Heather says:
If you have a wilting bunch of cilantro or parsley you can perk it back up by cutting 1/2″ off the stems and placing the bunch in a glass of water, just like a bouquet of flowers. Place the glass in the fridge and please, try not to knock it over.
Alternately, you can process the cilantro or parsley in a food processor with a small amount of olive or vegetable oil and spoon the paste into an ice cube tray. Once frozen pop the cubes out and into a freezer bag for storage. These cubes are great for adding to soups, sauces, and marinades where the herbs’ appearance is not an issue.
CJ, do you blanche /microwave it with water right??? and how do you know how long to zing it for?
A tip to go along with Keter’s suggestion (GREAT suggestion BTW!)
would be to microwave the veggies for a few minutes to blanch them to stop the enzyme process before freezing in water of stock.
“About the cilantro and parsley, I’m currently experimenting with a tip I read somewhere: wash your excess fresh parsley and dry, then chop, and store in the freezer in something air tight.”
Judith-
It works well with parsley but not cilantro. Cilantro turns to mush.
You can chop the cilantro, then bag it with a little olive oil or water to cover. It will still be mushy but the is fine in sauces or soups.
At least that’s been my experience. Anyone else?
Keter,
God bless you! What a great idea! Sometimes my menu plans go awry (LOL) and I have all these veggies languishing in their drawer. This is a great solution!
About the cilantro and parsley, I’m currently experimenting with a tip I read somewhere: wash your excess fresh parsley and dry, then chop, and store in the freezer in something air tight. It’s supposed to produce near-to-fresh tasting parsley when used later in soups, etc. Has anyone else tried this?
You can do the water glass thing with celery, too. Root veggies drying out? Soak in the sink for a couple of hours and dry thoroughly before putting away again. If I find veggies on sale I buy a bunch of ’em and chop up what I can’t use in a reasonable time frame, pack tightly in plastic containers, fill the containers to the top with filtered water or homemade stock, and freeze. I use these as a fast start on soups and skillet dinners.
Don’t forget to loosly drap a plastic bag over the leaves to help retain moisture.
OH, I’m so glad you posted this. I was trying to think about how to preserve Cilantro in the freezer, last night. I didn’t think of oil (probably because I haven’t slept like a normal person, all week.
Thank you!
I love this blog! It’s amazing how numbed you become to reading not useful things, and then you find something that actually is!