Herb Blends: Potato Salad and Tomato Soup

My potato salad recipe uses a blend of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. During the summer I can cut them all fresh, but during the other months it is nice to have a dried blend. (It works well in egg salad, too.)

I dry and mix my own herbs at the end of the season. I stem all but some of the tender-stemmed thyme leaves. I place them on parchment on cookie sheets in the sun in our breakfast room for a day or two. Then I sprinkle them with coarse-ground sea salt* and place them in an oven that is warmed to 200 degrees AND TURNED OFF. When they are dried after a few hours (do this again if they are too moist), let them cool and dry more in the open. You may need to chop them coarsely and repeat this step. (Chives, especially, take more time.)

Blend the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme using handfuls - more sage and parsley than thyme and rosemary. You can blend them more fine in a food processor if you'd like. 

*For totally salt-free diets, do not salt.

My tomato soup requires a few more herbs - savory, oregano, dill, marjoram and basil. If your garden is out of some of these, just use them from your spice/herb collection. I always add celery seed to this blend.