The Crisper Whisperer: Awesome (Herb) Sauce

Whether you grow your own herbs and end up with a bumper crop or buy a big bunch at the supermarket and use a few tablespoons in a recipe, leftover fresh herbs can threaten to overtake your home, garden, and sanity as the weather warms up. Making this flexible recipe is like waving a magic wand in the general direction of the garden and—voila!—what was once a looming burden is suddenly awesome sauce.

Cilantro Coulis

Herb sauces are great stuff: they let the flavor of an herb come through proud and clear while lightly cloaking food. But they are prone to breaking—let an herb purée sit for five minutes and the solids will clump together and leave an ugly pool of green water on the plate. A small pinch of xanthan gum will hold the sauce together and provide a velvety texture to what may otherwise be too thin.

Prik Gaeng Khiao Waan (Thai Green Curry Paste)

Fresh green chiles are the key to this bright curry paste.

Thai Sausage Stir Fry & Freezer Ground Sausage “Meal Prep” — Ethan

Homemade Spicy Chili Crisp

Packed with chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, spices, nuts, and fried onion and garlic, this homemade chili crisp condiment goes with just about everything.

Chermoula

A North African sauce traditionally paired with grilled seafood, chermoula is a delicious mix of fresh herb, earthy spices, and acidic preserved lemon.

Prik Gaeng Panang (Thai Panang Curry Paste)

Bust out the mortar and pestle for this peanut-spiked Thai curry paste.

Quick Pickled Chilies and Garlic

Quick-pickled garlic and chiles are a great condiment for punching up the flavor of Asian soups, noodles, stir-fries, and salads.

The Homemade Pantry's Roasted Tomatoes for the Freezer

Alana Chernila, author of The Homemade Pantry, has figured out a way to freeze summer tomatoes so that they retain their sweetness all year long. Her method involves snatching up pounds of gorgeous summer tomatoes and giving them a low and slow roast with garlic, herbs, and olive oil. This slow cooking method concentrates all of that great tomato flavor, making them perfect for freezing and breaking out during the cooler, tomato-less months for a bright taste of summer.

Fresh Chile Harissa

Harissa is a punchy North African chili paste. This version is made with an assortment of fresh chiles that are charred and blended together for smoke and spice. It's simply seasoned with the traditional additions of caraway and coriander, but feel free to jazz it up with anything from diced preserved lemon to pungent raw shallots.