With an abundance of fresh vegetables available from our own gardens or local farmers markets, this is an ideal time to freeze vegetables. When prices of imported vegetables go sky-high over the winter, you'll be able to enjoy the savings and savour the superior flavour of your own vegetables.
When selecting vegetables for freezing, look for produce that appears fresh: avoid any that is wilted or has spots. Use vegetables that are at their peak of quality.
There is nothing complicated about preserving vegetables for freezing. It doesn't take long and the effort is minimal. If you are planning to preserve the vegetables in plastic bags, it is worth making the investment to buy proper freezer bags. Vegetables that are properly frozen while still fresh can last indefinitely in a freezer without affecting nutritional value. Proper packaging also keeps the food moist and preserves food value, flavour, colour and texture.
The first step in freezing vegetables is to blanch them. Blanching is quick partial cooking to stop the enzyme action that stops the ripening and maturing of vegetables. It also stabilizes the vitamin content.
To blanch vegetables in boiling water if you don't have a blancher is fit a wire basket into a large pot. Put the vegetables into the basket and lower them into the boiling water. Keep the heat high, cover and start counting time immediately. Most vegetables require 3 minutes while a harder vegetable like carrots will require 5 minutes. Bella Online gives a detailed list of vegetable blanching times.
To stop the cooking, immediately plunge the vegetables into ice water. Leave them to cool about twice as long as they were in the boiling water.
Remove the vegetables from the ice water let the vegetables drain and cool to room temperature.
If desired, freeze the vegetables on a cookie sheet to keep them from sticking together.
Pack the cold or frozen vegetables in bags or containers leaving half an inch of headspace. Freeze at once.
Enjoy your fresh tasting vegetables and the saving all winter long.
