Place a frond or two of fresh dill, or any leafy herb on tender stems, in a 2-cup glass measuring cup or a deep, narrow bowl, then snip with your kitchen shears until you have just the texture you need for your recipe.
Spring has sprung and with it all things green, sprouting everywhere we turn, including bright, verdant locally-grown herbs in our farmer’s markets and grocery stores. Fresh dill is one I anticipate eagerly each March, along with fat, fleshy spears of asparagus. Seems like Ma Nature planned to pair them, doesn’t it?
So many ways to enjoy the two together–dill sprinkled over lightly steamed stalks, in salads with raw spears sliced on the diagonal, and my all-time favorite, this sunny asparagus quiche with dill-laced crust.
Some cooks don’t like messing with dill because it’s rather difficult to strip those delicate leaves from the stems. No problem! Fresh tender dill doesn’t need stripping. Pull the fronds whole from the thicker stems. Tuck them into a deep narrow container, like a glass measuring cup, and snip away with your clean kitchen shears. It takes mere seconds to snip a handful.
Snipping dill with the kitchen shears
Snip ultra fine for soups or for pastries like these whole wheat asparagus scones with nettle-wrapped cheese, or leave longer strands for salads and that quiche I mentioned above.
Cheesy asparagus scones
Here you can see tiny strands of this aromatic herb in my quiche crust. They give it just that little extra oomph that makes an Easter or Mother’s Day brunch feel special.
Dill-infused whole wheat quiche crust
This is one of those time-saving tricks that makes cooking from scratch such a pleasure. The color! The scent. The soft textures in your hands. Go ahead. Take a little taste. Cooking with fresh herbs engages all the senses.
Like this tip?
Let me know if this is a new trick for you, or one you’ve been doing since forever, won’t you? What’s cooking in your kitchen today?
YayYay's Kitchen 
I love my kitchen shears for snipping herbs too. It’s so much easier than chopping! I hadn’t thought about doing it inside of a measuring cup. Good thinking!
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Thank you, from my kitchen to yours. 😊
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Great idea! I had previously shredded dill with just my fingers. Cant wait to try this.
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Thanks for mentioning finger shredding. With its tiny leaves, dill is one that finger shredding works well too, tho I prefer to snip. Let me know which you prefer, will you?
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It’ll be some time before we’re picking fresh dill from our garden (still under snow for awhile), but I sure do look forward to the fresh herbs when they do show up!
Snipping in a container is a great idea! Dill, in particular, usually goes flying all over my counter and can be a pain to clean up.
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Yes, those tiny leaflets scatter something awful, don’t they?
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Beautiful pictures and your scones made me hungry! Yum.
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Thank you 😊
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Dill is not my favorite, but I love how you made this week’s photo challenge about food! Lovely photos! Herbs are so pretty as well as delicious and many other things.
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Why, thank you. Food is my thing, for sure. That and social justice, anyway. Thanks for stopping by; so nice to “meet” you.
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Love this post! Beautiful shots.
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Thank you.
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Our dill went crazy and now comes up everywhere. Not yet though. We still have a snow cover and very cold weather.🌬🌬
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Sending sunshine!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge-It-is-Easy-Being-Green – WoollyMuses
Thanks for these great tips, I love fresh dill!!
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My pleasure. : )
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