Everything tastes better with fresh herbs, but they are pricey and have a short life span. Not anymore! I'm going to give you little tips to help you preserve your favorite herbs fresh and enjoy them longer than just one meal or two.
Don't worry because, these tips do not involve gardening!
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Prepare them: As soon as you bring the herbs home, you should wash them, dry them completely and wrap them in a paper towel. Place the completely dried herbs in a zipper bag and make sure you'll get all the air out of it. This method will prolong the life of your herb for days.
Dry them: With this trick you can enjoy the aromatic flavor of fresh herbs during the winter days. Herbs like basil, thyme and oregano, dry easily. Wash them after you buy them and hang them upside down. In a week the leaves will be completely dry and you'll be able to put them in a bag and freeze them.
Salt them: Basil and mint can be salted to last longer. All you have to do is break the leaves off the stem, put them in a bag and add a lot kosher or coarse salt. Store them in a cool and ventilated place and they will last about a month. When you'll need them all you have to do is shake the salt off.
Herbs cubes: You are going to love this method! Simply chop your favorite herbs very finely and place them in an ice cube tray. Put a little bit of water and put the tray in the freezer. You'll have these cubes handy whenever you are cooking to add that extra "secret ingredient" flavor to your dish!
Make a butter: Take a bunch of your favorite herb, chop it finely and mix it with a little butter at room temperature. Make sure that the amount of leaves exceeds the amount of butter because we want to preserve their flavor. After that, place the mixture inside a plastic wrap and freeze it. You'll be able to use this herbs flavored butter all year round.
Very easy, right!? Now you can enjoy the fresh taste of herbs every month of the year and say goodbye to the dry substitutes. ¡Buen provecho!
Image via Corbis
