One of my favorite things in the garden is Swiss Chard... but it doesn't keep. I really want to preserve Swiss Chard. Other than dehydration (makes great snack chips, I always wondered how one would preserve it. After reading Martha Stewart's Swiss Chard Pie recipe and noting that she freezes it, I decided to look it up... I found this simple freezing method on About.com:
* Wash the chard well.
* Separate the stalks from the leaves. It makes it more convenient when you're cooking the chard later, since the stalks take longer to cook than the leaves (and, sometimes you only want to use one or the other in a recipe, not both.)
* Bring a pot of water to a boil, and fill a bowl with ice water.
* Blanch Swiss chard stalks for two minutes, leaves for one minute. Place them in the ice water immediately after blanching to stop the cooking process.
* Drain well, and place the stalks and leaves in separate freezer bags or other freezer-safe containers.
* Freeze for up to six months.
3 comments:
Any cooking greens can be frozen this way. It's really nice to be able to throw a handful of greens into a dish when the greens are not in season!
You might also like experimenting with Risa's method of preserving greens. Yes, it is dehydrating them, but she dehydrates a mix of any greens on hand plus herbs, and then grinds them all in a meat grinder. Sprinkled on pasta, rice, potatoes, or in soup, they add a flavor and nutritional punch. Here's her post about it.
Thanks Chile- I will have to try Risa's method!
Thanks Chile- I will have to try Risa's method!
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