I wish that I could tell you that my recent trip to VivaMayr resulted in some magic formula to being robustly healthy and feeling energetic from dawn to dusk, but unfortunately, once cured of my ailments by the clever doctors of the clinic, I was reminded that the key to remaining a healthier self is rather more prosaic and includes eating good food in the right way, minimal stress, some exercise etc. all in tandem to keep the old form happy.
But I did pick up on a few tips that had previously escaped my attention. One of them is terrifically easy to incorporate: herbs (of the legal variety, obvs) are powerhouses of nutrients and really mustn’t be overlooked in the opinion of the VM folk, who top every meal with a sprinkling of them.
Once home, with characteristic zeal, I ordered five herb plants off Ocado, only to realise once they’d arrived that herb plants in boxes live for a week or so and then get a bit limp and sad and die. I do not know why this is, given that they came in soil, but everywhere on the internet assured me that as they were not homegrown, they couldn’t be expected to live. And I wasn’t going to start growing from seed because my plants have a habit of dying on me and it’s really much more traumatic to see them wither when you’ve nurtured them from youth to bloom.
Thankfully, VM once more came to the rescue: herb plants can be frozen and kept in the fridge via these two methods so now I smugly have a supply to see me through the next couple of weeks. It’s also very handy if you are short on time, because grabbing a piece of cheese and a corn cracker and garnishing it with some coriander (in my view the herb of kings and no dark corners of the internet calling it vile will change my mind) is so much easier when all you have to do is grab it out the fridge.
Below are the two methods they recommend that I have followed. Enormously easy for even a kitchen novice (me):
Fridge Herbs /
- Trim herb leaves from stalks but don’t chop them.
- Grab a glass of water and pop the herbs into the water.
- Store the glass in a fridge and just pluck out the herbs you need as and when.
- Use the lot within a few days.
Freezer Herbs /
- Take herbs from stalks, rinse, and chop into smaller bits. (I suspect they ought to be neatly chopped a la tv cooking programmes but mine weren’t uniform and that seems fine).
- Pop them on a piece of kitchen roll for about half an hour as they dry off.
- Pat the tops of the herbs to absorb any excess water.
- Pop herbs in Tupperware (VM also say cling film is fine) and freeze in portions or with enough air between herbs so that you won’t pluck out a big mass.
- When you need them, just take out a few beforehand, let them defrost, and you’re done!
