Herbs are magic. They have the ability to take that plain chicken you made last night and transform it into a three star meal. It should be a crime to cook without herbs. But alas some people do that anyway, most likely because they buy herbs and let them go bad. On behalf of the mint leaves, thyme, and basil in your fridge, here is an easy way to store your favorite herbs for a longer life.
Total time: 15 minutes
Serving: 16 ice cubes
Ingredients:
Herbs of your choosing
Water
Ice cube tray
1. Prepare the herbs that you have chosen to store. Roughly chop or thinly slice the herbs. Here, I’ve chosen thyme, rosemary, and mint leaves.
Photo by Rebeka Alvarez-Heck
2. Place the herbs into the ice cube tray individually. There is room for variation here. For instance, you could combine herbs in one basin or fill each basin with a different herb.
Photo by Rebeka Alvarez-Heck
3. After your herbs are safely placed in the tray, pour enough water over the herbs to fill the tray.
4. Place the ice cube tray in the freezer and in about 15 minutes, you should have frozen cubes of herbs.
One way to use the cubes would be to take out the cube and let the ice melt, the strain the herb. If you were making a soup or saute of some sort you could throw the cube right into the pan and let the ice melt and evaporate away leaving only the desired taste of your herb. Mint leaves cubes could also be used in mint juleps for extra frostiness and flavor.