Even when they’re not a stated recipe ingredient, chives add color and subtle onion favor to just about any dish: eggs in the morning, salads and soups at lunch and vegetables, poultry, fish, and compound butter at dinner (see a recipe for chive butter).

A sprinkling of tiny snipped chives adds a festive garnish dusting to any plate, and in their “long form,” they can tie asparagus or green beans in bundles, make graceful “X” designs over steaks, chops, fish and poultry. Combine chives with roasted red or yellow peppers or a slice of red tomato to make a tasty color statement. Halve red and yellow grape tomatoes in a vinaigrette with snipped chives for a delicious and low-calorie topping or condiment.

If your pot of chives flowers, consider that a bonus and use them immediately as a glorious garnish.

• Try this recipe for Spice-Seared Tofu with Avocado, Beets & Cucumbers. The sauce is an avocado purée with chives.

Chives in flower. Photo by Bura | SXC.

Fish and rhubarb? Absolutely! Photo
courtesy McCormick.

• Ginger is a wonderfully pungent spice with a long history of cultivation. In China, where the plant originated, as well as in other Asian countries, the spice is used in a multitude of both savory and sweet dishes, is eaten raw or pickled and is made into candy. In the U.S., ginger is especially associated with holiday baking, thanks to the western tradition of making gingerbread cookies at Christmas. Crystallized ginger is another favorite baking item—as well as a candy. Ginger makes a soothing tea (by itself, with boiling water, or by adding raw slices to your favorite tea). Ginger is high in antioxidants, and as such, is one of the Seven Super Spices.
• Rhubarb is actually a vegetable, not a fruit. The giveaway might be that it looks like red celery stalks with cabbage-like leafy tops (some can be dark green like spinach or kale). By the time it gets to market, the leaves have been cut off, and we only see the red stalks. (Another giveaway: fruits carry their seeds inside; vegetable seeds scatter in the wind. You see seeds in an apple, avocado, cucumber and tomato, but not in broccoli, carrots or lettuce. Lacking sweetness doesn’t make it a fruit.)

Chicken soup is great comfort food for whomever needs a Spoonful of Comfort—which is the name of one of the two chicken soup gifts we tried recently (the other, not surprisingly, is Grandma’s Chicken Soup).

We enjoyed both soups, plus all the fixings: noodles, matzo balls, challah and cookies.

Is chicken soup really the “Jewish penicillin” that cures colds and flus? See the article!

You’ll also learn the different types of chicken soup: chicken broth, chicken bouillon, chicken consommé and more.

• Read the review and contemplate a hot bowl of chicken soup—with noodles or matzo balls.
• Make your own with this chicken soup recipe.

Get well, get through exams/new baby,
get a good bowl of chicken soup. Photo courtesy SpoonfulOfComfort.com.

• Switch it up with international chicken soup recipes: Udon Noodle Soup With Chicken & Lemongrass, Mexican-Style Chicken Soup With Queso Fresco and Chicken, Corn & Tortilla Soup.

It won’t fit on the windowsill, but a French
herb pot from WhiteflowerFarm.com
organizes five different herbs.

We fill flowerpots with basil, chives, rosemary, thyme and tarragon. The plants are beautiful, fragrant and easy-to-grow (rosemary is hardy and can grow into quite a large household plant, and spawn cuttings for all of your friends). We snip fresh herbs into eggs, salads, on pizzas and sandwiches, use the fresh leaves as garnishes for everything—even sorbet.

You can grow your own herb pots from seed, or invest more and buy small pots of herbs that will quickly grow to meet your cooking needs.

This is the beginning of a week of fresh herb ideas. For more flavor ideas, click here to visit our Salts & Seasonings Section.

• Cumin is a seed that is often confused with caraway (which is actually a fruit). The two spices do look quite similar, but cumin tastes hotter, is lighter in color and larger than caraway seeds. It is one of the most popular spices in the world, and is a highlight in the cuisines of Brazil, Cuba, India, the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Chickpeas are a common foodstuff in many of the same regions as cumin. They make frequent appearances in curries and vegetarian dishes. They’re the base of the popular dip, hummos. Chickpeas also make an excellent snack. They are a most nutritious food, thanks to their high levels of dietary fiber and protein and their low level of fat, most of which is polyunsaturated. (They do have lots of carbs.)

Cumin and chickpeas add a new spin to
Shepherd’s Pie. Photo courtesy McCormick.

Add a bit of cumin in your next batch of hummos, too. (Sprinkle some on store-bought hummos.)

And try this recipe for Chickpea Fries. Switch it up and add cumin to the seasoning.