How to Blanch Vegetables to Freeze

It is no secret that I love to have a garden. I love peppers, tomatoes, fresh herbs, cucumbers and squash in the summer. I also love lettuce, carrots, Brussel sprouts and cabbage in the winter.

Sometimes, we can have a bit much. After giving away all that folks want, we still have a good bit left over. I love finding new ways to preserve the food I love. Like using my cucumbers to make these easy Refrigerator Pickles.

I recently found that I needed to preserve my other produce too. My solution? Freeze it. Every year my Momma and I "put up" dozens of quarts of peas and butterbeans. A few years ago, I decided to apply the same method to preserve other produce. A method known as, Blanching.

No, that isn't a Golden Girls character. It is a quick cook method meant to clean the produce as well as slows down the natural breakdown of the vegetable. Breaking down of enzymes will cause a loss of color, texture and flavor. Blanching can help preserve those things. To Blanch something simply means to cook it quickly for a short amount of time then stop that cooking process abruptly. We will show you how to do that!

• 1 full head of broccoli, broken down and cut into small florets
• 2 cups of sliced carrots
• 1 bundle of Asparagus
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 cup of ice

1. Prepare a large Pot of water and boil until it reaches a gentle boil. Be sure to keep the temperature steady as this will be done in batches and will lose heat and regain in between. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to boiling water and stir. In a separate bowl, prepare about 3 cups of water with one cup of ice for the ice bath.
2. In a strainer basket if you have one, if not, carefully place each batch of vegetables into the boiling water. Slowly submerge into the water and allow the soft boil to resume. Leave the vegetables immersed for 2 minutes.
3. Carefully remove the strainer or vegetables with a slotted spoon and place in an ice bath. Allow the vegetables to remain in the ice bath for 1 minute to stop the cooking process.
4. Drain vegetables on a towel and air dry completely. At this time you can clean up any bad spots or pick out any problems and discard. Place in a freezer safe container or zip top bag and freeze. Will keep 8-10 months frozen.

How to Blanch vegetables to freeze is easy. But why should you? The answer to that question is quite simple. Fresh is better. While these will be frozen, they were prepped fresh, by YOU! Doing the blanching process, you will know they are clean, bug and chemical free and safe to eat. And if you grew them, well you can be certain of a lot more than that!

The taste, color and texture will be richer and better after doing this process. It takes a little time but the rewards are tremendous for doing this. There are many uses for having these fresh, frozen vegetables on hand, all of the time. Like this Roasted Vegetable Casserole for one!

This recipe has been shared over at Meal Plan Monday!

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