How to grow dill

Gardeners love well-behaved ‘volunteers,’ …this one has downright personality!

This dill seeded itself next to the potted mother plant, stashed there during Fall patio cleanup. When Tractor Man isn’t tractoring, he sits facing this west-facing window as he works and has noticed that the wispy feathery leaves have been growing up and up, as if to look in at him!  Soon, he’ll not need curtains to block the setting sun.  They don’t call it ‘weed’ for nothing.

A Dilly of a tale!

• Dill is easy to grow in most every garden and it reseeds enthusiastically.
• You can plant it along with cucumbers but not next to tomatoes for some reason.
• Deer don’t bother it and it can grow in containers just fine.
• To harvest it fresh, take the side fronds, about an 8″ piece yields about a tablespoon of chopped dill for cooking.

Some dill to cook with and some to dry

Harvesting dill

Cut off the smaller fronds and discard the stems, spread it out in a shallow tray or cardboard box. Cardboard is so dry that it absorbs moisture and dries the herbs quickly. Cover it with cheesecloth and leave it outside in the shade. When it feels absolutely dry you can crumble it up and keep in a small jar.

So what can I do with my dizzying deluge of dill? Besides drying some for later use, here are two (or more) things:

Oven Cajun-dill Salmon with Brown rice

This is my salmon and tartar sauce recipe and Alton Brown’s oven brown rice, the easiest, most reliable way ever to cook brown rice! You can also add seasonings like a dry soup mix of your choice.

Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups brown rice
1 T butter
1 t salt or seasoned salt
2 1/2 cups boiling water
Cover and bake at 375 for 1 hour
Salmon
Lay salmon pieces in a glass pan
Sprinkle with dried or fresh dill and Cajun seasoning
No oil or water needed
Put in the oven 20 minutes before the rice is done to serve them together.
Tartar sauce
mayonnaise
relish to taste
dill to taste

Cheddar-dill Beer Bread

This is what I made last night to serve with roast chicken and a green salad.

Easy Cheddar-dill Bread

While looking for dill recipes, I found this one from Alton Brown, a great cook. This bread turned out nice and soft, was fast to make, tasted great warm and was a nice savory bread that cut easily for sandwiches. I’m impressed!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
12 ounces cold beer, ale or stout (I used Fat Tire ale)
1 to 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, optional

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the inside of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick spray and set aside.
Whisk together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and dill in a large mixing bowl. Add in the cheese and stir in the beer just to combine. Spread the batter, which will form into a ball, evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the sunflower seeds, if using. (I moistened the top with beaten egg and we didn’t have sunflower seeds, I used chopped walnuts

Additional things to add:
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, or
1 teaspoon dried oregano, or
1 teaspoon dried thyme, and 2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, 1/2 cup chopped scallions

Rosemary-Feta
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary and 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Italian
1 teaspoon each dried basil and oregano
2 minced cloves of garlic, and 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Cheddar-Dill Beer Bread

Recipe

Cheddar-Dill Beer Bread, lunch for Tractor Man

OK, so looking for more dill recipes…

Potato salad
Cucumber, dill and onion salad
Sliced green onions, diced celery, carrot, and cucumbers, maybe some cubed chicken, and finely chopped dill
Chicken, veggies and rice with dill
Snipped dill in scrambled eggs
Dill ricotta cheesy spread/crepe filling
Herbed gnocchi with dill and Pecorino
Ooooh, dill “pesto”, with olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice stuffed under the skin of a roast chicken

More recipes with dill:

Dill Cream Sauce
For veggies, chicken or fish
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1-2 T chopped fresh dill
Melt butter, remove from heat; add flour and mix until smooth. Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper.

Tuna-Dill Pasta Salad

I recreated this recipe long ago from Take Ten, a sandwich shop near my work. It sounds like a lot of dill, but in this it’s great. Season to your taste and add until it’s right for you.

1 Package small shell macaroni
2 green peppers chopped to 1/2 inch size
1 can tuna (in water)
2-4 T fresh chopped or dried dill weed
1 t Garlic Salt
½ cup Mayonnaise (sometimes you need more)

Boil the pasta, drain. Pour into a big mixing bowl; add the green peppers, dill and tuna. Add Mayo….stir and refrigerate. Soooo good, especially in summer.

***

Update:

By the end of May, I have harvested most of the dill fronds and the seed heads, about 6-7 inches across are still on the plant, which has continued to grow.

Dill seed heads

Harvested dill, enough for a whole lotta salmon

More on easy edibles:

10 Flea Market Seed-Starting Tips

My galvanized wash tub garden

My green onion farm

A culinary herb basket

Galvanized tomato garden for one

Grow the 7 most profitable vegetables in your garden