Carrots and Celery
My SO made a delicious stew last weekend and I discovered that we still have half a thing of celery and a bunch of carrots in the fridge. I'd like to put them to use or at least figure out a way to save them for later use. Can I freeze them? Is there a good way to use them up without making soup (we've been overloaded with soup and stew lately)? Suggestions please!
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17 Comments:
Check out the thread at the "Home" page on Bloody Mary's, you can use up the celery as stirring sticks. Carrots last forever, but I wouldn't freeze either one.
dmcavanagh at 10:37AM on 10/24/09
Celery -- buffalo wings and blue cheese.
Carrots-- Carrot cake or muffins.
Roast a chicken or turkey and use the carrots and celery in the cavity and to make stuffing/dressing.
dhorst at 10:47AM on 10/24/09
if you add onions (onions:celery:carrots =2:1:1), chop them fine, saute in butter, it becomes mirepoix and you can freeze that. although that's normally a base for soups and stews (but you can use it later).
hmw0029 at 11:30AM on 10/24/09
add to matzo ball soup or chicken noodle soup or make a vegetable stock.
I also have a recipe for carrot soup with Indian flare.
Enjoy!
orchidgirl at 11:31AM on 10/24/09
@hmw0029--I was wondering about that. What a great short cut to have in your freezer. I am often in the same situation after cooking soup, stock or stew. We don't really use celery for anything else and it seems criminal to pay up to $3 for a whole bunch of celery and let the rest get ignored in the fridge.
I will say that Martha Stewart's celery packaging technique is awesome. If you wrap dry celery in tin foil and store in your crisper, it lasts a really long time.
BananaMonkey at 11:44AM on 10/24/09
Sorry...hit post and then kept thinking. I imagine that with the rather rigid cell structure of celery, freezing it whole would not work, as the ice crystals that form would just render the whole mess completely soggy and broken after thawing...but diced and cooked down into a rich mire poix, it wouldn't matter so much. It's rare that we expect a mire poix to hold up some structural integrity after whatever dish it's in has been cooked.
Does that make sense, I am mostly just thinking out loud (digitally?)
BananaMonkey at 11:48AM on 10/24/09
I hate rubbery celery. There is a grocery store here that sells individual ribs, as well as individual carrots, so I take advantage of that.
I usually use more carrots and celery than a recipe calls for. I like it in soups and stews, I even put it in my chili!
When I make tuna sandwiches, I chop up celery, carrots, onion, (whatever other veggies I have) to mix in.
eeels at 11:56AM on 10/24/09
Get a vegetable juicer.
salpico at 1:39PM on 10/24/09
I like celery, carrots and onions steamed/poached in a little chicken or veg broth and served with butter as a side dish. Or you could cook them until tender, add garlic and mash them in with your mashed potatoes.
tapioca at 2:24PM on 10/24/09
maybe i am feeling lazy, but when i see carrots and celery, i think veggies and dip. i mean sure they do that whole really good to bake with herbs and onions... but sometimes leaving them raw with a crunch is whats craved.
blizcheetah at 3:12PM on 10/24/09
I saute a few carrots and an equal amount of celery (along with peppers, onion, and garlic) and add it to my weekly meat sauce celebration.
spongedaddy at 5:25PM on 10/24/09
I chop them and freeze before sauteeing - just makes life easier, and I can measure out specific amounts. I spread them on a wax-paper covered baking sheet, freeze til rigid and dump them in a plastic bag (marked!).
lemons at 5:44PM on 10/24/09
All good idea's thanks. I throw out so many carrots and celery I almost considered getting a rabbit. But i have two cats so not a good idea.
chardonnay at 5:49PM on 10/24/09
For the celery, here's another idea from epicurious.com, burgers with celery apple slaw.
dhorst at 6:43PM on 10/24/09
I'm with making a mirepoix and freezing in measured amounts for future soups etc. If frozen cooked then a fresh soup would be just a few minutes away. Add some rotisserie chicken, broth, noodles, and you've got chicken soup in 10 minutes.
lemonfair at 6:50AM on 10/25/09
Steamed carrots with butter, honey, parsley, S & P.
Celery with peanut butter makes a great snack, or with blue cheese dressing.
DELICIOUS at 9:44AM on 10/25/09
I always freeze my veggie scraps, unless I have immediate plans for them. Frozen and then unfrozen carrots normally aren't good if you want a dish with carrots in them, but they're perfect for soup/sauce bases. Unless you use liquid nitrogen to insta-freeze them, and how many of us have that sitting in the cupboard at home?
you may not want soup now, but when it comes time to make stock or soup and you have to go buy your mirepoix ingredients just for that you'll kick yourself for tossing the scraps.
phenoderr at 7:01PM on 10/25/09