Coriander tip

When I buy a bunch of coriander (cilantro/dhania), on the day I buy it I wash it and leave it to dry on paper towels or a clean tea towel. I then wrap half the bunch in damp kitchen towel and put it in a plastic bag in the fridge (roots and all). The other half, I cut off the roots, and put into a freezer bag (one of those ‘snaplock’ or ‘ziplock’ ones is best – any brand will do but it should be the kind you can easily open and reseal). (If I am feeling domestic goddess-ish I will pull the leaves off the stems and freeze them separately, though that is rare.) I then put the whole bag into the freezer. When the coriander is frozen, you can then take out the bag, crunch the bag in your hand and the coriander is ‘chopped’ – try not to drefrost it while crunching – and sprinkle out the crunched bits into the dish. Voila – instant fresh coriander! (You can do this with Parsley too. I also do it with Mint and sage, though the results are not as good.)