When I started my fitness journey, I made an effort to start buying my produce from a local CSA. This supports my local economy, and cuts down on an ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF TRASH. Recently I purchased a whole bunch of basil leaves. I had used some of them in a homemade tomato sauce, but I had a whole bunch of them left over! They would have gone bad if I hadn’t done anything with them. The last thing I need is to toss away perfectly good food. Now while I could have composted my basil, I decided to preserve the leaves instead.
Usually, herb preservation is done by hang drying them for two to three weeks. I really did not want to wait that long, so I gave them a “speed dry” instead. To speed dry, all you need to do is to wash all of your basil leaves, and then pat them dry with a towel. Next, lay each leaf flat and seperate (NO OVERLAPPING!) on a cookie sheet. When you are ready, place your basil leaves in the oven at the LOWEST temperature. My oven’s temperature goes as low as 170 degrees. Make sure to let the leaves bake at the lowest temperature for 20 minutes. After that, leave them in the oven for 24 hours to fully dry. After that, feel free to pull them out and crush ’em! Simple as that!
