Our 7 best recipes with fresh mint and 4 ingenious tricks how to keep herbs fresh for a long time
What would our food be without herbs? Probably boring. Basil, dill, parsley, mint, rosemary, thyme, sage and the list goes on.
Herbs not only spice up savory dishes, but also make a wonderful tea, in cakes, or in ice cream, for example. They just give your food the perfect taste.
If you want to use herbs sustainably, you can simply plant your supermarket-bought basil pot (or any other) in the garden or on the balcony.
So you have fresh herbs from your own kitchen all year round. This sounds too complicated for you? You can also buy herbs packaged, and we’ll tell you how to use them for a long time and what to make with them.
Tips and tricks about herbs
Goodbye wilted herbs! We show you how to store herbs
Your herbs are wilting way too fast? Many store herbs, much like flowers in a vase, in a jar of water.
Try using the stems instead wrap with damp kitchen paper and put them in the refrigerator. This gives them only as much water as they need and they do not "drown".
Another good storage option is to store all of the Wash the herb bundles briefly and shake off the water well.
Then you give the herbs moist (not wet!!) into a small plastic bag or a freezer bag, and Put the bag in the refrigerator.
You can also simply add herbs freeze. Here we have several possibilities:
1. Freeze herbs whole. To do this, wash the herbs, dry them well, put them in a freezer bag or tupperware, seal it and put it in the refrigerator.
2. Freeze leaves. Wash herbs and dry well. pluck the leaves and put them in small freezer bags. It is best to label it, so that you can find what you are looking for later.
3. Chop herbs. For some herbs, such as dill or chives, it is useful to cut the herbs beforehand. Proceed here in the same way as for option 2.
4. Freeze herbs in an ice cube tray. Wash, dry, and chop the herbs. Then place in the mold, fill with water and freeze. These ice cubes are best for stews, soups or pasta sauces.
However, some herbs, such as rosemary and thyme, should be better be dried. You can just leave them to dry in your kitchen.
In this way they retain their aroma and intense flavor for a long time.
How to prepare herbs
Herbs can be eaten raw in salads or with vegetables, used as a marinade, baked, roasted, deep fried.
You can do many things with them, but some herbs are better eaten raw – like basil or chives – and some taste better in finished meals – like rosemary or thyme.
Herbs can be finely chopped with a knife, crushed in a mortar to make pesto, cut with scissors over soups or added whole to stews and fished out later.
There are so many great herbs and possibilities of what you can do with them. Therefore, we have compiled a small list for you, how else you can use the herbs.
All recipes can also be found in the Foodly App. It is worthwhile to take a look! &
Mint
This week we start with mint. There are over 20 varieties of mint that we can find in the supermarket or market these days.
Conventional mint has a fresh, aromatic, sweetish, slightly pungent taste and often reminds a little of citrus fruits.
Mint can be used in tea, alcoholic beverages, syrup or ice cream. It also works well in cakes, and is popular in savory dishes as well.
The British, for example, mix mint into mashed peas, and in the Middle East it is served in sauces or rice salads with lamb.
Our 7 best mint recipes
1) As a tea: Just put a few stalks of mint in a cup and pour hot water over them. infuse for 3-5 minutes and your mint tea is ready.
If you want to spice it up, you can add lemon slices, ginger or honey to it.
2) In sauce: Sounds. minty? Mint sauce tastes sour but fresh and goes well with meat dishes from the oven, such as lamb or chicken.
The sauce can also be served with baked or grilled fish and vegetables. To do this, simply chop the mint, mix with apple cider vinegar and a little salt – done!
3) In sweet salad: Do you already know our French Toast? Serve with a fruity fruit salad with fresh mint leaves. This gives the whole dish a great fresh kick.
..but also in a hearty salad: Mint can be coarsely chopped in no time and then mixed with, for example, parsley, tomato, cucumber and pomegranate seeds as a fresh summer salad serve.
Prepare an olive oil and lemon juice dressing with a little salt and pepper.
4) Craving something light and fruity? Cut a watermelon into small pieces, chop the mint and mix together.
To this you add feta, walnuts or almonds, red onions cut into fine rings and some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Or you can try the Cannellini beans salad from our Meal Prep article, into which we add mint and parsley.
Who times try something new If you are in a summer mood, you can try a salad of fresh peas, grapefruit or orange (apple works too), cucumber, feta or goat cheese and mint.
Just mix all the ingredients together and serve with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
5) In the soup: Our cold cucumber-avocado soup is a hit on its own, but with the accompanying yogurt-mint dip, it’ll knock your socks off even more.
It can be enjoyed especially in the summer and scores high for its freshness and lightness.
6) On bread: Already know our avocado toast with mint, feta and figs? The creamy avocado and the salty feta cheese taste especially good with the slightly spicy, fresh mint.
The bread is a quick evening snack and also tastes good at every brunch!
7) To meatballs: You can also modify a traditional meatball recipe by mixing some mint into the meatballs as well as the sauce. The recipe for this is quite simple:
For the meatballs
- 500g mixed minced meat (pork& beef or beef only)
- 1 egg
- 3 slices of rusk or stale hard bread
- 1 tsp. mustard
- 2 tablespoons fresh, finely chopped mint
- 2 tablespoons fresh, finely chopped parsley
- 1-2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
- 1/2 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
- Grating of half an organic lemon
- 1/2 level teaspoon of cumin (optional.)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
For the sauce:
- 150g Greek or normal yogurt
- 1 small bunch of mint
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
Preparation:
- Wrap rusks or hard bread in a clean kitchen towel and chop into small pieces with a rolling pin. Add to a bowl along with all the meatball ingredients mentioned above and mix so that everything is evenly distributed.
- From the meat approx. Form 20 small balls. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry meatballs until browned and cooked through on all sides.
- For the sauce, put all ingredients in a chopper and puree to a sauce. If you don’t have a chopper, just chop the mint and garlic very finely and mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Conclusion
Now you are armed with the best tips and tricks to preserve mint for a long time. We have also presented you many recipe ideas for this fresh herb.
Now these have been just a few of our best ideas. You can do so much more with mint. Browse a little through our app. We promise you’ll find what you’re looking for&