Freezing My Niblets Off For Winter
I’ve aways lived a slightly crunchier than average life (hippie parents)…nothing extreme. Grew up not wasting stuff or energy, buying used, recycling, eating primarily grains and veggies, etc. etc. (Isn’t it funny how “greenness” comes hand in hand with being poor?)The basics were there…just needed fine tuning. However, the whole local eating thing is fairly new to me and a wee bit of a challenge. My mother was taught to cook by her Mexican stepmother and she in turn taught my brothers and I to love the flavors with a passion. (Hence my insane avocado addiction. Blame her.) Also…my childhood was heavily influenced by the flavors of Norway and Poland. Now I’m married to an Italian. And all these cultures demand a voice in my cooking…and don’t care that the ingredients can’t necessarily be grown locally. Now…whereas I am not willing to give up my little green creamy pods of joy or smoked fish, nor my husband his olive oil and “real” pasta, I can’t say Omnivore’s Dilemma was completely wasted on me.
Even with the best of intentions, I do have a major issue though. NYC is not the easiest to go local. Especially year round. This summer we have made huge strides with the CSA. My out-of-area produce list has been reduced to lemons, bananas, and creamy pods of joy, and apples, which do grow here but not organically….but more rant on that later in the week. But come November we are done with the sweet ride. (Yeah, yeah, CA…stop shaking your winter tomatoes in my face. I know all about your extended growing season.) So will I just give up over the winter? Well, probably…but not without a half-assed attempt at goodness. I’m going to let some summer goodies spend some time with my buddy Bumble. I’ll be freezing zucchini, carrots, rhubarb, & corn. (Maybe berries if I can stop piling them into my trap before they even get out of the CSA box.) What else is easy to freeze? I mean easy. Like a cat could do it if you drew detailed enough pictures easy. And not a very bright cat. With a touch of narcolepsy. And perhaps a missing toe.
green beans for sure should be do-able. I don’t think a cat would need all his toes for that one.
What else you could do is make dishes and freeze those. It might hold up better than the vegetable itself would.
Melissa- Yes green beans should be doable.
Amy- Good thinking. I think I will make a few sauces, pesto and tomato,…less bulk than the whole prepared dish, but will still capture the essence of the summer goodies.
Oh, we have the same growing season challenge. And I have the same summer fruit challenge. Eat it before it even has a chance of making it to the freezer.
So, I guess you don’t want to hear about my year-round CSA shares, huh? Fine, I won’t tell you.
Easy to freeze stuff:
blanched greens (spinach, kale, etc.)
pureed cooked pumpkin
pureed cooked tomato sauce (tomatillo, too)
fire-roasted green chiles (yum)
diced raw onion & peppers
grated potatoes
roasted eggplant
blanched green beans
You might also look into dehydrating food.
No…I don’t Chile. We actually have a winter CSA share here too. All the root veggies you can eat. And then by spring…you can be shaped like a root veggie too.
I do like the idea of making pepper sauces…huge hot pepper freak.
Onions freeze? They will keep a while just hanging out in the drawer too, no?