Can I use 'old' basil?

[mosschops30]

Its date is 30/1.

There are a few dodgy leave sbut generally it looks alright, will it be ok, I cant be arsed to go to sainsburys but dont want to poison the entire family

yes.

oh it will be fine

I work on the assumption that you can tell when leaves go off. So if it looks OK, it's OK.

It's only a couple of days past the date! I sometimes use things that are YEARS past their sell-by date. If it hasn't actually got mould on it it probably won't kill you.

I have found the best way to keep basil going for ages. Buy a bunch of cut basil (ie not a plant). Take it out of the packet, put it in a glass of water Roots will grow, the leaves will be vibrant and fresh - new leaveswon't grow, but a packet lasts me for weeks this way. Just keep topping the water up. You can plant it once the roots have grown, but I never have much luck with basil plants.

Another herby tip is to buy a large packet of parsley, cut it up, freeze it in a bag. It is almost as good as fresh in any recipe, and infinitely better than dried parsley!

You can freeze it, you know, just chuck the packet in the freezer.