Great Weather for Herbs & Mexican Cooking

Last night I had a dream that the problem with my vegetable garden was that I had planted it in the basement and it wasn’t getting enough sun. I had the brilliant idea to move the plants to a walled garden in a part of the yard I wasn’t using. I’m glad the first part of my dream was totally wrong, but I do wish I had a walled garden for growing vegetables. Today might be the first day we hit 80 degrees this month. I won’t be seeing a red tomato any time soon and, as you can see, it’s giving me nightmares.

On the positive side, my leafy vegetables are still going strong. That includes my herb garden. Some of the Mediterranean herbs wouldn’t mind a little heat, but the annuals, like cilantro, parsley and dill, are thriving. So I’m going to try to stop worrying about my tomatoes and peppers and treat myself to a Mexican Barbeque this weekend. Our Guide to Herb Gardens, Amy Jeanroy, gets the ball rolling with the 6 Best Herbs for Mexican Cooking. Then I turned to our Barbeque Guide, Derrick Riches, for a lesson in the Mexican Grill. I have my mesquite ready to burn, all I need now are some recipes. Derrick starts me off with a Mexican Marinade that can go on just about any type of meat or vegetables. To keep things simple and summery, I also turned to Cooking for Kids Guide, (hey, we’re all kids in the summer), and came away with Stephanie’s easy recipes for Mexican Salsa and Taco Salad. Now I’m good to go. If only I could say the same for my hot peppers.

• 6 Best Herbs For Mexican Cooking
• The Mexican Grill
• Mexican Marinade
• Mexican Salsa
• Taco Salad
• Growing Hot Peppers

Photo: © Marie Iannotti