Which Frozen Vegetables are Acceptable?
Riffing off of PerkyMac's pearl onion question -- it made me realize that I completely irrationally find some frozen vegetables acceptable and some not. It's not based on anything except my pre-conceived notions. For example -- haricot vert I'm fine with using frozen. Broccoli? Not so much. I would never eat frozen broccoli. Peas? I'm fine with.
Maybe it's a texture thing -- what about you guys? What veg do you keep on hand in your freezer to cook with and what would you never eat?
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38 Comments:
Spinach and peas. I also keep corn on hand, but it has limited purposes... acceptable for chili, not for corn soup.
I have no need for any other frozen veggies unless you guys can convince me otherwise.
nalega at 7:18PM on 01/22/09
Chopped broccoli and spinach for use in a couple casseroles that I like for a change of pace.
dmcavanagh at 7:37PM on 01/22/09
Peas, corn and edamame are all good. I also keep a couple bags of green beans, mixed veggies, and broccoli florets on hand. I will be a brand snob and go with the Birdseye Steamfresh for those items. They seem to keep a good texture. Peas and corn can be whatever's on sale though.
Amandarama at 7:47PM on 01/22/09
Spinach, peas, corn...always for "in a dish", never on their own as veg. I'm curious too...any other acceptable ones I am missing?
Cary at 7:47PM on 01/22/09
what i can't stand frozen is carrots. something funky happens to the texture. plus, fresh ones last so long... i just can't see the point.
andshewas at 7:48PM on 01/22/09
Edamame a great. haricots verts. petit pois. I do have frozen broc, but I find myself not really using it except in recipes where it is an accent rather than the feature.
Pointy at 7:54PM on 01/22/09
Peas, corn, edamame, green beans (if no fresh are available), mixed veg (the ones without limas). But onions, bell peppers, carrots (on their own), and brussels sprouts are the worst.
beth1 at 7:55PM on 01/22/09
Since spinach goes bad so quickly, I will on occasion blanch my bunches of fresh spinach just before they go bad, line them up, squeezing all the water out, cut and wrap them into 2" cylindrical servings, and throw them in the freezer so I can have a small serving of spinach at any time. It's great for breakfast when I eat soup or ramen.
If I have to eat peas, frozen peas are okay. I've never had fresh peas before, so I don't know what I'm missing. Canned peas make me green. :x
We fell into the habit of buying frozen okra for gumbo since we eat gumbo all year and cannot find fresh okra all year. We can make gumbo at (almost) any time - just need to pop into the store for andouille.
What I don't care for frozen?
I prefer canned corn over frozen corn, I guess. I'll been known to open up a can of unsalted corn and snack on it straight from the can with a spoon. Of course, fresh is best.
Frozen wild mushrooms are awful. I bought a bag from Trader Joe. N-A-S-T-Y. Mushrooms are too delicate a flavor to eat frozen w/ other flavors being absorbed.
Cassaendra at 7:57PM on 01/22/09
Spinach. I may also occasionally have corn, peas and edamame, but like @Cass, I prefer tinned corn to frozen.
I also buy frozen green beans, but I only use them for my pups' food.
brooke29 at 8:13PM on 01/22/09
Peas and spinach.
nightowl at 8:17PM on 01/22/09
Frozen okra's ok, but I buy whole and then chop so I don't have to pick out inedible parts (as in the "chopped frozen okra").
Stir-frying them with garlic, ginger, sesame oil, chili pepper, and soy sauce makes a pretty good quick vegetable side dish.
hmw0029 at 8:22PM on 01/22/09
Fresh is always preferred, but I agree with those who think frozen carrots are the worst....peas are the best... and everything else falls some place inbetween.
kathyvegas at 8:27PM on 01/22/09
Peas and corn. I only like Birds Eye frozen though. All other brands seem to lack in the taste department.
LizSherman at 8:29PM on 01/22/09
Peas, edamame, corn when it's out of season, and brussels sprouts (because I'm just too lazy sometimes). When I'm super lazy, I enjoy Cascadian Farms Gardener's Blend and California Blend.
Peppers, onions, and mushrooms are just disgusting when frozen
chisai at 8:40PM on 01/22/09
Peas, v. thin green beans from Trader Joe's, corn, artichoke hearts, spinach.
emilydev at 8:48PM on 01/22/09
i adore trader joe's artichoke hearts. other than that i don't buy frozen vegetables.
cybercita at 8:57PM on 01/22/09
Hmmm.
I suppose for me the difference is in which I freeze myself and which I buy. If I blanched and froze it, almost anything goes.
For store-bought, I really don't mid them either in every day eating at all. I cannot stand most canned veggies AT ALL (excluding tomatoes) so frozen is my choice often over the sad pale and tasteless fresh produce available for a lot of the choices near me.
I do tend to buy name brands of broccoli florets, cauliflower and beans, and since I don't love corn much anyway any brand goes if I buy it at all. I agree with the above poster on carrots, as they keep forever. I keep frozen spinach and beans and broccoli on hand all the time.
Frozen squash is likely the one thing I see as silly. I only want to eat it in season anyway, so why not cook a fresh one since they are cheap and everywhere? I agree with frozen mushrooms too. Yuck.
I don't think onions or peppers freeze that well (texture thing) so I hate seeing people use those frozen bags of stir-fry mix. Ick.
Other than that a good quality frozen veg is sometimes better than the fresh when out of season. I don't mind them a bit in most cases, and I agree about the nutrient value being kept higher when fresh-frozen over old fresh produce.
sadiepix at 9:21PM on 01/22/09
Frozen squash puree
madcarmom at 9:24PM on 01/22/09
peas and carrots, haricot verts, edemame, corn, I freeze chopped onion, cauliflower.
JerzeeTomato at 10:05PM on 01/22/09
It depends on the season. Always have Hanover whole petite green beans, shoepeg corn, boxes and boxes of spinach, artichokes, peas, succotash, some kind of mixed vegetables for stews or soups or just a variety pack. Various Ore-Ida potatoes. Rarely - carrots. Never - brussels sprouts, onions or peppers. I tried frozen butternut squash puree and didn't like it. That's all that's coming to me at the moment. One quickie I do like is rice with peas and mushrooms (forget who makes it), because mushrooms don't keep too long and I never buy them frozen. I think it's a boil bag? Haven't had it in awhile. I prefer fresh broccoli, cauliflower & asparagus and never buy them frozen. I'd love to hear about some great frozen vegetables (except for french green beans - never did care for them).
PerkyMac at 10:39PM on 01/22/09
Of course I somehow forgot about the veg that I prep and freeze myself. But to me, it's not the same. Most vegetables I froze this past summer-autumn were the ones I picked myself, and when I freeze them, I freeze them prepped in a particular way, for a particular purpose.
I cut and freeze peppers (it is incredibly convenient for many dishes that require sautéed or caramelised peppers - I slice/chop them the way I want them for certain prep, and since I sauté or caramelise them anyway, the texture doesn't matter to me in this particular case), I freeze spaghetti squash (cooked and "spaghettied", but not seasoned, like blank canvas for whatever I decide to make later on), roasted pureed butternut squash (solely for muffins), breaded and briefly fried aubergine slices (for baked aubergines in tomato sauce - kind of like cheese-less eggplant parmesan)... there is probably something else.
But like I said before, the only frozen veg I buy regularly is spinach (and green beans for the pups).
brooke29 at 11:11PM on 01/22/09
Frozen green beans, cauliflower or broccoli is OK, though nowhere near as good as fresh.
Frozen brussels sprouts, peas and corn are just fine (fresh peas are almost always too expensive).
Most everything else suffers from freezing.
gentlyferal at 2:21AM on 01/23/09
I'm going to get nailed for this,but I like frozen veggies with a few exceptions. I wont purchase or use frozen carrots, pearl onions,mushrooms, asparagus,or squashes. Just about everything else I use is fine, not as good as fresh but when fresh isnt as option the frozen works fine for me.
huneybumper at 7:43AM on 01/23/09
I'm the oddball here--I don't like frozen spinach. I'm not opposed to freezing spinach, but the quality of most frozen spinach is pretty bad.
Another controversial stance (other than @sadiepix & dmcavanaugh)--I like frozen broccoli and cauliflower. Particularly chopped, which takes away the 'long stem frozen' grossness.
String beans--maybe sometimes. Never canned though.
I don't like peas or corn or pearl onions fresh or frozen, and I only eat carrots raw. Like sadiepix and a few others, asparagus, zucchini and summer squash is so delicate, I really don't like the extra moisture and toughness from freezing, so I eat them in season although they are my favorite veggies. As for other veggies, I'm less likely to have them on hand frozen than fresh, but I'm not totally opposed if it is a decent brand.
HeartofGlass at 8:04AM on 01/23/09
yes to - broccoli, green beans, peas, corn (try TJ's frozen roasted corn), asparagus (but only for certain uses), mixed veggies (TJ has a great stir fry mix), edamame, artichokes (usually all of these from TJ, which has the best quality frozen veggies, I think)
no to - spinach (frozen spinach makes my mouth itch for some reason, but fresh doesn't), peppers, mushrooms, onions
NYCEater at 8:09AM on 01/23/09
I do not make a lot of money, so frozen veggies are a constant presence. I usually buy TJ's. Always on hand: TJ's Harvest HodgePodge, Spinach, Blend of Three Bell Peppers. Sometimes on hand: corn, artichokes, edamame, green beans, mixed green beans and wax beans, asparagus, broccoli.
KarynMC at 9:03AM on 01/23/09
I don't think it's irrational at all - some things do hold up better to freezing. For "emergencies," I usually have some or all of these in the freezer: edamame, peas, corn, chopped onions and squash puree. I recently discovered TJ's pepper mix and stir-fry mix, so there's likely to be a bag or two of those in there at all times too...
CookiePie at 9:35AM on 01/23/09
Petite peas! Frozen spinach is good for certain recipes, though I tend to use fresh more often. Trader Joe's frozen haricots vert are really good, though they didn't keep for very long in my freezer (I noticed that after a while their flavor was kind of bitter when they were cooked).
Junie at 11:42AM on 01/23/09
There are a few things I'm not a fan of from frozen - asparagus or zucchini, for example - but most frozen veggies are a-ok with me, particularly for cooking. I stick with peas, corn (when I eat it, which is rare), and broccoli for steaming up on their own, but I'll use any old frozen veggie for a recipe. Since it's just me and my husband, and we don't have a decent grocery store super close, a lot of fresh veg will just go bad. So we buy fresh what we can't get frozen, and eat frozen for most of the rest. It's a pragmatic thing more than anything else; I usually prefer the taste of fresh, but frozen is better than nothing, and tastes just fine to me most of the time. :)
omglawdork at 12:29PM on 01/23/09
I like frozen veggies too, especially for doing work lunches - a little leftover pasta or rice, a small bag of frozen mixed interesting vegetables (it was stir-fry mix this week, with broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, and beans) and homemade Alfredo, portioned into 5 plastic containers, and I'm happy.
I do wish there was an alternative to using frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, in so many recipes. I tend to use half a roll of paper towels when trying to do the "thawed and drained" part. Anyone know how to sub fresh spinach?
akk328 at 12:47PM on 01/23/09
@akk328 ~ a box of frozen chopped spinach fits into a small ricer. Press and the water is drained off. Quick and easy!
PerkyMac at 1:26PM on 01/23/09
I'm gone 2/3rds of the year, and when you get in after a 9 hour flight coming off of 2 weeks of restaurant food, it's nice to eat something green and healthy. I always have broccoli, peas, edamame and corn stashed in my freezer, it makes it so easy until I have the time and energy to shop for real food.
I do refuse to ever use frozen spinach and carrots though, I only like them raw.
froggo at 1:53PM on 01/23/09
I don't mind frozen spinach but I think it's ridiculous when butternut squash or sweet potatoes are frozen. Broccoli is ok but not preferrable.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 2:05PM on 01/23/09
i wont do frozen brussell sprouts but i will do frozen squash - especially when I use it for a puree. But I almost always only use frozen fruits and veggies in a dish with plenty of other flavors going on.
I find that the frozen corn on the cob from Costco is amazingly delicious and almost fresh tasting!
secondbecky at 3:39PM on 01/23/09
Only peas and spinach for spinach dip. Everything else has to be fresh.
lamora at 12:40AM on 01/24/09
No to delicately textured veggies like spinach being frozen.
It seems so wrong to dump out a block of frozen spinach. When its thawed it has the consistency of cow cud. Don't get me started on having to wring it out before using. That just kills it even more.
Okay to frozen edamame. I wish we could get fresh, but its not too easy around here.
fuuchan at 2:11AM on 01/24/09
I have boys playing sports People! Frozen vegetables are a fixture during lacrosse and football season. There is an entire section of my downstairs freezer devoted to corn, peas (tho they've been Awful the last few months), and broccoli. I keep frozen spinach for myself, to make a quick soup if I want it. There is always frozen corn on the cob in there. Like everyone else, we truly prefer fresh. But sometimes, budget and timing won't allow it. I throw out alot of produce and I try soo hard not too. My only consolation is the compost pile. And the creatures in the woods in my back yard. I still don't have any decent compost!
I grew up on canned though, so frozen tastes far superior. To the canned, I mean.
Except for Le Sueur peas. I eat those out of the can for lunch.
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 2:51AM on 01/24/09
@Cassandra--thanks for the great idea regarding the spinach!! I have all this fresh spinach & didn't know how to keep it ..It goes bad so quickly if not used straight away...I'm actually blanching as a I write this!
@Cassandra-I agree with you Trader Joe's frozen wild mushrooms are nasty and I think that's why they were discontinued
I do love TJ's haricot vert, artichoke hearts, and frozen broccoli....I also keep Birdseye steam fresh--for quick healthy lunches or dinners when I'm around!! @froggo--fellow airline person I feel exactly as you do--
I don't like frozen onions, mushrooms and canned anything! (except tomatoes)
Italiancupcake at 7:36AM on 01/24/09