Herbs: Cooking With Natures Perfect Plants

Herbs are some of the most nutritious and important parts of a healthy diet. It is a known fact that eating a plant heavy diet benefits your health, waistline and helps you to enjoy delicious flavor in all your recipes.

There are many herbs to choose from, all of which offer very low calorie ways to add flavor to you cooking. Cooking with herbs can seem overwhelming.

Learning how to buy, prepare, store and cook with fresh herbs seems like a lot of work, not to mention figuring out what herbs go with which dish.

However, cooking with fresh herbs is not reserved for gourmet chefs.

The following tips and tricks are going to have you elevating your dishes to the next level in no time.

Which Is Better Fresh Or Dried?

For the most part, choosing between fresh and dried herbs is a matter of choice. That being said, there are times when one is better than the other.

Dried herbs have the best flavor when they are added during cooking. This gives enough time for their flavor to infuse into the dish.

A good time to use dried herbs would be in a homemade soup or sauce that is going to be simmering for at least 45 minutes after you add the dried herbs.

If you add the herbs too soon, to when you are going to be serving the dish, the herbs tend to taste dusty.

Fresh herbs are best when they are used at the end of cooking. A good example of this would be adding ribbons of basil to a pizza just before serving it, or using fresh herbs in a sauce if you are not going to be letting it simmer for a long time.

How To Buy Fresh Herbs

If you are going to purchase your herbs from the grocery store, wait until as close to when you are going to be cooking them as possible. Choose bunches of herbs that have a vibrant color and aroma.

If you can’t smell the herb, you aren’t likely going to be able to taste it either. Avoid any herbs that are limp, or have any sort of discoloration.

If you aren’t going to be using your herbs immediately, there are some steps you can take to extend their longevity and flavor.

First, remove any fastening there may be on the herbs. Next cut the root ends off of as they will draw moisture away from the leaves which will cause wilting.

How To Store Fresh Herbs

The next thing you need to do with your herbs is to wrap them in a slightly damp paper towel and put them into a zipper seal bag. Ensure you leave a little bit of air in the bag.

You are going to want to place the herbs in the warmest part of your fridge, which is typically the door, or the top shelf. The shelf life of fresh herbs isn’t very long.

You are going to want to use them as soon as possible. When you take them out to use them, cut away any wilted or discolored leaves before you use them.

Washing Fresh Herbs

Only wash your herbs right before you use them. You don’t want to wash them before you store them in the fridge.

To wash them fill a bowl with cold water and place your herbs inside. Gently swirl them around in the water to remove any dirt that is on the leaves.

Once is usually enough, but if you find there is a lot of sediment at the bottom of your bowl, you can give the herbs another rinse.

Gently pat the herbs dry with a paper towel and you are ready to chop them.

How To Chop Fresh Herbs

The first thing you need to ensure when you are cutting your herbs is to use a sharp blade. You can use a knife, food processor or even scissors, as long as they are sharp.

To maximize the flavor of the herbs you want to cut them as finely as possible.

Chop your herbs right, as you need to put them on the dish to maximize the flavor and aroma you are adding to your dish.

Ensuring You Are Using The Best Quality Dried Herbs

If you are choosing to use dried herbs, you want to ensure you are still adding the best to your dishes. Dried herbs lose their flavor over time.

Buy herbs in smaller quantities to ensure you are able to use them before they have lost their flavor.

It is also a good idea to store your herbs in an air-sealed container to maximize their flavor.

If you open the container and cannot smell the aroma of the herb, there won’t be any flavor left to the herb either.

Cooking with herbs doesn’t need to be confusing. As long you know how to work with them and when to add them to your dish, you can soon be serving dishes to your family that are as flavorful as what you would get in a restaurant.

You can learn more in my online guide here about how to learn healthy cooking for yourself and your family

It only takes a little know how about ingredients and substitutions.

And, creating your meals at home is a good way to cut out a lot of the fat and calories that you would encounter in the same meal at a restaurant or prepackaged in the grocery store.

Here I'll feature helpful resources to show you more ways for how to learn healthy cooking as I come across them.

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