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Some general principles:
Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, basil, oregano (=marjoram), dill, mint - these cover the majority of bases for herbs in cookery. Garlic, paprika, coriander, pepper etc. aren't strictly herbs, but well worth getting the hand of.
Dried herbs and fresh often taste completely different - in particular parsley, chives and basil IMO - in all cases fresh is much stronger, cleaner and less "gritty".
Parsley gives a kind of fresh green flavour to things (crap description, I know, but better than "it tastes like parsley"), and is used a lot in French cookery. It's a milder flavour than most other herbs, and it's *hard* to use too much, so bears a lot of experimenting with.
Basil and oregano give food an "Italian" flavour - they're typically the main herbs in spag. bol. mixes. Oregano = majoram (more or less, M is a slightly milder species of O) Basil is also used in the completely unrelated SE Asian cuisine, it gives a simultaneously spicy and cooling effect to a dish. in this context you want fresh basil stirred in at the very last minute.
Sage is a strong taste you'll know from sage and onion stuffing - useful for taking the edge of fatty stuff and is particularly traditional with pork.
Chives = onion relative - a slightly "sharper" taste than the closest relative, the green bits of spring onions.
Rosemary: Again a strong flavour, and the dried leaves are very hard, so will be quite noticeable in terms of texture. Scatter the dried stuff over the surface of a roast (particularly lamb), use fresh otherwise.
Thyme: Used a lot in French cookery - taste isn't describable in terms of anything else. Good with most meats and vegetables, a good all-rounder.
Tarragon: A very strong flavour, use sparingly - goes well with chicken and mushrooms - I'd be tempted to try it in the mushroom risotto, with a smaller amount of thyme (with which it combines well).
Dill: Useful only with fish, and in truly minute quantities - the dried stuff is unbelievably strong flavoured. No, even stronger than that. Good if used right, but experiment *before* trying on guests.
Mint: Unusual in much European cookery except as mint sauce with lamb. Use the fresh/dried stuff with pepper or chilli for a North African/Moroccan feel to a dish. The coolness of the mint and the heat make a *very* effective combination.
I think Thai sweet basil is a bit different to western basil. Lemon-grass and kaffir lime leaves probably count as herbs, and are used in Thai cookery too.
I'd take issue with the difficulty of using too much parsley - especially some of the stronger curley-leaf varieties can easily overwhelm, well, anything really.
The only major European herb I can think of that you missed is bay (for the list, thow whole or corsely crushed leaves into meat stews for flavour, goes well with thyme).
*nod* Kaffir lime leaves really make a Thai curry IME. They're the smell I recognise from the thai food I actually ate in Thailand :)
My one piece of advice about lemon grass is to treat it like cinnamon sticks; use it whole and take it out again after cooking. It's way too fibrous to be edible. I once had some chicken and lemon grass soup which I eventually ended up sieving to get the lemon grass out, and it left something resembling coconut matting in the sieve..
On the subject of spices rather than herbs, nutmeg is often overlooked as an accompaniment to savoury dishes; it's good for adding interest to things with a slightly bitter flavour. I find savoy cabbage fried in olive oil with a bit of black pepper and some nutmeg is lovely. It also livens up spinach a touch. Worth getting whole nutmegs and a grater though, it loses its flavour when ground.
Cinnamon is also a wonderful addition to Moroccan-style dishes; sweet-spicy is another very Middle Eastern combination.
Cumin and ground coriander (which is made from the seed and tastes nothing like fresh coriander leaves at all) are the Gruesome Twosome of both Mexican and Indian cookery; use in much greater moderation in a chilli con carne but they do round out the flavour. Cumin is much stronger than coriander and should be used sparingly; a teaspoon in a chilli for three, for example. An excellent burger recipe crazyscot uses involves mince, grated onion, an egg, half a teaspoon or so of cumin and some coriander - the burgers come out very slightly curryish and are gorgeous :)
Ginger is another one that tastes radically different fresh to dried and ground. Fresh ginger is very fresh-tasting and is wonderful in many many things, especially curry, stirfry or Thai; ginger, fresh coriander and lime makes a good marinade for chicken or tuna. Dried ginger is a sweeter taste and good mainly for curries, baking, Moroccan food or mulled whatever.
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http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/
Some general principles:
Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives, basil, oregano (=marjoram), dill, mint - these cover the majority of bases for herbs in cookery. Garlic, paprika, coriander, pepper etc. aren't strictly herbs, but well worth getting the hand of.
Dried herbs and fresh often taste completely different - in particular parsley, chives and basil IMO - in all cases fresh is much stronger, cleaner and less "gritty".
Parsley gives a kind of fresh green flavour to things (crap description, I know, but better than "it tastes like parsley"), and is used a lot in French cookery. It's a milder flavour than most other herbs, and it's *hard* to use too much, so bears a lot of experimenting with.
Basil and oregano give food an "Italian" flavour - they're typically the main herbs in spag. bol. mixes. Oregano = majoram (more or less, M is a slightly milder species of O)
Basil is also used in the completely unrelated SE Asian cuisine, it gives a simultaneously spicy and cooling effect to a dish. in this context you want fresh basil stirred in at the very last minute.
Sage is a strong taste you'll know from sage and onion stuffing - useful for taking the edge of fatty stuff and is particularly traditional with pork.
Chives = onion relative - a slightly "sharper" taste than the closest relative, the green bits of spring onions.
Rosemary: Again a strong flavour, and the dried leaves are very hard, so will be quite noticeable in terms of texture. Scatter the dried stuff over the surface of a roast (particularly lamb), use fresh otherwise.
Thyme: Used a lot in French cookery - taste isn't describable in terms of anything else. Good with most meats and vegetables, a good all-rounder.
Tarragon: A very strong flavour, use sparingly - goes well with chicken and mushrooms - I'd be tempted to try it in the mushroom risotto, with a smaller amount of thyme (with which it combines well).
Dill: Useful only with fish, and in truly minute quantities - the dried stuff is unbelievably strong flavoured. No, even stronger than that. Good if used right, but experiment *before* trying on guests.
Mint: Unusual in much European cookery except as mint sauce with lamb. Use the fresh/dried stuff with pepper or chilli for a North African/Moroccan feel to a dish. The coolness of the mint and the heat make a *very* effective combination.
I think Thai sweet basil is a bit different to western basil. Lemon-grass and kaffir lime leaves probably count as herbs, and are used in Thai cookery too.
I'd take issue with the difficulty of using too much parsley - especially some of the stronger curley-leaf varieties can easily overwhelm, well, anything really.
The only major European herb I can think of that you missed is bay (for the list, thow whole or corsely crushed leaves into meat stews for flavour, goes well with thyme).
My one piece of advice about lemon grass is to treat it like cinnamon sticks; use it whole and take it out again after cooking. It's way too fibrous to be edible. I once had some chicken and lemon grass soup which I eventually ended up sieving to get the lemon grass out, and it left something resembling coconut matting in the sieve..
On the subject of spices rather than herbs, nutmeg is often overlooked as an accompaniment to savoury dishes; it's good for adding interest to things with a slightly bitter flavour. I find savoy cabbage fried in olive oil with a bit of black pepper and some nutmeg is lovely. It also livens up spinach a touch. Worth getting whole nutmegs and a grater though, it loses its flavour when ground.
Cinnamon is also a wonderful addition to Moroccan-style dishes; sweet-spicy is another very Middle Eastern combination.
Cumin and ground coriander (which is made from the seed and tastes nothing like fresh coriander leaves at all) are the Gruesome Twosome of both Mexican and Indian cookery; use in much greater moderation in a chilli con carne but they do round out the flavour. Cumin is much stronger than coriander and should be used sparingly; a teaspoon in a chilli for three, for example. An excellent burger recipe
Ginger is another one that tastes radically different fresh to dried and ground. Fresh ginger is very fresh-tasting and is wonderful in many many things, especially curry, stirfry or Thai; ginger, fresh coriander and lime makes a good marinade for chicken or tuna. Dried ginger is a sweeter taste and good mainly for curries, baking, Moroccan food or mulled whatever.