One of my favorite things about spring is planting new plants, flowers, and herbs. There is just something wonderful about kneading your hands in soil and getting all the dirt in your nails. It's definitely a nice break from the concrete jungle. So, I recently went to Home Depot in search of some inspiration, and decided to add some herbs to my patio garden. I picked up rosemary, sage, and lemon thyme, three of my favorites. I use these in practically everything, just to add a touch of flavor. Here's one of my favorite new recipes that I saw in a Weight Watchers magazine:

6 chicken breasts (I use the frozen boneless,skinless, individually wrapped ones from costco)
1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar (I use Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
Salt to taste
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon garlic (either fresh and thinly sliced or the minced-in-a-jar kind)

1. Preheat the over to 400 degrees.
2. Mix the rosemary, garlic, oil, lemon zest, salt, and crushed red pepper in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
3. Place the chicken on a 9X13 inch baking dish (I use a nice white bake and serve dish so I eliminate one added step of moving the chicken to a serving platter). Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Drizzle the vinegar over the chicken. Bake, unocvered, until the chicken is slightly browned on the outside and cooked through the inside (about 10 minutes).

This is a really easy recipe that takes about 10 minutes to prepare and leaves you with time to do other things while it is baking.

My Favorite Salt

When I was studying abroad in Spain in college, my parents and I went over to Mallorca for the weekend. We stopped at the La Residencia Hotel in Deia for lunch (by the way, the best lunch I've ever had...but that's for another post) and the waiter brought over bread, olive oil, and this wonderful sea salt, Flor de Sal Hibiscus, to accompany it. This fuscia-colored salt had such a wonderful taste and hibiscus aroma that we bought a few cans to take home with us. In the years since, I have been rationing it off, literally sprinkle by sprinkle, thinking it would be impossible to find once I had gone through my supply. Well, a few months ago, my mom stumbled upon it while exploring the Surfas Restaurant Supply Store in Culver City. If you can't make it to Culver City, it's available on the web, on sites like Amazon. So, no more rationing for me!! I would absolutely reccommend this to add to your kitchen collection.

P.S. 5 years later, the salt smells just as strongly of hibiscus (in a good way) as it did when we first bought it.