow them together. Dried basil in a favorite summertime recipe - Zucchini Caponata I serve with homemade pita bread.

-Parsley (flat leaf and curly) - This is one I grow indoors and out. It's an inexpensive fresh vegetable you can add to so many dishes. Especially important in the winter when there's little nutrition to be found in grocery store produce. I also use a lot of dried parsley. It's easy to toss into meat loaf and other ground meat mixtures.

-Chives - Also grown indoors and out. I use chives instead of onions in many dishes.

-Thyme - Grown indoors and out. One of my favorite ways to prepare potatoes is to boil small (new or grade B) potatoes, cut in quarters. Drain and add butter, chives, parsley and thyme. Make extra and cube and fry them a day or two later.

-Rosemary - I use it in a few favorite dishes, but I don't use nearly as much as most recipes call for. I find it's much better used fresh, than dried.

-Bay Leaves - A must in Brown Stew and some homemade soups.

-Dill Weed/Seed - A favorite used is in Dill Bread. It's another herb I grow. Add it to homemade sauerkraut.

-Fox Point - a Penzeys Spices blend that works well in breads and burger buns as well as sprinkled on vegetables, made into a dip for vegetables, a dash on scrambled eggs, and a dusting on chicken. (A combination of: salt, shallots, chives, garlic, onion, and green peppercorns.)

-SPIKE - Another blend. I find it at the health food store. We use it on chicken, in mashed potatoes, and it's an important seasoning in the bean burgers stacked in the freezer (my favorite go-to freezer food for a quick vegetarian meal).

-Cumin - I make a black bean/tomato salad that is seasoned with cumin that we eat a lot in the summer.

-A number of Dipping Seasonings. Mixtures that I add to olive oil and dip bread or pitas in it.

-Crushed Red Peppers - Not just for a pizza topping. Great added to Asian Green Beans and other vegetable dishes.

-Sage - Another garden herb. I use fresh and dried sage in a lot of poultry dishes, as well as dressing.

-Caraway Seeds - a must for Rye Bread. In fact, the flavor people associate with rye bread isn't from rye flour, it's the caraway. You can add caraway seeds to white bread and you'll think it's rye bread... I often mill the seeds in a spice/coffee mill and add it to breads instead of using whole seeds. I think I get more flavor from less seeds that way.

-All the baking spices - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg (buy whole nutmegs and grate your own)...

-Lemon Pepper- I use a lot of lemon pepper in stir-fry.

-Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie Spices

Dislike:
Cilantro - I think it must be one of those flavors you have to grow-up with.