One of the things I’m frequently asked is to share my shortcuts. I have Fibromyalgia and find that I need to make cooking easier for myself. I also like to buy fresh items when they are on sale but I’m not always ready to use them before they break my heart & go bad. So, I’ll pepper (pun intended ;o) my posts with some of my little tips, tricks & shortcuts.
When fresh basil and/or parsley is on sale, I buy bunches of it. I make it into a slurry that can easily be added to soups, stews, stir frys or whatever else I'm cooking. Here’s what I do…
- Rinse the herbs (you can mix them or do each one separately. I stick ‘em all in together) and dry well.
- Dump the herbs (minus the stems) in a blender or food processer
- Add 3 or 4 garlic cloves (depends on how much you luuuuuvvvv garlic)
- Add a fist-full of parmesean cheese (optional)
- 1/4 tsp of Salt
- 1/8 tsp of Pepper
- Pour in ¼ to ½ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Pulse the ingredients…ummmmm wait, let’s discuss pulsing. Pulsing in a blender or food processor means to hit the power button in short, quick intervals.
- Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program…pulse the ingredients until the herbs & garlic are finely chopped. You may need to drizzle some additional olive oil as you do this depending on how much moisture your herbs have. You’ll know if you need more because the blade will spin, but nothing happens. Don’t overdo the pulsing…you don’t want herb soup.
- Using a tablespoon, spoon mixture into ice cube trays (I have a couple that are dedicated for this purpose) and freeze. When the cubes are frozen, pop them into a zip lock freezer bag & wallah! You have fresh herbs whenever you want them.
These can also be used as a great topping for baking chicken. Just place a cube on top of your chicken pieces (or in the cavity if you’re doing a whole bird) & bake. Delish!!
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