Did you know frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as fresh fruits and vegetables? They can taste just as good too!
Freezing fruits and vegetables allows you to enjoy fresh produce all year long, even when they aren’t in season. It’s smart to save excess produce from the farmers market, garden, or store in your freezer.
The trick to freezing fruits and vegetables is blanching. Blanching is a simple process that helps fruits and vegetables stay fresh for longer periods of time. This video gives a quick demonstration of the blanching process.
Different fruits and vegetables require different amounts of cooking time. Use this handout as a guide to know how long each fruit or vegetable should be placed in the boiling water.
Broccoli is a great vegetable to use – fresh or frozen! We made some Broccoli Pesto Pasta using frozen broccoli. This was one of my favorite recipes as a kid – even though the sauce is green, its very tasty and doesn’t take long to make!
We’ll need pasta, broccoli, Parmesan cheese, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and a bouillon cube.
After cooking the broccoli, place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth.
And presto! You have pasta sauce for dinner. Add to a plate of cooked pasta. Top with Parmesan, grilled chicken, or lean ground beef.
Enjoy!!
