Fragrant fresh herbs are at their peak in the summer months. With such abundance at farmers’ markets and in home kitchen gardens, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the bounty of green. Your first impulse might be to use one herb at a time to let it shine, as in a bright green batch of basil pesto. There’s nothing wrong with that—I love a simple pesto, too—but it’s a bit predictable.

After many years of tending a large kitchen garden, my solution to seasonal herb overload is to cook with multiple herbs in the same dish. There are three combinations that I’ve come to rely on the most for my summer cooking, and each one is a trio: basil+mint+cilantro, tarragon+parsley+chives, and rosemary+sage+thyme.

Not only does this combo approach help to use up the bounty, but it also lets me create entirely new flavors. If you were to blind-taste any of these trios, you’d sense a definite familiarity of flavor, but one you can’t quite put your finger on. Inspired by my first experience enjoying Vietnamese summer rolls, the trio of basil, mint, and cilantro creates a synergy of flavors that makes it easy to apply an Asian flair to any dish. Tarragon, parsley, and chives form a combination that appeals to my appreciation of French cuisine. And I particularly love the trio of rosemary, sage, and thyme, because the herbs are each so aromatic and intense. I think of this blend whenever I want a Mediterranean accent.

Below, I’ll show you how to take maximum advantage of these herb trios in six different recipes, plus lots of ideas for you to run with on your own. Read on to learn more.