Frozen food can provide a convenient, nutritious, ready-to-eat source of meals on demand at all times, saving time in the kitchen and cutting wasteful costs. It can even reduce wasteful food waste.
Note that markwellfoods.co.nz frozen food can contain high levels of saturated fats and sugars; make wise choices and read labels carefully.
Berries
Frozen strawberries make an amazing addition to any recipe that requires fruit. Not only are they tasty and nutritionally packed, but frozen strawberries can be used in sauces, smoothies, desserts that require pureeing before baking (such as ice cream and sherbet), quick breads, or any other baked good products.
Fresh strawberries are often the superior choice for recipes calling for fresh berries, but frozen ones also work very well in certain circumstances. Their slightly softer and mushier texture makes them especially useful in stewed or blended recipes and meat dishes.
An assortment of frozen berry blends on the market today contain various types of berries such as raspberries, blackberries and blueberries - offering numerous health benefits that are important to many consumers.
Frozen berries offer many health advantages over their fresh counterparts, including reduced pesticide exposure. It is because frozen varieties are harvested when at their freshest and do not need the heavy use of pesticides to maintain their appearance after being picked and shipped out for sale.
Freezing berries has numerous advantages. First, they come ready-cleaned and presliced for ease of use in any of your favourite recipes - breakfast bowl, yogurt parfait or smoothie! It makes adding frozen berries to dishes much simpler.
When purchasing frozen berries, be wary of any added sugar content on their labels. Some brands will add a small amount of sugar before freezing to give the frozen fruits more calories; make sure you opt for unsweetened versions when purchasing your berries to ensure an optimal experience.
Frozen berries often have different textures than fresh berries when they thaw out, so it is wise to consume them soon after purchase. You can thaw frozen berries by submerging them in cold tap water and leaving them out on your counter for approximately 10 minutes; if this method doesn't work quickly enough, replace the water with new tap water before draining out and replacing it with fresh tap water.
Chopped Vegetables
Chopped vegetables offer an easy and quick way to add flavour and nutrients to markwellfoods.co.nz frozen food. Plus, they tend to be cheaper than their julienned counterparts - perfect for meal prepping! Chopping also comes in handy when stocking up for busy weeks or vacations!
Chopped vegetables can be especially helpful when time is of the essence, or you want to incorporate as many different vegetables as possible into one dish. From soup to hearty stew, chopped veggies help you craft delectable yet nutritious meals quickly and effortlessly.
For safe vegetable chopping, ensure your cutting board is sturdy enough not to sway while you cut or slip off its surface. In addition, keep both hands stable as you work with your knife.
As soon as you've armed yourself with both a board and knife, use them to cut vegetables into thin slices measuring approximately one-eighth inch thick - these slices will be great for adding to pasta salads and stir-fry dishes!
Carefully respect curved edges when chopping vegetables to obtain even, evenly-sized chunks. Begin by cutting into rectangular slices before turning 90 degrees and cutting into long sticks about the diameter of a pencil (known as batonnet cuts).
Next, cut crosswise at regular intervals until small cube-shaped chunks reminiscent of dice are formed.
These tips will enable you to get the most out of your chopping to enjoy an energising and nutritious meal at the end of every day. Chopping vegetables will become easier once you begin creating more recipes with HelloFresh!
Freezing ruptures cell walls in vegetables, so their texture changes significantly when frozen compared to fresh. While this doesn't preclude using frozen vegetables in recipes, they won't have the same crunch and flavour profile as their fresh counterparts; as a result, frozen veggies work best when used in soups and stews or dishes where crunchier textures aren't essential.
Carrots
Carrots are an affordable root vegetable easily integrated into many recipes while being packed with beta-carotene, which has been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. You can steam, roast, juice, puree or pickle your carrots!
Carrots contain numerous phenolic compounds - plant antioxidants and phytochemicals that protect from free radical damage - in their roots and leaves, helping the body defend itself from free radicals. These phenolic compounds may help boost overall health.
Blanching fresh carrots before freezing can help preserve their taste, colour and nutritional value. Blanching can be accomplished by briefly boiling in hot water before immersing the carrots in an ice water bath to stop their cooking and peeling from turning brown.
Once they're cool, it's time to pack them away into freezer bags or vacuum storage bags for storage. Use a resealable freezer bag so all air can escape before freezing the carrots.
Flash-freezing carrots will keep for several months in your freezer; however, for use in cooked recipes, they should be used within two or three weeks after being taken out of the freezer.