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Fresh fruits and vegetables are the most affordable source of trace elements and vitamins in the summer-autumn season. But unfortunately, after ripening, most products from the garden and garden lose their quality and become unusable. Many housewives try to preserve the harvest by canning. The method really allows you to store food for a long time, but there are no vitamins left after such processing at all. But how to preserve the quality and usefulness of vegetables at home? There is, perhaps, the only correct answer to this question: freeze them. Freezing vegetables for the winter at home allows you to create a storehouse of fresh, healthy and tasty products that will always be at hand in winter. We will talk about which vegetables can be stored in the freezer and how to do it correctly later in the section.
Basic rules for freezing
If your home has a spacious freezer, then, without a doubt, the best way to prepare vegetables for the winter is to freeze them. You can freeze various vegetables, observing some of the characteristics of a particular product. But there are general rules that you need to know and remember when preparing any product by freezing:
- only ripe, dense vegetables can be frozen without damage;
- before freezing, products are washed and dried so that no moisture remains on their surface. Otherwise, they will stick together during freezing;
- vegetables with coarse and dense pulp or skin should be pre-blanched by dipping them in boiling water for several minutes, then quickly cooled with ice water;
- it is necessary to store products in tight sealed bags or containers. This will prevent the product from drying out during storage;
- at a temperature of 0 ... -80You can store vegetables for 3 months. Temperature -8 ... -180C allows you to store products throughout the year;
- it is better to freeze vegetables in portions of 250-300 g.
Fulfilling such simple rules, it will be possible to freeze vegetables for the winter with high quality and store them for a long time without losing quality, taste and usefulness. Moreover, each separate type of product requires an individual approach, which we will try to talk about further.
What vegetables can be frozen
Almost all vegetables from the garden can be frozen. The only exceptions are turnips, radishes and radishes. The easiest way is to freeze root vegetables. For example, carrots and beets are peeled, washed and shredded. They can be diced or grated, folded tightly in a bag and frozen. Things are much more complicated with vegetables such as tomato, eggplant, cucumber and some other "delicate" products.
Tomatoes
In any season, tomatoes are a welcome staple on the table. They are widely used in the preparation of first and second courses, sauces, salads. You can freeze the vegetable whole, in slices or in the form of mashed potatoes. Only small tomatoes are completely frozen, large fruits must be cut into slices and spread on a baking sheet. After freezing, the slices are folded into a sealed plastic bag.
An example of how to freeze tomatoes for the winter and how to use the product after that is shown in the video:
Cucumbers
In a technology similar to tomatoes, you can freeze cucumbers.This vegetable is cut into small slices or cubes, grated and evenly, tightly placed in a plastic container, and then frozen. You can store a vegetable in this state for no more than 6 months. You can use the product, including for the preparation of salads, okroshka.
Three different ways to freeze cucumbers are demonstrated in the video:
Bell pepper
Sweet Bulgarian peppers can be frozen for the winter in several ways. The choice of this or that method depends on the subsequent purpose of the product. For example, for subsequent stuffing, the vegetable is washed, the seeds are removed from it, making a characteristic incision on top. The vegetables peeled in this way are folded one by one and sent to the freezer. Of course, such a "nesting doll" will take up a lot of space in the freezer, but stuffed peppers cooked from it will not only be tasty, healthy, but also very cheap. Having made such a blank, it will no longer be necessary to buy pepper in winter at a high cost for stuffing.
Chopped frozen peppers can be used to make vegetable stews, salads, and more. In this case, the vegetable is cut into cubes or oblong slices and laid out in containers, bags, and then frozen.
Eggplant
Before as freeze eggplants, they must be blanched for 5-10 minutes, dried and cut into cubes or wedges.
Green peas and milky corn
Green peas and unripe corn kernels are usually frozen in bulk. For this, the product is sprinkled in a thin layer on a baking sheet, which is placed in the freezer. After freezing, the product is poured into a plastic bag and sent to the freezer for further storage.
Cabbage
Different types of cabbage are frozen in different ways:
- The most famous white cabbage is simply chopped and put into bags in small portions.
- Cauliflower is usually blanched. The selected inflorescences are dipped in boiling water with the addition of lemon juice for 3 minutes. The blanched pieces of cauliflower are dried with a paper towel, then laid out in plastic bags and placed in the freezer.
- Before freezing, broccoli is divided into inflorescences, washed, dried and laid out in containers, bags.
- Brussels sprouts are blanched for 2-3 minutes, after which they are dried and laid out on a flat dish for freezing in bulk. The frozen product is poured into a bag.
More often it is “delicate” types of cabbage that are stored in freezers: Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli. White cabbage is perfectly stored in cool conditions without canning and freezing for a long period of time. However, in the absence of the necessary storage conditions, you can resort to the method described above.
Zucchini, squash, pumpkin
All these vegetables are cleaned before freezing: the skin and seeds are removed. The pulp is cut into cubes or slices, blanched for 10-15 minutes, then cooled, dried and packed in bags, containers.
Green beans
It is quite easy to freeze this type of product. To do this, rinse the pods and cut them into pieces, 2-3 cm long. In this form, the beans are poured into a plastic bag and sent to the freezer.
In winter, you can store not only certain types of vegetables, but also their mixtures. It is convenient to use, since all vegetables are in a certain amount and half cooked. To prepare the dish, you just need to pour the prepared vegetable mixture into the pan and stew or fry it.
Freeze Vegetable Mix Recipes
With your own hands at home, you can prepare a mixture similar to that offered to the buyer on store shelves. Only it will be many times healthier, tastier and, of course, cheaper.
Novice and experienced housewives may be interested in the following freezing recipes:
Paprikash
This name refers to a mixture of vegetables, consisting of bell peppers, squash, tomatoes and green beans. All ingredients must be chopped and blanched before freezing, then spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet, freeze and packaged in bags, after mixing all the vegetables.
Rustic vegetables
This mixture is used for frying and stewing. It is based on the use of potatoes, which are peeled, washed, cut into cubes. The potatoes in this mixture are complemented by green beans, broccoli, corn, bell peppers and carrots. All ingredients, except broccoli, are recommended to blanch for 10-15 minutes before freezing. During cooking, it is recommended to add fresh onions to the vegetable mixture.
Lecho
Frozen lecho consists of tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers and onions. All ingredients are blanched and diced before freezing.
Spring mixture
To prepare the "Spring" mixture, use Brussels sprouts, broccoli and Chinese cabbage, as well as potatoes, peas, carrots and onions.
Hawaiian mix
This assortment of vegetables combines corn with green peas, bell peppers and rice. It should be noted that for the preparation of the "Hawaiian mixture" rice must be pre-cooked until half cooked.
All of these mixtures can be steamed or in a skillet with a small amount of oil. It is also convenient that the previously prepared mixture does not need to be defrosted first. This speeds up the process of preparing healthy and tasty food.
Surprisingly, you can freeze not only vegetable mixes for preparing second courses, but also mixes for making soups. So, a popular recipe for borscht, in which beets, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, onions and potatoes are frozen at the same time. Chopped frozen ingredients just need to be added to the broth and wait until they are ready.
Conclusion
Thus, freezing vegetables for the winter at home is not only useful, but also very convenient. After all, there is nothing easier than coming home from work to cook dinner from already peeled, chopped and semi-annual vegetables. Frozen vegetables can be a godsend for mothers who care about the health of their student children who are somewhere far away, because even a schoolboy can cook borscht for themselves according to the above recipe. Having bothered once in the summer season, when the garden is full of vegetables, you can make a colossal supply of food and vitamins for the entire winter season for yourself and your loved ones. The only limitation for freezing fresh food is the size of the freezer.
