How to Prevent Your Herbs From Wasting Away in the Fridge

We’re all familiar with the dreaded market-to-compost pipeline: You buy a whole bunch of herbs for a recipe, pluck a few leaves for garnishing, and then let the rest languish in the crisper drawer, never to be seen until the day they die a sad, wilt-y death.

How can you break the cycle? It’s simple: Just use more herbs. Instead of adding them by the pinch (a teaspoon of chopped mint here, a precious parsley leaf there), add them by the handful. It might sound silly, but trust us: This is groundbreaking stuff.

There’s a good chance that a recipe that calls for a couple teaspoons or a few tablespoons of chopped herbs can handle a bit more. If you’re using a versatile, cuisine-crossing soft herb like basil, parsley, mint, dill, or cilantro, consider the called-for amount as a guideline rather than a commandment. (With super-pungent herbs like oregano, marjoram, or tarragon, however, we suggest treading more lightly.) Even if a recipe doesn’t call for herbs at all (blasphemy!), there are plenty of dishes that will nearly always benefit from a mess of your chopped-up orphan herbs: a frittata, any green or grain salad, your standard-issue yogurt dip.

So be generous: You’ll be rewarded with ordinary meals that feel fresher and more alive—like a room where you just opened up all the windows! Like the first day that’s warm enough to feel a breeze on your bare legs!—and you’ll have saved your precious greens from unjust demise.

If the situation really gets dire—say, you’re planning to skip town in the morning and staring down three older bunches—sauce is the solution: Green sauce—whether it’s chimichurri, pesto, salsa verde, or something you just made up by mixing and matching herbs, oils, and vinegars in your food processor—comes together in minutes and tastes as good smeared across a slice of toast as it does spooned over seared fish or plain old scrambled eggs. And since green sauce lasts for weeks in the fridge, you’ve just given those bunches a new lease on life.

Or, even better, stash some green sauce in the freezer: You’ll thank yourself next winter, when fresh, vibrant bunches are few and far between, and the thought of letting one wilt is truly unimaginable.

Just chop 'em up and throw 'em in a salad dressing!

Every Night Salad with Yogurt Ranch

Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit