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The gargantuan size of bunches of fresh herbs can be off-putting and fear that you'll let them go to waste can prevent you from buying them at all. But don't shy away — fresh herbs can transform meals. Here's how I handle big bunches of parsley, cilantro and dill in an easy manner so none goes to waste.
Clean the whole bunch under warm water and dry in a salad spinner, or pat or air dry.
Pick all the big healthy leaves off for use.
Put the stems with remains in a freezer bag for later use when making soup stock. (I'll tell you about my soup stock in the next newsletter.)
Save what you will use in the next week, in a plastic storage bag with a wet paper towel.
Store what is left by placing it loosely in a large plastic freezer bag.  Use it anytime in the next 2 or 3 months in any recipe that calls for fresh herbs. The frozen will not pack quite as much punch as fresh – but they will be much more pungent than their dried counterparts.
Here is my favorite pico-de-gallo recipe featuring fresh cilantro.
Pico-de-Gallo
Serving Size : -1
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12 each roma tomatoes (about 8 ounces), blanched, — peeled, and diced
1/2 each red onion, minced
1 each jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
2 cloves garlic clove, crushed
1 each lime, juiced
1 Tbs olive oil
4 Tbs cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients except tomatoes and chop in a food processor.
Finely chop tomatoes by hand and stir in with the rest of the ingredients.
Possible adjustments: Substitute more mild pepper for jalapeno. Omit olive oil. Increase the cilantro and lime. When good fresh tomatoes aren't available, use a can of diced tomatoes.
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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
Calories: 576; Calories From Fat: 160
Total Fat: 18.3g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 2449.2mg
Potassium: 5353.5mg
Carbohydrates: 102.3g
Fiber: 30.4g
Sugar: 58.5g
Protein: 21.4g
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Sandra:
This herb hint is brilliant! No more yucky herb mess in the bottom of my fridge drawer. I’d never thought about freezing, OR freezing the stems separately to use in stock. Lovely ideas.
It will be so much more pleasant to look down in that drawer without squinting, or holding my nose!!
Has anyone tried those (soilless? waterless?) inside gardens for herbs?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
They’re soil-less, apparently.
I think Aerogarden is the one I’ve seen advertised on tv.
I love the idea of using the stems for stock, but since I nearly always use ALL my fresh herbs, I cannot really imagine any being left over to freeze!
That is a superb tip. I’ve been chopping extra onion and celeray and putting into the freezer for some time now, but I never thought of doing it for fresh herbs. Using the stems for soup is also a great idea that will save me from wasting so much.