Aromatic Herbs: Proper Washing and Storage

Parsley, celery, dill, basil, bay leaf, mint, thyme, oregano, tarragon, and rosemary are some of the most well-known aromatic herbs.

Of the above, parsley, dill, and celery are the ones I use most in my cooking, which is why I always want to have them in my fridge.

How to wash aromatic herbs

First, we clean the bunch from leaves and stems that are wilted, as well as from any other herbs or large pieces of soil.

We separate the large bunch into smaller ones and rinse them with plenty of running water. We gently wash the areas near the roots with our hands, where more soil collects.

Next, we fill a large bowl with water and submerge the herbs. We gently shake them with our hand and remove them. We repeat the same process one more time.

The third time we submerge the herbs in water, we add cooking vinegar, with an acidity of 8%-10%, just like we do when washing lettuce. The ratio is three to one, meaning three parts water and one part vinegar.

We leave the herbs in the water with vinegar for only ten minutes, so they do not lose their valuable nutrients.

Finally, we remove our aromatic herbs from the bowl and let them dry on absorbent kitchen paper.

When we buy a bunch of dill, parsley, or celery, we usually use half of it in our cooking and the rest goes bad and we throw it away.

To avoid this, the solution is to store them in the freezer in special food bags.

After washing our herbs very carefully and then drying them, we divide them into small bunches.

We write the storage date on each bag, although I don't think they will stay in the freezer for so long.

This way, we save money, as we don't throw away food and we cook faster, as we have ready-to-use finely chopped herbs.

At the same time, we have all the aromatic herbs we need to give wonderful flavor, unique aroma, and nice color to our culinary creations!

Just imagine... How would stuffed vegetables be without parsley, bean stew without celery, or spinach rice without dill?