Friday, December 9, 2011

Freezing greens

I know that lettuces do not freeze well, but I'm wondering if it would be feasible to wash, pat dry and freeze romaine, kale, etc. for VitaMix purposes? I usually do not eat up (or drink up!) a head of romaine or bunch of kale before it goes bad. So I'm thinking that even though washing, freezing, then eating lettuc would taste yucky, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference if you're blending it into a smoothie.

Your thoughts on this?


*Don't know about the other greens, but I freeze kale all the time (grow my own) w/excellent results. I simply pack in ziplocks, squeeze to remove as much air as possible, No par boiling for me. Works great.*

I've not tried it with Romaine(I'm gonna now),But I always have frozen Kale on hand, as well as chard and collards. I wash them, pat them dry and stem them, then place- as flatly as possible in ziplock bags. No idea how long they'ed keep as I go through them fairly quickly.

I used to lay them out on a baking sheet in the freezer to 'flash freeze' them before bagging them up, but I do not notice a difference by skipping that step.

I'm doing this when I buy my next bunch of Kale. Now here's my question. I like to cook Kale, not vitamix it. 

Can I still cook the Kale after freezing it and will it turn out the same way it does now?

Why would it matter if the consistency changed when the kale was frozen, if it is going to be pulverized in the VM anyway? (Oh, I see that Melody cooks hers, so question is for Rob, I guess)

I dehydrate raw kale (also raw spinach). It dries out completely overnight in my dehydrator, and then I crumble it, and store it in an airtight container, in the refrigerator. I add a heaping spoonful to my smoothies, and also to soups, etc.

It doesn't take up any room at all when it is stored this way. :)

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