Imagine whirled peas—frozen vegetables for winter

I remember summer, don't you? Each year, just about now, I long for a tomato that actually tastes like a tomato and not a mealy mouthful of plastic nothingness, or an ear of sweet, crisp corn.  How very cruel that as the days are white and gray outside, the dinner table starts to mimic this dull color scheme.  But paltry produce pickings in the fresh aisles don't mean there aren't other options.  In the wintery months I find myself gravitating to the frozen aisles for some longed-for color.

Have a look at the frozen produce offerings at your grocery store—you might be in for a surprise. You'll find options ranging from familiar green beans, to the slightly more unexpected like asparagus spears and artichoke hearts. When you think of frozen vegetables, do you think they're waterlogged, tough and freezer-burned? Well, manufacturers have made improvements in this area too—see our recent report on frozen diet meals.  Just make sure you watch the add-ins. Sauces and seasonings may sound nice, but they cut down on the versatility of plain vegetables that can be added to multiple recipes, not to mention adding fat and sodium.

Keeping my freezer stocked with bagged frozen vegetables helps me in a variety of ways.  First, they're relatively cheap, or at least cheaper than most of the fresh stuff.  If I fill the freezer when they go on sale, I can usually snag them for 1-2 dollars a bag—a bonus for my bottom line. 

They're also really easy to use.  No peeling, chopping, or blanching – it's all been done for you.  And for some dishes, you don't even need to thaw them.  I like adding frozen vegetables near the end when making soups or stews to keep them from overcooking.  Some, which really only require being heated like peas, I add right before serving, which also helps to cool the soup a little before giving it to my kids. 

And since most of the grunt work of preparing vegetables has been done when they're frozen, I've found that it's easy to assign on of my kids the task of choosing and preparing a vegetable for dinner.

So, while I wait for winter to wilt and my garden to spring forth, I'll take healthier conveniences where I can get them.  Skulking the freezer aisle may not be as enjoyable to me as savoring the bounty of summer, but it's adding some color to our otherwise washed out winter diet.

—Erin Gudeux, sensory senior project leader