DILLICIOUS

For years even the scent of dill made me nervous. It reminded me too much of visits to my Polish grandparents where it was a mainstay in the indeterminable soups and the key ingredient of the jars of unintelligible pickles. It used to float in the pan of melted butter that seemed forever on the stove waiting to ‘flavour’ the piles of potatoes and pierogi we were lovingly forced to eat. But age and nostalgia now makes me a huge fan of this delicate fragrant herb and I’ll take any excuse to swirl it into crème fraiche with a squeeze of lemon to accompany salmon. Last night I took a tip from Jamie Oliver (my culinary messiah) and made a Greek salad using dill instead of my go-to basil. I roughly chopped tomato, cucumber, slivers of red onion and kalamata olives, then drizzled over olive oil and red wine vinegar. I chopped bunches of fresh dill and mint, scattered them through and turned the salad with my hands so the dressing lightly covered everything. I finished it with a wedge of organic feta and a traditional scattering of dried oregano, and served alongside griddled chicken breasts (which had marinated in lemon, oil and garlic). Simple, pretty healthy and dillicious!