Need advice on veggie prep shortcuts and using (gasp!) frozen

[makedah]

I'm a busy student and in the name of health and the hobby I love, I've been spending a good chunk of my weekend days and even some weekday nights on veggie prep. I really have to cut back because I have so much work I need to be doing. Spending Sunday washing spinach greens saves me at dinner time for 3 more days, but then I've spent all Sunday washing greens instead of working!!! But I don't want to give up my healthy habit of striving for 8-10 servings a day (I'm getting 7 on average these days).

Please share with me your time-saving veggie-prep tips and/or fast veggie recipes and your tricks with frozen veggies. I really can't use a lot of CL recipes any more because they're too high in calories (imagine that!) -- I can't swing 230 cals (as is the Gratin Dauphinois) for 1/2 c. of a side dish!!!! :eek: So I'm looking for additional help.

Especially at this time of year, some frozen veggies (and fruits!) are cheaper than fresh -- and even fresher, considering a lot of the 'fresh' is coming from S. America. But I've never learned the 'art' of cooking with them. I went straight from canned only to fresh only. How do you saute frozen broccoli, for instance? Do you thaw first? Do any of you steam frozen veggies?

Thanks!

[heatherfeather]

Well, here are a few tips:

1) To quickly thaw frozen veggies, place them in a colander and run them under cold water for a few minutes. You made need to stir them up a bit in the colander to keep them from globbing together in an ice ball. This works especially well for corn, peas, and other small veggies. Once thawed, you can use them as yuo would fresh vegetables, only you may be able able to cut down some of the cooking time.

2) Yes - I would thaw and drain frozen broccoli before sauteeing otherwise it will release a lot of water into your pan.

3) I highly recommend a good salad spinner for quicker rinsing of greens. There are two highly recommended brands - Zyliss and OXO. I have the OXO and it is very easy to use - you put your food into the colander part and rinse your veggies. Then set the colander into the spinner bowl, set the lid in place, and push a huge hand pump button a couple of times. It spins your leaves dry and clean in no time at all. Then, drain out the liquid, push the pump down into the lid and stick you can store it in the fridge (provided you have room - salad spinners are large). Expect to have to pay around $25 for a good spinner unless you find a bargain. Some no name brands are very good, some are duds.

[Saralee]

I'm a college student, too, so I completely understand. I really love fresh veggies, but I've really come to enjoy some types of vegetables. Broccoli is really great frozen, as are many "blends" of veggies. I really don't like green beans frozen, or corn, but that's just my opinion.

Do you have a Foreman grill? This may sound odd, but often times I just throw some veggies on the foreman, add some seasoning and they turn out pretty tasty. It usually only takes 5-10 minutes to cook, and they are really tender and have a slightly grilled taste.

I read an article recently about how broccoli is actually cheapter to buy (per pound) frozen, than fresh. The reason was due to the outer layer and some of the stem being cut off from fresh veggies. You actually get a better value from the frozen!

[JHolcomb]

OK, normally I don't advocate pre cut bagged veggies because I think they have a funny taste and they're usually way too expensive, but I used some pre cut, pre washed broccoli in the broccoli and cheese soup (Jan/Feb 02) last night and it was actually pretty good and not that much more expensive than buying it "whole." I also second the idea of a good salad spinner. I spend maybe 15 minutes on a Saturday tearing, washing and spinning my greens and it saves a ton of time the rest of the week.

[beccathebaker]

I completely agree with SaraLee about the Foreman Grill- it really makes any vegetable taste wonderful!

I use frozen broccoli and cauliflower alot. I buy the restaurant quality at Costco and it is fantastic. I just thaw it in the microwave, then I usually dry it in paper towel and then sautee it with garlic, onion, ginger etc.. It is wonderful and absorbs lots of flavor without being too mushy. One thing that is really important in using the frozen veggies is to be sure that all of the moisture is off of them before cooking, so that they are able to caramelize and get nice and crispy.

good luck

Becca

[rosen]

Why don't you count the veggies as the main dish? This way you CAN justify the higher calorie count. That way you can enjoy a veggie casserole like the potatoes or another one that can be frozen in single servings. I LOVE to make up a huge pan of the Zuchinni Feta casserole & freeze it in single serving portions. A larger serving is perfect as a meal w/ just a simple side of a salad or fruit.

[Safari Girl]

Great tips on using frozen veggies. I've just started using them as fresh veggies up here and getting ridiculously expensive - drought last summer certainly hurt! When I'm in a rush to chop veggies for dinner I toss them in my food processor - cuts them nicely for stir frying. I do buy baby carrotts in a bag rather than big carrotts all the time - great for snacks and with no prep needed easy to use as a side dish.

Tracy

[makedah]

Rosen, most veggie side dishes don't have enough protein to be subbed for the entrees I usually have. But thanks for the idea, because something like the Greens and Cheese Souffle (10/01) would work because of the milk and egg whites. And 2 cups of it gives 20 grams of protein and only 250 calories.

I have an Oxo salad spinner and it works great. What's time consuming is picking apart the bunch of spinach (or leaf lettuce or kale/collards) trimming it, washing it (2-3 times for the spinach and kale/collards), spinning the spinach and lettuce (in batches because all at once keeps everything wet), then laying it out on paper towels to dry enough that it won't get slimy in a day or so, chopping the kale or collards. I could deal with a day of washing greens if I could cut way back on veggie prep for most of the rest of the week. I just hate the idea of spending all that time on Sunday to save time during the week and then not being able to...save time during the week!!! :confused:

I try to buy organic spinach and leaf lettuce, so bagged pre-washed/cut lettuce or spinach is just WAY too expensive for me on any regular basis.

Thanks so much for all of your tips about frozen veggies (I agree that frozen green beans are yucky!). I didn't grow up eating them, so I have no sense of what to do with them to make them taste good or how they work in recipes that call for fresh.

[funnybone]

Costco near us has a fresh blend of baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. I'm not sure of the size (may 3 - or 4 lbs) but for $4.99 you get a lot, and it beats cutting up that broccoli and cauliflower up.

I usually find a "unique taste" to prepackaged vegetables, even after I wash them, but there was none to these. I even served them over the holidays with a dip, and they were quite fresh tasting.

Frozen vegetables are not all bad, as they always claim the veggies are picked at peak ripeness and flash frozen, so all the nutrients and flavors are retained. Now canned veggies are a different story all together!!

[dcornelius]

The best advise I can give on frozen veggies is to try Schwan's veggies. I started using them many years ago and won't even buy a frozen veggie in the grocery any more. My family won't eat them. I am better off not cooking a veggie than cooking a non-Schwans frozen veggie. I will always of course, prefer fresh but that is not always an option with my life and Schwan's veggies are so wonderfully flavorful. Scwhan's dude, if you are out there, you can send my payment for this wonderful plug to....

:D

[Luiza]

Makedah, here is what I do when I want to prep greens in advance, and it doesn't take long. I fill the sink (or a large bowl, in which case I do the rest in 2-3 batches) with water. Then I prep the greens (ripping out the thick spinach stems, for example) and throw them in the water. I swish the leaves around for a little while (which is enough to make the grit sink to the bottom) then scoop them out and put them in a colander. I spin them in batches to get them drier, then pack them in the spinner with a tiny bit of water on the bottom and store them in the fridge (this is a tip I picked up from the BB, it works wonderfully -- salads stay fresh for more than a week). I chop the greens as needed. Of course, the salad spinner has only a limited capacity.

As for frozen green beans, I don't like the regular ones, but the French cut green beans (long, thin beans with the ends barely trimmed) are pretty good.