Kitchen Tip: Freezing Veggies

Freezing fresh produce is a GREAT way to extend the fresh taste of the vegetables and fruit, if you aren't able to consume them all before they go bad.

I do this often with berries. For strawberries, I just cut the tops off and put whole ones into freezer bags to pull out as needed for smoothies. Blueberries can be frozen as-is. Bananas can be peeled and chopped or left whole and put in freezer bags. We use them whole in smoothies or breads. For breads, I just lay one out to thaw before mashing.

For bell peppers, I chop or use my Ninja (food chopper/blender/processor all in one) and then divide 1/2 cups of the chopped peppers into freezer bags. I then label with the name of the pepper and the date and pop them into the freezer.

Tomatoes are super easy as well. You can freeze them whole, to use later in stews or chili. When it's time to cook them, you can thaw them and pull the skin right off OR throw the frozen tomato into the pot and let it cook to thaw. They cook down to practically nothing, which is awesome for those of us with picky people in our families. :) Another way is to chop them, as with the peppers, and label to freeze.

Zucchini can be grated and measured into bags, labeled and frozen. This is super handy for making breads/muffins later. Just thaw the bag, drain and use it. You may end up needing to use a larger measurement from the freezer because of all the water that drains out.

Onions can be chopped and frozen, too. Celery is great to chop and freeze for cooking also!

I don't recommend freezing potatoes. They tend to get gritty and mushy.

For corn from the cob, cut the kernels off the fresh cobs. Blanch them before freezing, to hold in the flavor. Label and freeze. You CAN freeze corn without blanching and it won't go bad, but you do lose some of the fresh flavor. Same with broccoli, carrots, and green beans - blanch first.

Things that should not be frozen: radishes, cucumbers, lettuce. These are all made of mostly water, so freezing them will reduce them to mush once thawed.

When there's a good bell pepper sale, stock up, chop up and freeze it up! You will be glad you did when they're no longer on sale but you need some for a recipe!