- Aug 15, 2018

Freezing Summer

Living in the Midwest, I love summer. Not only because the weather lets me spend more time outside than inside but because I can get the best produce of the Midwest all summer. From peas and radishes to sweet corn and tomatoes.

When August hits, it feels like everything is in full motion. There's an abundance of everything at the farmers markets and in your own garden. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with what you are harvesting/finding and you want to capture the flavors of summer for those long winter months.

My mother used to can vegetables from our garden every summer. I remember long days of snapping pounds of green beans or shucking buckets full of sweet corn. Then, Mom would have the kitchen going all day cooking and canning. I don't have the patience for all of that work so I take a bit of a short cut and freeze my produce instead. It's quick and easy and you can do it in batches week to week. It's a great way to "freeze summer."

Below, I share how to freeze green beans and peppers. Yes, you can freeze peppers. They change in texture a bit but if you are putting them in soups or chili, you can still get that summer flavor in the fall/winter months. Freezing most produce follows one of these two methods. So, start filling up your freezer!

Enjoy!

Freezing Green Beans

Wash and trim or snap green beans from your garden or market. Cut the beans into bite sized pieces.

Fill a stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt liberally.

Add the green beans to the water and boil for 3-4 minutes. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

When the beans are finished cooking, drain and put the beans into the ice water to cool quickly.

Drain and dry the green beans completely. Add beans to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the tray into the freezer to freeze the beans. Takes about 30 minutes.