My Mediterranean Marinade

 

I've enjoyed eating healthy Mediterranean cooking all my life, as I grew up in an Italian-American household in Brooklyn, New York - spoiled by my late mother's fantastic cooking and my late father's freshly grown tomatoes, herbs and veggies.  I learned early on that you can grow a small urban kitchen garden with assorted fresh herbs and tomatoes even if you don't have a lot of room for traditional raised growing beds (just think outdoor pots and planters).

As a long time resident of Atlanta, Georgia and as an adult living in the Southeast for the past several decades (after I became an attorney), I always kept a small kitchen garden growing wherever my husband and I resided.  From our earlier suburban raised beds in the backyard to our current (closer to in-town) smaller plot of garden herbs and potted planters, there is always something growing out in my herb bed especially in the warm sunny summer months. 

Here in the South I have grown, in addition to our traditional summer favorites of cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and cilantro, a few bushes of hardy rosemary, some fragrant oregano, timeless thyme and long lasting sage - just a few of my favorite herbs (which actually survive the Atlanta winter months).  There is always something growing fresh year round to use as a garnish in my favorite pasta or grain recipes and in marinades used prior to grilling our favorite veggies, seafood, lamb, poultry or beef dishes).  And the rosemary bushes also add visual structure to the small kitchen garden, planted around my favorite small cherub fountain (that has survived, minus a few toes, several relocation moves with us over the years).

Try the following fresh herbal marinade recipe (which is very forgiving and easy to make with whatever fresh herbs are available) and use it to season any of your favorite dishes prior to grilling and enjoy the intense flavors the herbs add to almost any dish you make.  A small amount of fresh herbs goes a long way in the marinade so you don't need a lot of them.  And the longer you have to marinade in the refrigerator (from a few hours to overnight) for poultry, lamb or beef before grilling the better. The only exception is with seafood - marinade for only a few minutes before grilling shrimp or any seafood dish (or else the citrus in the marinade starts to "cook" your seafood before you grill which changes its consistency and is not recommended).

LegalEats Herbal Marinade

 

Ingredients

  • Assorted fresh chopped herbs, small handful (such as rosemary, oregano, sage, parsley, basil or cilantro, chives and thyme)
  • Juice of 1 fresh lemon or lime, if preferred (for seafood, poultry, or lamb dishes) or a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (for beef dishes such as flank steak)
  • Extra virgin olive oil, a few tablespoons (just to coat)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (not garlic salt)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning blend
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Directions

  • Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and pour over whatever you are grilling and coat well on both sides. 
  • Cover dish with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator at least an hour. For poultry dishes, lamb chops or flank steak I prefer to marinate a few hours or overnight. 
  • Remove marinated dish from refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature and discard any excess herbs just before grilling.

 

Comments:  We recently grilled some delicious lamb chops that I had marinated a few hours in my Herbal Marinade. They were so flavorful from all the fresh herbs, lemon juice and seasonings used in the marinade. Just allow the grilled meat to rest a few minutes before serving. When grilling veggies, omit the mustard and the citrus juice (or balsamic vinegar), and just coat the veggies well in other seasonings and olive oil prior to grilling. No advance marinating time is needed with veggies.