It’s coming close to the end of summer and that means that farmers markets (or your own gardens) are brimming with beautiful produce.
I know it can be time consuming, but now is the time to put some of this nutritionally packed goodness away in your freezer to use in the upcoming winter months.
Now, you want to make it easy to use, so let me show you how to prep stalky greens, like kale, collard greens and swiss chard (pictured here) for your freezer:
1. Take your greens and wash them under cold water; pat them dry and place on a cutting board.
2. Cut out the stems and separate the stems from the leaves.
3. Cut the stems into a small dice and slice the leaves thinly (cut into a chiffonade would be great!).
4. Keep them separated; wrap the stem pieces in a square of plastic wrap.
5. Now put the package of chopped stems (which are now wrapped in plastic wrap) and all of the sliced leaves into a large Ziploc bag; label it and freeze the entire bag.
6. When you are ready to cook it, fry up some onions in olive oil and add the stem pieces (you can use them from frozen). Once they are soft, add the leaves and cook until wilted; season with salt and pepper and use however you like.
You can use them in so many ways…in an omelette, in a soup, in some simple pasta, or even a sandwich like this). Sometimes, I like to just put the greens on a plate and top with a fried or poached egg…drizzle with some hot sauce and you have an awesome quick meal!
Popeye would be proud 🙂
