Healthy Cooking
with Fresh Herbs
Alice Henneman, MS, RD, Extension Educator
UNL Extension in Lancaster County
(402) 441-7180 • http://lancaster.unl.edu/food
ahenneman1@unl.edu
Whether you plant them or pick them up at the grocery
store or farmers’ market, adding fresh herbs is a quick way
to transform ordinary meals into extraordinary meals.
Besides helping flavor foods when cutting back on
salt, fat and sugar, herbs may offer additional benefits of
their own. Researchers are finding many culinary herbs
(both fresh and dried) have antioxidants that may help pro-
tect against such diseases as cancer and heart disease.
If you’ve always thought you’d like to plant an herb
garden, you’ll find information on how to do that at the
end of this article.
Take some thyme (pun intended!) to cook with fresh
herbs. Here are some tips to help you enjoy the flavor and
health benefits of fresh herbs in your cooking.
When
Substituting
Fresh Herbs for
Dried Herbs
A general guideline when using fresh herbs in a recipe
is to use 3 times as much as you would use of a dried herb.
When substituting, you’ll often be more successful sub-
stituting fresh herbs for dried herbs, rather than the other
way around. For example, think potato salad with fresh vs.
dried parsley!
When to Pick or
Purchase Herbs
Purchase herbs close to the
time you plan to use them. When
growing herbs in your own
garden the ideal time for picking is in the morning after
the dew has dried but before the sun gets hot. This helps
ensure the best flavor and storage quality.
How to Store
Fresh Herbs
Fresh herbs can be stored in
an open or a perforated plastic
bag in your refrigerator crisper
drawer for a few days. If you
don’t have access to commercial perforated bags, use a
sharp object to make several small holes in a regular
plastic bag.
Sarah Browning, Horticulturist, Extension Educator
UNL Extension in Dodge County
(402) 727-2775 • http://dodge.unl.edu
sbrowning2@unl.edu
Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and