Did you know that cooking with herbs and spices instead of salt can be much healthier for you?
I use fresh herbs all the time. I also dry my own herbs. Store bought is fine, but you have to ask yourself how long they've been sitting on that shelf in the grocery store. As a rule, dried herbs should be replaced every 6 months at the most. If you dry your own, you buy as you need of the fresh ones, and at the end of those 6 months, you go and buy some more. It really isn't a lot of money. Nowadays, you can buy the prepackaged fresh herbs like chives, rosemary, thyme, and basil. They're usually found in the cooler areas veggies aisles. I will buy one package of, say, chives. They are usually clean, but I still wash them. I dry them on paper towelling then cut them into 1/4" pieces. I use my two small cookie racks and lay a sheet of paper towel on it. Then spread the cut chives over this. Then another piece of paper towel. The second cookie rack on that. I use elastic bands to hold them together. I sit them up somewhere out of the on my counter. After a week, the chives are dried and I can put them into the jar. I'm ready. They stay their beautiful green colour and look great in mashed potatoes, or adding them at the last 15 minutes of cooking time for stews and soups.
Spices are the same. They start to lose their potency sitting on the shelf after 6 months. If you can find a place that sells spices from jars, then you can buy in smaller quantities. We have a kitchen store here in town, and they sell both herbs and spices. I can buy as little as a teaspoon of one or as much as a bag weighing 8 ounces. I never go that high, but I will buy just enough to do me for what I figure I'd be using in that 6 months. If I have any left over, I throw it out and buy some more. There's usually not very much left, if at all.
You will notice a difference in using the fresher ingredients.
They also enhance veggies in a different way. When I cook my potatoes, instead of salt, I'll add a little fresh garlic, about a teaspoon of chopped or one clove that has been smashed with the side of your knife, and a pinch of sugar to the water. When they are cooked and drained, I'll add dill to them and a little unsalted butter. They're really very tasty that way.
Do you have any tips on cooking with the herbs and spices? Care to share?