Our produce cooler malfunctioned in the middle of the night and froze our vegetables! We've never seen such gorgeous bell peppers frozen in a state of perfection. Now it's time to get creative, so we are taking this opportunity to teach everyone (including ourselves) some of the best ways to use frozen veggies and the "dos and don'ts" of cooking with them. We hope it inspires you to try something new with our newly frozen bounty.
Tips:
Cooking Advice -Depending on the vegetable and the recipe, thawing techniques will differ. But one rule holds true across the board: Do not boil. Boiling will add more moisture to the product, increasing chances of an unpleasant “mushy” texture and the loss of water-soluble vitamins. So skip the boil and simply steam or microwave the vegetables with two tablespoons of water after thawing.
-For most recipes, you can even skip the thaw. Whether steaming or adding them to a cooked stew, use vegetables straight from the freezer to retain as much structure, color, and flavor as possible. When you add frozen vegetables to a dish in-progress, it's best to add them near the end of the cooking time to prevent them from breaking down too much.
-Want a foolproof way to use frozen vegetables? Make a soup or stew. The tenderness of most thawed vegetables is actually a plus here, especially for blended soups. When making minestrone or other textured soups, however, just remember to add frozen ingredients towards the end of the cooking time.
Best uses for frozen veggies:
Stir-fry: use other veggies fresh or frozen and add in peppers towards the end to warm through. I personally love to see that bright red or green color in my wintertime stir-fries!
Soups: Use with other veggies in a veggie-based soup. So good! Or try a red pepper pureed creamy soup! They’ll warm your heart with memories of summer flavor!
Fajitas: Slice your onions and sauté until browning, quickly throw in frozen peppers to warm through and voila you’re ready for fajitas.
Italian sausage sandwiches/subs: Repeat above except put on a sandwich or sub. Yum!
Pizza topping: Use them on a pizza! Easy and you won’t regret it!
Chili: Throw them into a pot of chili towards the end. You’ll have your summer pepper flavor in your warming winter chili! This is probably our highest use of frozen red and green peppers.
Egg dishes: Scrambled in with eggs in the morning or in a quiche or frittata, fresh peppers are delicious with eggs and frozen are no different!