herbs are important

We went to Evergreen Home & Garden Center today in the hopes of finding some locally sourced fruit trees but were disappointed in the selection and instead came home with some potted herbs that will go in the potager garden once I get it weeded. I got (from back to front in the top image) thyme, sage, (the basil I mentioned yesterday from Wal-Mart), lavender, lemon grass, dill, and more basil.

Then I made some bomb beef basil stir-fry. I reluctantly pruned the new purple basil (everything I've read has said to relentlessly prune that shit back for big, bushy basil plants) and used the sacrificed leaves in the aforementioned dish.

In a nutshell:

- beef, thinly sliced
- whatever veggies you want, diced/sliced (I used carrots, sweet onion and broccoli)
- basil, sliced all thin-like
- sesame oil
- soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and garlic (and some sort of habanero sauce if you're not a wimp)
- fluffy, aromatic Jasmine rice
- slivered almonds and sesame seeds, to garnish

Start cooking your rice in a rice cooker. Whisk together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic and your spicy stuff of choice. Heat oil over medium heat, throw in onion and carrots, let soften, then increase heat to high, throw in beef, saute until done medium, throw in broccoli, cover, let steam briefly, then add sauce. Let simmer, uncovered, until sauce is as thick as you want it. Add basil at the last minute. Serve over rice and garnish with almonds and sesame seeds.

Leftovers? No. There was nothing left.