Freeze Fresh Herbs – Enjoy all year! – Your Health Detective

It’s the end of summer and that means an abundance of fresh herbs in the garden that need plucking or leftover purchased herbs,there’s no need to waste them. By taking the time to freeze them, you can enjoy

their fresh flavors for months. Here are three ways:

Preparation

Herbs with sturdy leaves freeze the best – rosemary, basil, parsley, mint, tarragon, oregano, sage and thyme…click to continue reading…

First, gently rinse the leaves and dry well (a salad spinner works great for this). Pluck the leaves from the stems and chop, or prepare the way you would generally cook with. You probably want to chop leaves like basil, rosemary, mint and tarragon.

HINT: Consider mixing several herbs such as an Italian mix: parsley, oregano and basil OR a poultry mix: sage, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.

Herb Ice Cubes

Freeze herbs with water or broth in an ice-cube tray. Fill each cube about two-thirds full with the herb (s), then fill close to the top with broth or water. After 24 hours, remove the cubes and store in a heavy-duty plastic freezer bag or double bag to avoid freezer burn.

HINT: Consider doing a tray of frozen mint-leaf ice cubes to add color and flavor to drinks.

Rolled Herb Compound Butters

Make your own compound butters with your fresh herbs. Simply mix the chopped herbs into a cube or batch of softened organic butter or coconut oil in a bowl. With clean, wet hands, roll the herb-butter mixture into a cylinder and wrap in parchment paper. Take out of the freezer and slice a piece
off for recipes.

HINT: This is a great way to serve butter in general for bread, vegetables and potatoes, for example.

Herb Oil Cubes

These handy herb-infused oil cubes work great with any recipe calling for oil and herbs. Fill ice-cube tray about two-thirds full with the herbs, then pour oil until cube is almost full. After 24 hours, remove the cubes and store in a heavy plastic freezer bag. Most oils can be used here: olive, grape seed, and coconut.

I love cooking, especially with fresh herbs. I hope this short example of how to extend our summer harvest to the entire year will help encourage you to do the same…Enjoy!