What to Do with Leftover Herbs
I have a real problem with leftovers. If they’re contained and refrigerated for more than a night… I am generally more than pleased to forget they’ve ever existed. Actually… I should say that I do have patience for sexy leftovers. Sexy leftovers I’m inclined to, not only not forget about, but to wake up in the middle of the night to snack on.
Sexy leftover include pizza, lasagna, and basically anything else Garfield that Cat might consume in excess.
Beyond the weird amounts of brown rice and salsa I have lazing around in my fridge, I sometimes have a shameful amount of fresh herbs wilting away, asking for forgiveness and such. I feel so guilty wasting these herbs that I’ve taken a stand, put my foot down, and busted out my olive oil.
We’re quick preserving fresh herbs and garlic in olive oil. This will create a wonderfully flavorful oil, and extend the life of the herb we’re about to throw away.
I should note, this is not the kind of oil you make, put in a fancy jar, and let sit on the counter for months on end. Oh no oh no oh no. This is not that! This oil needs to be kept in the refrigerator to keep any weird bacteria from acting up.
What will you flavor your oil with? Have any thyme or rosemary on hand? Some garlic? Smash it! Some black pepper? Crack it!
For this infused oil, I used my very favorite everyday olive from California Olive Ranch. It’s fragrant and flavorful. It’s a fruity olive oil, which is to say that it’s rich, buttery and grassy. I use this olive oil for both sauteing and drizzling. It feels like an everyday treat. Ps… No one is paying me to say this.
Allow oil to meld in the fridge for a day or so. The oil will last up to four or five days. In the meantime… use it on absolutely everything! Pasta, eggs, toast, as a pre-dinner bread dip. Whatever you fancy!
If you’ve got butter on hand instead of olive oil, you might try this Super Herb Butter.
The Kitchn has some super great suggestions: leftover herbs in Simple Syrup and leftover herbs in Olive Oil Ice Cubes.
Waste not, want not…. and whatnot.
Thyme and Garlic Olive Oil
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed and skins removed
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, rubbed from their stems and coarsely chopped
about 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients together and store in a small, airtight container. Be sure to store this oil in the refrigerator when you’re not using it. Use it on everything from fried eggs, to pizza, pasta, and toast. I find it best to label and date the jar. Oil will last up to 5 days in the fridge. After five days in the fridge the oil needs to be tossed. No pushing it with this recipe.
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Excellent idea, I don’t know why I don’t do this more often with the herbs I always end up throwing away. Thanks for the tips and reminder to not let them go to waste!
Herb-infused garlic oil could probably enable me to convince my husband of just about anything. He would love love this stuff!
I often make an herb butter….so delicious (but unfortunately there is the possibility of a spoon making its way to my mouth, oops)!
Looks absolutely delicious, but I’m going to second what Seanna Lea said about acdifying the garlic. Here’s more info on homemade garlic-infused oil and botulism:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/garlic-ail-eng.php
because this is just a quick oil that is refrigerated and used within a week, it’s safe from botulism.
LOVE this idea, Joy! I hate it when I don’t use my all my herbs before they start to turn.
I seem to think that I’d forget this oil was in the fridge though. ;-)
Certainly not as lovely, but to simply save fresh herbs, (I grow many types) I press them flat into a ziplock freezer bag and “file” them flat in my freezer. When I need them in a recipe I have to chop a chunk off quickly before the remainder thaws, but the part I use continues to have fresh herb flavor. I prefer this to drying herbs.
My sad looking basil plant thanks you!
I just started a batch of ghost chili oil yesterday.
In a cookbook I copied from gazillion years ago (I cannot be the only one who hand copied recipes into their own cookbook as a child), I had a recipe for herbed oils and vinegars. The recipe said that you should acidify the garlic. Is that something you considered with your recipe?
I have the hardest time seeing the font color on this website. I wish it was darker.
I hate eating leftovers, with two exceptions: Thanksgiving and pizza. but using up leftover herbs I could totally do! thanks for the idea :)
Wow, I love how super-green that olive oil is. It does look like quality stuff!
This can also be a great idea to make as a gift for friends!
Love it
Brilliant idea, no more guilt when I have to chuck out those wilting herbs at the back of my fridge!
This sounds so good! Too bad I just killed my thyme by forgetting that I should water occasionally, even here in Seattle. Along the same lines, I really liked this super-easy basil oil I made recently to ward off the dreaded bag-of-mushy-black-basil problem. (Oh, that only happens to me? How embarrassing.)
This sounds amazing, especially on toast. Have you tried fresh pesto on toast? Best. Snack. EVER.