I have more vegetables than I can use, right now & I'm sure I'm not alone in that,so I have steam blanched a mix of broccoli, carrot, red & green capsicums, celery, beans, courgette. I added the courgette & celery at the end so as not to cook it too much. I'm wondering if it will work & if anyone else has done this successfully! I've never bought the frozen mixes, so don't know what they are like. Any tips appreciated.
davidt4,
Feb 7, 6:04am
It depends on your expectations of a stir-fry.If you're happy with a soggy mess go ahead and freeze the veges.If you prefer crispness and clarity of flavour you will need to use fresh ingredients.
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:05am
I'm surprised that you couldn't help out! You seemknow pretty much everything about everything.
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:08am
Thanks .that's what I was wondering about. I always only use 'fresh' .year around .if it's not in the garden, I don't cook it .any other suggestions for using the excess! I have heaps of stuff to use & I give away as much as I can.
justme...,
Feb 7, 6:10am
I don't think your veggies will retain their crispness after freezing unless you could possibly vacuum pack them!Good luck.
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:12am
I know .it's an experiment, really. I tried the vacuum thing .like sucking out the air.
lilyfield,
Feb 7, 6:29am
Soup
justme...,
Feb 7, 6:30am
Haha, sucking out the air!Good on you, its the kind of thing I would do in a desperate moment!
justme...,
Feb 7, 6:31am
Actually if you wanted to be super healthy you can grate those veggies onto a sandwich, very yummy with a bit of peanut butter and sweet thai chilli sauce!
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:36am
Yep . sounds good.
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:37am
Ha ha ha you think I did 'by mouth'!
davidt4,
Feb 7, 6:38am
I use up miscellaneous veges from the garden by making chicken and vegetable soup, which I serve tepid at this time of year.
1 kg free range chicken drumsticks or 1 free range chicken 200g free range bacon pieces (optional) 1 large onion, chopped approx 500 ml home made chicken stock 100 ml red or white wine (optional) about 1200g of chopped fresh vegetables -tomato, capsicum, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, beans, peas, fennel, zucchini, scallopini , eggplant etc - whatever is available 2 tsp salt
to serve - fresh herbs such as tarragon, basil, parsley, marjoram, some good quality extra virgin olive oil
Put the ingredients into a large saucepan in the order listed.Bring to a simmer and simmer 40 minutes.Turn off the heat and leave for an hour or so to complete the poaching of the chicken.Take out the chicken and remove all of the meat from the bones, tear into small chunks and return to the pan.Discard skin and bones.Check the seasoning, if you haven't used wine or tomatoes maybe add a little wine vinegar or cider vinegar.
Sprinkle chopped herbs on each serving, then a trickle of olive oil.
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:39am
Probably .eventually.
justme...,
Feb 7, 6:39am
Well yeah, it sounded like it!
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:41am
That sounds wonderful & I have all of those ingredients. will it freeze OK! There's only me!
davidt4,
Feb 7, 6:43am
I've not frozen the soup (I give any excess to hungry relatives) but I think it would be fine.It keeps in the fridge for about three days.
justme...,
Feb 7, 6:43am
This sounds amazing!
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:53am
Yeah it did, didn't it. I'm a sucker!
samanya,
Feb 7, 6:55am
Thanks . will give it a go. I try to give away my excess veges but most of my friends have their own excess .we are rural.
akalea,
Feb 7, 7:41am
You could freeze the veges down and use for soup later when you want to make soup from scratch.That way you can take out of the freezer only what you want at the time.Free-flow vac packed has worked for me as long as they not left in freezer for too long.
paquita,
Feb 7, 7:50am
i have tried freezing blanched brocolli and it went soggy and horrible. Freezing portions of soup on the other hand, is great and soup defrosts perfectly. Raw capsicum freezes well, whole or chopped, if you are going to cook with it from frozen (eg in a stir-fry).
amb3,
Feb 7, 8:02am
I don't blanch vegies anymore.Just cut/slice so they're all a similar size and in a ziplock bag, taking as much air out as you can.I've got a mix in there of broccolli, cauli, carrots, capsicum, beans and peas.All cook up fine.Don't use courgette tho, as it tends to be a bit rubbery.
samanya,
Feb 7, 8:43am
Thanks for the input every one .It is an experiment & if it doesn't work out (which I suspect it won't) I could make soup & freeze as I have plenty of freezer space. I really like the ideas for soup, especially davidt4's suggestion. Thanks again.
davidt4,
Feb 7, 10:05am
I forgot to add lettuce as a soup vegetable.It works really well and I have often used half-bolted lettuce (including stem)as part of the chicken and vege soup.
uli,
Feb 7, 10:21pm
You know that the sap from bolted lettuce is very "interesting" too :)
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