Kitchen Tip: Grow your own herbs

No matter what dish you are cooking up for your family, nothing can make it extra delish like fresh herbs. Whether you want to add a pinch of minced rosemary to your pasta sauce or some cilantro to your salsa, herbs add that fresh touch that really takes it up to the next level. Dried herbs work fine in a pinch, but the brightness of fresh herbs like cilantro, thyme or mint can really not be matched. 

Sometimes herbs from the grocery store can be really overpriced and not very fresh looking or flavorful. But when you grow your own, you will have them ready for you when you need a touch of fresh flavor. They are easy to grow in small pots on your own windowsill! 

Herbs absorb a lot of moisture through their leaves, so it is great to fill a misting bottle with filtered or rainwater and use that to mist the herbs daily. When you trim them off, leave a little bit at the bottom and it will re-sprout. By continuously harvesting, you actually stimulate the plant to grow more and your herb plant can keep feeding you and your family for a long time! Just pick your favorite herb and get started. Also, fresh potted herbs look super cute on your windowsill and you and your family will notice the difference in your food!

Indoor Herb Garden, Part 2: Storage

This post is a continuation of an earlier post called, Indoor Herb Garden, More Than We Bargained For. Here is an update of our herb garden:

The gang of pesky little flies that accompanied our herb garden while indoors was too much to take, so we relocated it. It's now in a backyard in the sunniest neighborhood of San Francisco (if such a thing exists!! We finally saw the sun yesterday after a long streak of foggy-and-in-the-50's days.)

The herbs don't seem bothered though. Look how they've grown!

Thyme, basil and parsley... oh my! And the bug problem went away, thankfully.

Great Way to Store Fresh Herbs

Whether we buy herbs from the market or accidentally pick too many from the garden, here's how we like to store our fresh herbs to get the longest life out of them.

Holding the stem ends, rinse the herbs under water to remove any dirt, then shake the bunch gently to remove the bulk of the water. Trim the stem ends a couple of inches, up to where the useful leafy parts begin (just to save space later). Using paper towels (or dish towels), pat each stalk of herbs very dry; be thorough!

Then, lay a couple dry paper towels out, overlapping each other slightly. Arrange the herbs in a single layer with the stem ends along one edge of the towels. Fold the excess towel over the leafy ends of the herbs. 

Starting at one end, roll up the towel-wrapped herbs, and store in a bag or container in the fridge. They should last a week or longer.

Have you been growing your own herbs or other foods this summer? Have any storage tips to share?