Recommendations Requested: Entrees/Side Dishes Showcasing Fresh Herbs

[jjhunter]

I'm trying to figure out my menu for a small dinner party I'm hosting tomorrow (7 people total), where two of the guests will be showing up late. If I'm planning on serving a light appetizer of basil, mozzarella, and tomato on thinly sliced + toasted french bread while we wait, and peach-blueberry crumble for desert, what kinds of dishes would people recommend for the actual dinner? Keep in mind that a.) the weather will be warm, b.) all my guests are omnivores (i.e. eat meat & have no dietary restrictions), and c.) I'd like to showcase the lovely fresh herbs I have growing on the back porch (mint, thyme, basil, rosemary). Also, I have access to good produce & other ingredients at the local grocery store.


(Help me, obi-boilingwater-kenobi!)

ETA: Okay, I'm all set for my menu - thank you all for your various suggestions! The ones I'm not using tonight I plan on trying out in the next two weeks or so.

Comments

[kaberett]

Basil goes nicely in peach crumble! :-)

Now I am going to chuck out a bunch of ideas - can give more detail on any of them!

Minted halloumi, fresh mint sauce for lamb (cut mint leaves finely and immerse in hot water with a little bit of sugar and lemon juice), minted peas and minted jewelled couscous are all amazing.

Rosemary & thyme roast veg (aubergine, squash, courgette, peppers) that can be eaten cold with good bread and pesto, maybe?

Rosemary & thyme honey-bread is AMAZING if you are up to making bread from scratch.

Rosemary roast potatoes are the best thing ever - I will happily eat them FOREVER - and go really nicely with quiche, which could easily feature the thyme along with maybe red onion and goats' cheese; no reason a quiche couldn't be flavoured with rosemary, though.

I can probably come up with more ;)

[jjhunter]

Oo, intriguing ideas; thank you for sharing them! If you think of more...yes please! ;o)

(Anything I don't do tomorrow I can always try another time. I have a LOT of basil & rosemary in particular.)

[kaberett]

OH RIGHT I was also going to point out that exciting home-made pesto is also a possible option! :-)