A friend recently suggested that I write about preserving herbs. A great idea as I am ashamed to admit how many times I’ve purchased a bunch of herbs for one recipe, stashed the remainder in the crisper, and left them there until they became a slimy mess.

I’m usually pretty good with parsley, it’s an easy one. I wash it, chop it up, put it in a ziplock bag and toss it in the freezer for use in recipes as needed. Cilantro is the one that really gets me. I love it but I can never work my way through an entire bunch. It’s not as easy-going as parsley and my technique doesn’t work well with it at all. A little research has indicated that a better route is to freeze it in ice cubes and then use in recipes. Wash and chop the cilantro (one of the beauties of cilantro is that a little stem in the mix won’t cause any harm), portion out into an ice-cube tray, cover with water and freeze. You can use this method of herb preservation with pretty much any herb, think: chives, mint, thyme, dill, oregano, basil, etc.