This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at Cornell chapter.
It’s hard to constantly make creative and flavorful dishes when you’re stuck between classes, homework and whatever extracurriculars spark your interest. Salt and pepper aren’t always enough and the dried Italian seasoning you took from your mom’s kitchen cabinet is nice, but really only lends itself to marinades or sauces.
If you want that extra pop of freshness and aren’t afraid of exercising your green thumb, you should seriously consider getting yourself some windowsill herbs – it’s the easiest, most long-lasting and best improvement to your kitchen you’ll have made in a while, I promise.
Photo by Jeanne Kessira
Here are some basic how-to’s to remember when beginning the project:
- Put your plants on a windowsill that gets a good amount of sun during the day.
- Buy plants that come in small pots with holes in the bottom and put the pots in a small bowl or saucer.
- Add water daily to the saucer every day, or when the soil is dry. The plant will soak up the water through the holes in the pots.
Follow these links for more detailed information on specific plants:
Photo by Rebeka Alvarez-Heck
The possibilities for using fresh herbs are endless:
- Make your salads more interesting.
- Brew an herbal infusion and reap the health benefits.
- Dry them and make your own personalized seasoning blend.
- Make an herbal syrup for infused water, drinks or quirky desserts.
- Deep-fry for crispy garnishes.
- Mix into your salt shaker or vinegar for flavored condiments.
- Make fresh pestos and dips.