Can You Thaw Frozen Veggies and Freeze Them Again
It'south no secret that eating the recommended daily quota of veggies is an of import part of a balanced diet, still only 1 in 10 American adults are pulling it off, according to the Centers for Disease Command and Prevention. Depending on age and gender, guidelines recommend that adults eat at to the lowest degree ane½ to 2 cups per day of fruit and 2 to 3 cups per day of vegetables.
Frozen vegetables tin can assistance the states pick upward the slack in this department, since they're just equally healthy equally fresh veggies (if not more), already prepped and piece of cake on the wallet. But considering how frozen veggies tin can easily morph into a mushy, soggy mess during the cooking process, it's no wonder many of us casually ignore this section of the freezer aisle.
"Since the process of freezing vegetables is designed to retain the most diet, flavor, texture and color compared to other preservation methods, information technology'south important that we keep to retain these attributes in the cooking process," said Lisa Shepherd , a nutrition and food science instructor at Middle Tennessee Country Academy.
So how exactly practise nosotros get ane with frozen vegetables and, dare we say, cook them so that they rival fresh veggies? Nosotros went to the experts to find out the biggest faux pas many of united states of america make when using frozen vegetables. Hither's how to plow things effectually:
Mistake #1: Choosing Just Any Bag From The Freezer Aisle
Requite the bag of veggies a few skilful squeezes to see if they're clumped together. "If they are, this means they thawed and refroze somewhere forth their journey to the shop and lost nutrients in that process," said Beth Auguste, a registered dietitian based in Philadelphia. This brief temperature fluctuation can crusade the veggies to dehydrate — or lose their h2o content — during storage and trigger water ice formation, which tin can affect color, flavor and firmness.
Frozen veggies are flash-frozen at the height of their freshness when all nutrients are at meridian value, so if y'all choose a bag where y'all can feel the private pieces of frozen vegetables, that'southward a sign they're still in their original flash-frozen state, Auguste said.
Mistake #ii: Using Frozen Veggies In The Wrong Dishes
"The best dishes for frozen veggies are casseroles, soups and other multi-ingredient dishes that tend to disguise the texture of the frozen vegetables," said Shepherd, who also recommends using only frozen or only fresh, merely non a mixture of both.
Water-based dishes, similar soups or stews, are fairly forgiving of different textures, but other dishes may depend on a consequent texture amongst a variety of ingredients.
Accept stir fry, for example. If frozen vegetables are combined with fresh, the differences in texture may be unappealing. The same goes for dishes in which a certain vegetable is the star of a recipe. Lesser line: Always choose between frozen or fresh, based on the context of the dish.
Mistake #iii: Thawing Frozen Vegetables Before Cooking Them
The most prominent quality issue when information technology comes to frozen veggies is texture. "Since freezing causes water to expand and veggies are more often than not h2o, the freezing process pushes and stretches the jail cell walls to maximum," Shepherd said. "This results in less structure and a softer, mushier texture when thawed."
There's no demand to thaw veggies in advance — they quickly thaw during whatsoever cooking process, and cooking them from a frozen state tin can help you lot attain the best texture, Shepherd said.
The only exceptions are corn on the cob and leafy greens. In gild for the cob to be thoroughly heated past the time the corn is cooked, it should be partially thawed before cooking, according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation . Leafy greens, such equally spinach, cook more than evenly if they're partially thawed before you cook them.
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Fault #four: In some cases, Non Thawing And Draining Them
This may seem opposite to what nosotros just taught you, just in sure cases, thawing frozen veggies is crucial to how a recipe turns out, and not doing so tin have a meaning impact on the final product. Shepherd suggests deciding how best to prep your frozen veggies on a per-repast footing.
Frozen spinach is a classic example: To use on a pizza or in a dip, thawing and draining it to get rid of excess water means y'all won't cease up with a watery pizza topping or runny dip. But when tossing information technology into a dish that already contains water, such equally soup, the spinach tin be used as is.
Error #5: Calculation Frozen Veggies Too Presently
Most frozen veggies are fair-skinned — that is, dipped for a few minutes in boiling h2o — before they're frozen to deactivate the enzymes that might affect flavor and texture, Shepherd said, which is why they don't take as long to cook equally fresh veggies do.
Many of us have a trend to add frozen veggies to recipes at the aforementioned time we would add fresh vegetables, leading to overcooking and the potential for nutrients to leach out (especially vitamin C and some B vitamins).
The best way to avoid this is by adding frozen veggies to a dish later in the cooking process. When adding them to soups and stews in a slow cooker, for case, add them during the last few minutes of cooking to retain texture and colour, Shepherd said.
"In general, small frozen veggies, like cutting green beans or sliced okra, will need less time to cook, whereas larger ones, like frozen murphy or pumpkin chunks, volition need more," said Casey Seiden , a New York City-based registered dietitian. Take a look at the manufacturer'southward directions for training tips, and use a fork to examination doneness forth the manner.
Fault #6: Avoiding Your Microwave
Moist heat methods of cooking, such every bit microwaving and boiling, take a reputation for turning frozen veggies into a soggy mess, which is why experts recommend sautéing, frying or roasting them instead. "The longer the vegetables are exposed to heat and water, the lower the quality," Shepherd said.
Just using your microwave can still exist an effective way to cook them if you're crunched for time, as long as you call up a few uncomplicated tips — starting with not thawing them beforehand, which pretty much guarantees a soggy terminate result.
"For firmer vegetables, popular them in the microwave for near 4-vi minutes total without water in the cooking dish," said Brittany Linn, a registered dietitian based in New York City. Because microwave cook times vary, exam the veggies at 60-second intervals, stirring between each, until they reach the desired consistency.
If you prefer softer veggies, adding a tiny bit of water to the bottom of the bowl will create less crunch, Linn said. So, follow the same threescore-2nd interval formula for four-6 minutes.
Mistake #7: Waiting A Year To Eat Your Frozen Veggies
Yes, freezing vegetables preserves them for an extended menstruum of time by preventing the growth of microorganisms that cause nutrient to spoil, according to the U.Due south. Section of Agriculture .
Just the enzyme activity that can bear on food quality isn't halted by freezing, just slowed downward — so fifty-fifty though your frozen veggies are condom to eat upwardly to 12 months later (and then long every bit they're consistently stored at 0 degrees Fahrenheit), there might be changes in flavor, color or texture that make them less enjoyable to munch on.
The recommended shelf life of frozen vegetables is 8 to 12 months, simply using them even sooner helps ensure that they'll wait, feel and gustatory modality as close to fresh as possible.
Mistake #viii: Letting Freezer Burn down Happen
Buying majority numberless of frozen veggies is a swell way to save money, but freezer burn can easily happen if the handbag isn't well-sealed for the long haul (say, because the resealable handbag is defective). The air exposure causes oxidation , a chemical modify that alters the fatty content, structure and pigment of the nutrient. "For veggies, this could mean less nutritional value if not sealed and stored properly," Seiden said.
Freezer fire doesn't make the veggies any less prophylactic to eat , but it can modify the texture of the food. For optimal nutrition and texture, Seiden recommends removing the rest of the frozen veggies from their original storage handbag and transferring them to a Ziploc freezer bag — that way, you lot tin can press out as much backlog air equally possible and securely seal them upwardly.
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Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/frozen-vegetable-mistakes_l_5d408188e4b0d24cde06d6c9
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