How to Dry Herbs in the Microwave

I've really enjoyed my fresh herb collection that I've amassed on my little front porch - I'm pretty bummed though, because my apartment at college is way smaller! I won't have space for all these plants!

Thankfully, I've found everyone good homes - Some italian parlsey and basil are going to live at my house, and my peppermint plant, but everything else is going to be given away! Before I do that, of course, I had to steal as much as I could ;)

So I went to the store and bought some of these...

... and now, I have these!

From left to right: dried peppermint, Catnip, Fennel and Parsley

I was a little nervous that I would mess up, but overall it was totally easy!

I have to admit, I've never harvested my own herbs before! I did have a lavendar plant, but I was too afraid to pluck the leaves off en masse.  But the peppermint plants truly needed a trim! It's seriously overflowing it's container, spreading runners everywhere and looking a lot less pretty than when I bought it.  And, my love of parsley and fennel was too great to keep me from plucking those.  The catnip was an afterthought- it's already started to dry, and I had some crazy vision of making and selling cat toys. Who knows!

Anyway, after plucking the mint, I had a ton!

But it all dried up in no time.  All you need is:

1. A microwave.  Mine is an ancient hand-me-down, but it gets the job done!
2. Herbs (self-explanatory)
3. Paper towels
4. An airtight container to store your dried herbs in.

Put the herbs in the microwave between two paper towels.  Cook on high for 2 minutes, then check for dry-ness.  If they're not dry, cook on high for 30 second intervals until they're done.

Before drying:

After drying:

Different herbs have slightly different drying times.  For me, the mint dried up in 2 minutes, to about half size.  Parsley took 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and dried up to 1/4 size.  The fennel took 2 minutes and 2 30 second intervals, and looked more or less the same.

I can't wait to use my fresh herbs to season soups and make tea at school this winter.