Glad you could join us, parsley

So, happily all the herbs came up a few days ago. As usual, the basil is showing off. The thyme in my last garden wilted and had a quick demise, but happily this go-around the thymes they are a-changing. Sages (another crop I haven't have much luck with lately) look good. 

And the one I was worrying about most, the cilantro, not only grew, if you look at the picture clearly you'll see that the smooth edges of the first leaf are already starting to get their "cilantro" characteristics! 

The one holdout this whole time has been the parsley. I was about to call Aerogarden to ask for a replacement. But lo and behold, this little guy just sprang up yesterday. 

So we're looking good. All present and accounted for! 

Speaking of parsley, remember that I replanted my parsley plant from the last Aerogarden and made it into a houseplant? Well, happily, that's been growing like crazy too. So much so that I had to scramble to find some good parsley recipes. Here's just one half of the harvest from the plant: 

So, Lisa and I decided to have two cooking nights. We searched AllRecipes.com for recipes that used lots and lots of parsley. The first one was baked Dijon Salmon. First step was mixing the dry ingredients and the four teaspoons of chopped parsley. Lisa bought panko bread crumbs, which I wasn't sure would work. Turns out it was the best decision ever. 

Second step was slathering the salmon with a honey mustard coating and then sprinking on the coating. 

Now for the cruel part--I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! The fish looked and smelled so good that I just devoured it (by the time I remembered I was supposed to take a picture, there were about two bites left). But fear not, I'll be taking a trip to Seattle sometime in the next few months, and I promise I'll make this same recipe with some salmon I'm bringing home from there :P

For our second recipe, we cooked oven fried parmesan chicken. First step was chopping the par-sa-ley:

Then mixing it together with a delightful mixture that included, among other things, freshly grated parmesian cheese and panko bread crumbs.

Dip the chicken in a garlic butter mixture, and coat with the dry ingredients and bake. 

This time I did manage to take a picture of the finished product. Once again, it tasted just phenomenal. The chicken was juicy and not heavy like deep-fried chicken, and the taste and crunch were amazing. I even helped myself to some of the salty greasy bits on the bottom of the pan (admit it, you do that too). 

The parsley plant was decimated, of course, after two days of cooking with so much parsley. But I'm still putting it under the single grow light of my third Aerogarden, and after only a few days a few stalks have popped up again. It's really cool not to have to buy those little plastic package of herbs at the supermarket. I just wish I could have endless supplies of other things, like milk (wouldn't it be cool if they were working on the AeroCow next?)