Most frozen vegetables need to be blanched or parboiled, before you freeze them.
I couldn’t resist trying an experiment with the kale, which continues to grow long after the first frost. I tore it into bite-sized pieces and froze it uncooked – no parboiling or blanching.
Weeks later, the relentless rain, turned freezing rain, makes being outdoors really unpleasant. I have lots of time to catch up on indoor projects. The raw kale I froze several weeks ago steamed up beautifully.
With the threat of a nor’easter looming in the next 24 hours, there’s no better comfort food than the veggies I helped to nurture, harvest and preserve. It’s like a taste of spring or summer in the dead of winter.
I’ll have my choice of snap peas, tomatoes, beans, and the rest of our garden harvest.
There’s plenty to worry about – both real and imagined in this topsy-turvy world. The garden is mostly at rest now, but the work continues. We need to get ready for spring.