SO THEY ACTUALLY TASTE GOOD The Smart Way to Freeze Fruits and Vegetables
1. Break out the cookie sheet. Berries for smoothies and apple slices for pie tend to stick together when you freeze them, which turns them into one giant lump you have to hack apart to steal a serving. To avoid this, break out a cookie sheet after you’ve washed and sliced your fruit. Spread the pieces or berries out on the sheet and pop the whole thing in the freezer for a few hours or even overnight. When the fruit is frozen, pour it into a glass jar or freezer bag. Thanks to the initial freeze, nothing will stick together. You can pour a serving into your oatmeal or scoop it with a measuring cup hassle-free. For more kitchen hacks like this, follow @zerowastechef on Instagram. 2. Blanch, blanch, baby! Vegetables lose their crisp texture, bright color, and tasty flavor over time, even in the freezer — but you can hit the pause button on that process by blanching your veggies before you freeze them! Blanching is really simple: All you have to do is boil the vegetables for a short time, dunk them in an ice bath, and drain the water before freezing. (The University of Minnesota Extension has a great blanching guide listing times for each vegetable. Just search “University of Minnesota Blanching” online to find it.)
If you’re like us, you get pretty excited when fresh fruit and vegetables go on sale. It means you can buy the good stuff and really stock up! Then you can freeze those extra berries for your smoothies and that broccoli for your stir-fry.
This is a great money-saving strategy, but if you’ve done it before, you know freezing fruits and vegetables isn’t as easy as it seems. If you don’t do it right, you can end up with clumps of flavorless, stuck- together produce destined for the trash! It doesn’t have to be that way. Next time you’re freezing fruit or vegetables post-sale, use these two hacks to get flavorful, easy-to- cook results every time.
You can combine these two hacks for fruits and veggies to ensure they’re tasty and easy to cook with every time.
TAKE A BREAK
Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto
Nothing highlights fall quite like pumpkin-inspired dishes. Grab your blankets, turn on your favorite movie, and enjoy a delicious meal.
Ingredients
• 5 cups of low-sodium
• Salt, to taste • Pepper, to taste • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese • 2 tbsp mascarpone cheese • 2 tbsp olive oil
chicken or vegetable broth • 2 cups Arborio rice • 2 cups of pumpkin, diced • 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin purée • 1/2 yellow onion, minced
Directions
1. Heat the oven to 400 F and arrange a rack in the middle. 2. In a 3-quart baking dish, combine broth, rice, diced and puréed pumpkin, and onion. 3. Season with salt and pepper, then stir until evenly combined. 4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake until water has been absorbed and rice granules are puffed. 5. Remove from the oven and stir in basil, grated Parmesan cheese, mascarpone cheese, and olive oil. Inspired by FoodNetwork.com
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