Cilantro, parsley, lettuce and spinach. When they wilt, they become supremely unappealing. But a couple hours in water is often all it takes to transform a leafy gal from droopy to fabulous.
Need an example? Well then, you’re in luck! My husband bought some parsley the other day, and then just put the naked unused portion back into the fridge without benefit of a bag to contain the moisture. Luckily, I am the possessor of many tricks up my sleeve, so I snipped the bottoms of the stems and plopped the whole bunch into a water filled jar.
Before:
Sad and droopy, no one wants to take this parsley out for a night on the town.
After:
See how perky the parsley is? She's now ready for a night of disco dancing!
But there’s one key component that makes this process complete, which is to actually use the parsley. So I think I’ll whip up a batch of kale pesto with a secret parsley kick, which is not only a great backup meal to have in the fridge, but is also healthy and delicious. And if you add some cream to it, it transforms into utterly sublime.
Keeping an sharp eye on food waste not only saves you money, but is also the ethically right thing to do.
Food Waste = Bad
🙂
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I think you need to share that kale pesto recipe. Also, do you usually store the parsley in the fridge or the counter? I keep mine in a jar in the fridge, but I still find it wilts quite quickly.
I can’t actually remember the last time I bought parsley, so I don’t really have anything that I usually do.
And the kale recipe is just to roughly chop and steam a head of lettuce, and then whirl it in the food processor with garlic, olive oil, nuts and parmesan cheese and salt. No specific amounts, just until it tastes good.
I keep it in the the fridge until it’s eaten up. Super delicious!
Katy
Not being a kale officianado, do you mean to steam a head of kale or really a head of lettuce? Might try kale again. It didn’t make too good of an impression the first time around.
I steam the head of kale. The resulting pesto is very tasty, not bitter at all.
Katy
One of my favorite recipes for parsley is Mango salsa. I just use a mango, parsley and a roma tomato and even though it sounds simple I love it. Of course there are much more fancy variations online, but I found I loved the simplest one the most. Perfect with some cous cous and fish 🙂
congratulations on you blogiversary. By the time I got here, there were three, so you are now up 3 from your fb account? everyone would rather just comment on fb, it seems. i’m having the same trouble but have realize that “networkedblogs” opens a new, easier way for them to participate. I love your work. Keep it up.
I used to store my delicate herbs in the fridge, standing in a glass of water, with a plastic bag over the top. Then a friend gave me this awesome gift. It’s a tall plastic jar that has a bottom that screws out and a tight sealing stopper top. You can unscrewe the bottom section and fill it with water, then the whole thing seals tight. Even cilantro keeps for ages in it. I just googled and it’s by “Progressive International” and is called “Herb Keeper”.
I am generally a major sceptic on all kitchen gadgets (i.e. I get genuinely suprised when one functions quite awesomely) but this one really impressed me.
Of course the even better thing to do is grow your own, but I’ve never had much luck with anything other than rosemary, parsley and sage.
Hmm . . .
Katy
I love using kale in my pesto! I usually use half kale and half basil. I shared the recipe on my blog if anyone’s interested. I planted extra kale in the garden this year for just this purpose. Great post, Katy!
Thanks. I made pesto tonight using a huge bunch of kale, plus all the parsley.
It was delish.
Katy
Parsley is one of the very few things I buy faithfully. I love the stuff. I’ve even gotten really, really pathetic parsley in the Dumpster and was able to perk it up in a jar of water. We just leave it on the counter instead of in the fridge. When it’s really easy to get to, we use it for everything.
Same trick works really well for a lot of tired veggies. I’ve recently had great luck with limp celery and broccoli.
Bahaha…disco dancing! Thanks for the good advice, I’ve never thought to do that but will definitely try it out (ideally I’d eat the veg before it gets like that but you know how it goes).
Kale pesto – what a GREAT idea! I planted kale in my garden on a whim last year, which forced me to find recipes to use it up. I planted it again this year specifically so I would have to go find more recipes (and, frankly, to make myself eat something so good for you that I don’t normally just go out and buy).
Thanks for the tip! And thanks for sharing the recipe here.
When have more parsley than I can use, I pop the extra in the freezer and then use it the next time I make vegetable stock. I also do this with vegetables that are getting a little sad but are still okay to eat, as well as vegetable trimmings.