Freeze Vegetables Correctly

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Photo: Ina Van Hateren / Rusmediabank.ru

Freezing vegetables is the best alternative to all other vegetables for the winter. In order not to harm and preserve all the useful properties of vegetables, they need to be frozen correctly. It should also be borne in mind that some vegetables, before freezing, need to be blanched (doused with boiling water) or boiled. It is better to pack vegetables for freezing in small portions so that they can be used immediately. If you defrost and freeze vegetables several times, they will lose their usefulness.

Tomatoes

They can be frozen whole, if the fruits are small, or cut into wedges. If the tomatoes are frozen whole, then they must first be pierced.

Cucumbers

They are not frozen whole, as a rule, they are cut into cubes or strips. In winter, they are used in the preparation of salads. Before use, they must be thrown into a colander and thawed so at room temperature.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower heads must first be disassembled into inflorescences, boil them for three minutes in water with the addition of citric acid. After that, drain the water, and dry the inflorescences a little, and then freeze. If you plan to freeze fresh, then you need to dry it well, and only then put it in bags and send it to the freezer.

Zucchini and zucchini

These vegetables can be boiled before freezing, having previously cut into pieces. Then put it in a colander and let the vegetables dry. Fold in bags or container and freeze.

You can freeze the zucchini raw. You need to wash them well, dry them, cut them into pieces (for soup) or rings (for frying). Moreover, you can fry zucchini without defrosting: just roll in flour and fry in a pan in vegetable oil.

Black Eyed Peas

Before you freeze the beans, they must be carefully sorted out. Cut off the stalks, remove spoiled fruits, rinse well under running water. If necessary, then do it not once, but two or even three. Then spread the beans in an even layer on a cotton cloth or gauze folded in several layers. And only after the beans are completely dry, put them in a container and freeze. Freezing the asparagus immediately after washing will cause it to clump together and freeze in one large lump.

Broccoli

This cabbage is very tender and therefore does not need to be pretreated before freezing. It is enough to select a whole intact cabbage, wash, dry and freeze.

Bell pepper

There are several ways to freeze peppers, depending on how the vegetable will be used in the future. So, the pepper can be frozen

* in pieces. Later use in the preparation of salads, pizza, stewing, etc.;

* whole, having previously cleared of seeds and folded each empty pepper one to one. In the future, such peppers can be stuffed with meat, rice, vegetables;

* filled with minced meat. It will be enough to defrost and stew such peppers.

Vegetable mixes

Unlike berries, vegetables can be mixed freeze. To do this, mix the vegetables necessary to prepare the mixture in a large saucepan or basin, mix thoroughly, put in bags and freeze.

You can add green peas, corn, diced carrots to vegetable mixtures (all this is frozen according to the same principle - sort out, wash, dry, freeze).

Container for packaging

* The container for freezing, whether it is a container or a bag, must be dry and clean.

* Products must be packaged tightly so that air does not get inside.

* If possible, place vegetables in a separate compartment of the freezer so that they do not come into contact with other products, especially fish.

* It is good to freeze vegetable puree in plastic bottles. For convenience, you can stick an inscription on each one with adhesive tape, on which you can indicate what is frozen and the date of preparation.

Cooking frozen vegetables

Frozen vegetables can be cooked in different ways: boil, stew, fry, bake. Raw, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, can be added to salads.

If you decide to boil vegetables, then you should take into account the fact that this will require a small amount of water. You do not need to defrost vegetables before cooking. The time for boiling vegetables depends on their type. For example, it takes 5-7 minutes to cook carrots and zucchini. Corn, beans, peas are boiled for 3-5 minutes.

You can boil vegetables in the microwave. This is done very quickly and easily. It is enough to put the frozen vegetables in a special dish for the microwave oven and cook for 5 minutes at the maximum temperature. After that, check the readiness of the food with a knife, if the vegetables are not soft enough, put them back for another 2 minutes.

You can stew frozen vegetables immediately without a frying pan, without pre-processing and defrosting. Heat butter or vegetable oil in a frying pan, add vegetables and cover. It will take 10-20 minutes to cook. At the end of cooking, you can add sausages, brisket, cream or any other sauce, etc. to the vegetables.

Before baking, frozen vegetables must be boiled in salted water until half cooked. Then put them in a baking dish, add sour cream, egg mixture, sausage, cheese, etc. and put in the oven for full cooking.