Cooking with fresh herbs can add a whole different level of flavour to your dinners. Unfortunately, in Canada, it’s not as easy to grow herbs in the winter because they’re finicky with light. When this is the case, you probably rely on fresh herbs from your local grocer.

The problem with store bought herbs is that they often go bad before you can even use them all up and there’s nothing worse than having dinner all ready, going to the crisper to snip some parsley from the bunch, and finding a slimy pile of mush – even though you only purchased the herbs a couple of days before (and really, who can go through those huge bunches of parsley in just a few days… except us, but we cater for hundreds of people).

When stored properly, fresh herbs can last up to a week-and-a-half. When you bring the herbs home from the store, rinse them well and lay them on paper towel. Then wrap them loosely in the paper towel, place them in a zip lock bag and store them back in the fridge’s crisper.

If you don’t plan on using the herbs within a week or so, you can also freeze them. To freeze fresh herbs, remove the leaves from the stems, place them in a zip lock bag, spread them out into a single layer and lay them flat in the freezer.

When you’re ready to use the herbs, take them out of the freezer to thaw and use them just like you’d use fresh herbs. Though freezing herbs may make them lose some of their flavour over time, they can be frozen for up to a year.

For more tips to help your maximize your dinners, check out our other blog posts.

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