Alright, this might seem silly to a lot of you, but to others, this might be really helpful! How to freeze fresh produce? To take full advantage of local organic produce that are in-season, I think a great thing to do is to freeze some of them, that way, you can eat healthy and local even in the winter, and the taste will be pretty much the same, even after being frozen for a few months.
Freezing local organic produce are picked at the height of flavour and nutrition, and are so much better than most of the commercially-produced frozen produce available in supermarkets. It’s amazing how you can freeze so many! My personal favourites to freeze are berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) because that is what I use during the winter to make awesome healthy smoothies. I also like to freeze snap peas, and green beans, for quick meals during the winter. Freezing (and canning) is your best way to eat local (and organic) as long as possible throughout the year.
A little bit of time invested now will pay off for months to come, it’s totally worth it!
Right now is strawberry season in Canada, and since it is one of my favourites, I always make sure to freeze a few large bags of them to use in the winter. It only took 1 hour, and I’m set until next year, not bad! (I don’t have smoothies every day!)
How to freeze in-season produce?
- Wash, and gently dry with a clean cloth
- remove whatever needs to be removed (trim ends, and bad parts)
- lay flat on a cookie sheet, in a single layer
- put in freezer, flat, for at least an hour or two
- remove from freezer, transfer into large freezer plastic bags, and close tightly, pushing the air out
- Put a 2nd freezer plastic bag over it, push the air out, and close tightly
- Put in freezer
That’s it! By doing this, you’ll have amazingly delicious fresh produce available at the tip of your fingers in no-time during the winter. They’ll be prepped and ready to use. (for snap peas, no need to wash, simply remove peas from their pods, and continue at #3. For green/yellow beans or broccoli, it’s better to ‘blanch’ them first, so simply throw in a large pot of boiling water for about 10-15 seconds, then drain and dip into a pot of cold water for 2-3 seconds, drain, dry, and continue with #3)
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