Blanch and Freeze Vegetables

[Adapted from Homegrown Pantry by Barbara Pleasant]

Many kitchen vegetables from asparagus to zucchini can be frozen. Part of the beauty of freezing vegetables is that you can do it in small batches, to use odds and ends from your garden, or in big batches when you are buried in green beans. Use only veggies in excellent condition that have been thoroughly cleaned. Except for peppers, tomatoes, and a few other food crops, veggies should be cooked before they are frozen. Blanching stops enzyme activity that causes vegetables to lose texture and nutrients.

1. 1. Set up a two-piece steamer or pot of water for blanching on the stove. Also set out a large baking dish to use for cooling the blanched vegetables. Bring the water to a slow boil.
   
2. 2. Thoroughly clean and pare the vegetables into pieces of uniform size.
   
3. 3. Place about 3 cups of the prepared veggies in the steamer basket or boiling water, put on the lid, and set your timer for a minimum of 3 minutes. Check for a color change, which indicates that the pieces are almost cooked through. Err on the side of doneness. It is better to go 1 minute too long than to underblanch the vegetables.
   

   Not cooked beans (left). Cook beans (right).

4. 4. Put enough ice cubes in the baking dish to cover the bottom, and transfer the hot, blanched vegetables to the ice bath as soon as you remove them from the steamer or pot. Blanched veggies keep their color best if they are immediately cooled in ice.
   
5. 5. When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, pack them into freezer-safe containers and freeze immediately. Or arrange the pieces on cookie sheets in the freezer, and place them in freezer-safe containers after they freeze hard.
   

Veggie Freezing Tips

• When freezing green beans, include a few pods of a purple-podded variety, and use them as blanching indicators. The purple color will change to green when the beans are perfectly blanched.
• Use a silicone muffin pan for freezing pestos or other vegetable or herb purées, or any veggies you often use in small amounts. After the food is frozen hard, transfer to freezer-safe containers.
• Blanch perfect leaves from cabbage or collards and freeze them flat for later use as stuffed cabbage leaves. Blanch and freeze hollowed-out summer squash or sweet peppers for stuffing, too.
• Freeze vegetables and companion herbs together — for example, snap beans with basil or creamed sweet corn with parsley or cilantro. Add the herbs during the last minute of steam blanching, so they barely wilt.
• Add color to your frozen vegetables by including carrots, golden beets, radicchio, or other colorful edibles.