What is BLANCHING you ask?
I picked a bunch of kale from the garden to freeze before it goes bad. I've heard how healthy kale is to eat, but I'm new to the kale-eating world and wasn't exactly sure the best process for freezing kale. I followed the tutorial I found here. I also found this awesome website with healthy, delicious-looking recipes I am excited to try here.
Apparently it is best to blanch kale before freezing it to prevent a bitter taste once thawed. My process of blanching and freezing kale went as follows:
1. Rinse kale well under running water (be sure to rinse off any little bugs that are hiding).
2. Cut out the thick spine from each piece of kale (see tutorial noted above) and cut into bite-size pieces.
3. Add kale to a pot of boiling water and top with lid for 2 MINUTES.
Definition: This term means to plunge foods into boiling water for a few seconds or a few minutes, then remove and place in ice water. This process sets the color of vegetables, lets you easily peel fruits, and slip the skins off nuts. The food does not cook all the way through, so crisp texture is preserved. Blanching also denatures enzymes that make food spoil as the first step in food preservation.
I picked a bunch of kale from the garden to freeze before it goes bad. I've heard how healthy kale is to eat, but I'm new to the kale-eating world and wasn't exactly sure the best process for freezing kale. I followed the tutorial I found here. I also found this awesome website with healthy, delicious-looking recipes I am excited to try here.
Apparently it is best to blanch kale before freezing it to prevent a bitter taste once thawed. My process of blanching and freezing kale went as follows:
1. Rinse kale well under running water (be sure to rinse off any little bugs that are hiding).
2. Cut out the thick spine from each piece of kale (see tutorial noted above) and cut into bite-size pieces.
3. Add kale to a pot of boiling water and top with lid for 2 MINUTES.
4. Prepare a large bowl of cold water with ice. Once 2 minutes are up, spoon kale out of the pot of boiling water into the bowl of cold water. (Note: you can save the remaining water in the pot used to boil the kale as a broth to make soup - I saved mine in a mason jar to use later this week).5. After a few minutes of swishing the kale around in the ice water, drain the water and place kale pieces on a kitchen towel and blot with paper towel to remove excess water.
6. Use a salad spinner to help remove water still remaining.
7. Place kale in freezer bags (I used sandwich size bags with the amount I would include in one meal). Squeeze the air out of each bag until it is flat, seal, label and stick in the freezer.
I'm excited to try a few new recipes using Kale: soups, stews, pastas and even smoothies! The possibilities are endless!!! (and it's healthy)
No comments:
Post a Comment