Keeping cut herbs fresh

If you read our shopping post from last Wednesday, you'll know that we struggled to buy fresh herbs anywhere in town so we had to go without until Saturday when we nipped to the market on our way to work.

It was worth the wait as we picked up a huge bunch of flat leaf parsley and some mint too.

They cost us £1.80.  I've done a quick price check with Tesco where a small packet of each would have cost £1.60 so we paid 20p more but I'd say we got at least double the amount.  Result.  But only if they stay fresh long enough for me to use them up.

I normally just buy the supermarket packets and throw them in the fridge where they last a few days before looking very droopy and sad.  But it turns out that there's loads of advice online about different ways to store herbs to get the best from them.  The Huffington Post has 3 suggestions in this article including this piece of advice about storing them like a bouquet of flowers:

If you think about it, fresh herbs are very similar to cut flowers - they need water too.  First you should trim the stems, and then place them in a cup of cold water.  Change the water and trim the stems every 1-2 days for best results.  This little extra effort could mean that your herbs stay fresh for over two weeks.  If working with basil or mint, it's recommended that you keep the herbs at room temperature.  Mint in particular will thrive on the windowsill.  Cilantro and parsley prefer colder temperatures.  It's best to cover the tops of the herbs with a loose plastic bag and refrigerate them.  Keeping them in the door compartment will provide the most optimal temperature, since its the warmest part of the fridge.

(Cilantro = Coriander)

So we've plonked our mint and flat leaf parsley in a jug and we'll see how long they last.  They look pretty if nothing else!

Update:

This morning (Monday), the herbs I bought on Saturday were starting to look a little sad.  We had friends coming to stay for the weekend and I really didn't have time to mess about with them on Saturday so hence the casual 'plonking' in a jug.  I think they really do need a little more tlc so this is what I did with them this morning.

First I took off any sorry looking leaves.  The ones that were touching the water had gone a bit black and discoloured so that's my first tip - make sure that none of the leaves are actually in the water.

Then I trimmed all the ends.

I separated the Parsley and the Mint as I think they'll do better in different containers.

And then I put them both in fresh water - this time just a little in the bottom of the glass/jug.

They're looking much happier again now.

So I decided to make salad for lunch, using some of both the mint and parsley with some rocket (still looking good from last Weds),

plus some tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and griddled Haloumi.  Then some lemon and olive oil dressing.

Now I've just got to wait until lunchtime.  Only an hour to go...!