What We’re Cooking With Now: Rosemary

By Chris Cox, executive chef, Café Phipps

Looking for adventure in the kitchen? Our monthly What We're Cooking with Now post features a fresh produce ingredient, explains how to find the market's finest, and includes a recipe to try at home.

Rosemary

Why: Rosemary is high in antioxidants, is great at fighting free radicals, and has a great aroma and distinct flavor. Rosemary is a very hardy plant and is easy to grow on a windowsill making it a very popular cooking herb that anyone can grow at home. A member of the mint family, its strong scent is a deterrent to pests and is often used in aromatherapy as well as being used homeopathically to treat various conditions. 

Shopping Tip: Buy rosemary when the stem and leaves are firm, fresh and the leaves are a rich green color. Browning or wilted leaves should be avoided. 

Preparation: To preserve most of the healthy nutrients in Rosemary, don’t heat it up too much. It is best consumed in a raw state to maintain most of its flavor and oil as either as a garnish or as an added herb. The leaves pull from the stem very easily and can be used either whole or finely minced and added to quiches, oils, soups, sauces, roasted nuts, potatoes, or on top of toasted bread.

Recipe: Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 pounds of organic red skin potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary leaves, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the red potatoes in half, and then in half again. Toss the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay them out in a single layer on a baking tray.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then stir the potatoes, and bake again for another 10 minutes.

When the potatoes come out of the oven, sprinkle the rosemary leaves over the potatoes while they are still warm and serve immediately.