Winter's icy grasp can drain you - recharge with this!
What do you do when you have no seasonal produce? Fear not! By the end of this post you will know what to do!
A lot has been said about easting seasonally, locally and organic. If your neighborhood is anything like mine though, seasonal means snow drifts and street salt. (Snow cone anyone?) Even if you are hardcore, Winter can be tough on you. All those roots, meats, warming stews.
Worse, you might even see pictures of people eating other stuff that you are craving. You know how it is – your friend goes down to South America and posts about a million pictures on Facebook of beaches and sun. That alone should mean her demise, but her eating fresh berries and peppers and all others is the final straw.
I get it. You are chomping at the bit for summer – but it is about a million miles away.
I know, you are chewing at your knuckles on what to do. The solution is really not as hard as you think.
A lot of people might scorn off the frozen foods aisles; the irony is delicious. (Pardon the pun.) The truth is, a lot of those items were picked at their seasonal best (read: cheapest) then flash frozen in IQF form. (Individually Quick Frozen.)
It boggles the mind that the item you are buying in the freezer bag might be more fresh than the “fresh” stuff in the produce aisle. Those raspberries won’t have enough miles to take a free trip to the Bahamas after all.
Behold! 5 Fruits and Vegetables to get you through Winter!
Raspberries. Sweet and juicy, they lend themselves well to the IQF process. They are frozen, so you need to change it up a little bit. Smoothies, muesli, yogurt. That is the way to do it.
Blueberries. Try to find the wild version. They won’t party on and puke on your couch, but they will be a LOT tastier in things like your waffles, pancakes and such. Worst case scenario, you could make a compote with them.
Peaches. The frozen peaches in your frozen section are awesome. You know what is good about the peach? After you get past the peach fuzz, there is that acidic taste, tangy and succulent. The IQF process is great at capturing that. Best yet, you are pretty much guaranteed that you will not be biting into a stone unripe peach.
Corn. I have said it before. Forget canned corn for a minute. It is packed with a lot of salt. Search for the one that is IQF and you will not be disappointed. Goes great in soups, salads, served as a side, offered up to the gods of Spring.
Peas. I hate canned peas. Seriously, there ought to be a law! My wife disagrees with this wholeheartedly. You can’t have fresh peas in February, but you can have the IQF peas from last summer. You know what really rocks? A pea and mint soup with prosciutto. With IQF, that is possible.
Those are 5 to get you started. It might sound like cheating, but remember, when purchasing those items, look for a source local to you. (For me, it is Canada – either Quebec or Ontario.) The produce you buy will be FRESHER than the “fresh” produce at the produce aisle.
What do you look for in the frozen aisle to get you through Winter?
Photo courtesy of epsos of Flickr under Creative Commons by Attribution Generic 2.0
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
While the hard-core locavores can be really, really, REALLY annoying (you want me to give up mangoes because they aren’t grown locally? Uh…no), I eat as locally and seasonally as I can. Nor do I eschew frozen food. Gimme broccoli…lots and lots of lovely broccoli.
@Jan – I know, hardcore is not exactly fun. I find it is easy to be hardcore in places like Vancouver and California. My policy is to eat in season if you can’t eat locally.) Broccoli is awesome frozen. Especially in soup!
Frozen it the way to go, but dare I say it: I would never buy frozen foods from my local market, I always go to Whole Foods as they are far better quality. The frozen fruits (and veggies) at my Stop & Shop are just horrid.
@Dawn – I have no real disposition as to where I buy, as long as the product offered is as local as possible. Sometimes one needs that extra push to get through the winter. Smoothie time!
Frozen fruits and veggies are your friends when you live in North Dakota. The IQF process can also apply to fish, correct? Seems to me I’ve heard that salmon can actually be fresher and in better condition after being flash frozen than if I wait and try buying it semifresh. I think it takes less abuse during transit when frozen.
@Mike – Indeed, the IQF process is applied to fish. I am not so sure about the abuse the item will take in transit; for me the key is about freshness. If a fish can be locked in at the premium freshness, then we all win, right? Especially when you live in a land locked place.