Ask a Cook: It’s easy to freeze herbs mixed with oil or water

First, chop and mix them with a little oil to make a paste, or cover them with water. Bag the cubes in freezer bags, and you can drop them into soups or stews all winter. If you mix them with oil, you could even make them into salad dressing.

For mint, mix with a little simple syrup — 1 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup hot water — and freeze for use in beverages.

To preserve the green color of basil, dip a bunch into boiling water for a few seconds, then dip it into ice water to shock it. Remove the leaves and mix with oil.