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Do you grow any herbs or microgreens to add to your dishes? If so, which ones have you found are the easiest to grow (either in pots or an outdoor garden)?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on December 12, 2023

Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Nolan is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Sally Rudebeck

Do you grow any herbs or microgreens to add to your dishes? If so, which ones have you found are the easiest to grow (either in pots or an outdoor garden)?

Answer

Well, um, I have an arrow garden that I'm gonna start to fill in a little bit. And, uh, if, uh, chef f Costigan we're, we're here one year, I gave her a gigantic flat of lettuce that I started in my aero garden, and then I transferred it to my own garden, and they were the most beautiful heads of lettuce. Mint is the easiest thing to grow. It will grow anywhere, anytime of the year. So, mint, rosemary, any kind of parsley are my absolute favorites, as well as thyme and tarragon. So those are my five go-tos that I like the best. Um, recently I found some fresh oregano plants, and the freshness from leafy fresh oregano into a dish makes your, your pasta dish or your sauce, or your soup tastes absolutely spectacular. So you might have to adjust the quantities a little bit. I find if you're using fresh herbs, uh, you don't need to use, uh, whatever a recipe or your instincts tell you to use in terms of those spices. So those are my five, but I love rosemary and it grows really well here all year long. Um, uh, this is, uh, I think we did Ingrid's question already, um, about the brown rice.

Char Nolan

Chef Instructor

Char Nolan is a serious crusader for plant-based education, armed with a degree in public health from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She teaches nutrition and plant-based cooking throughout Philadelphia, and in many underserved communities. Char holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and completed Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification course in 2015. In 2019, Char completed post-graduate course work in social media marketing at the University of the Arts. When she is not cooking or teaching, she manages social media accounts for several plant-based influencers. Char prides herself on learning everything she knows about cooking from growing up in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant. Her favorite vegetables are Brussels sprouts and kale, of course. Char originally hails from Queens, NY, but has lived in Philadelphia most of her adult life. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer.