Frozen veggies

[Anonymous]

I'm a CSA kinda girl who now has 2 kids - ie. short on time and money. My friends were singing the praises of frozen veggies, so I decided to try them in a stir fry. I've used frozen before, but really only spinach, corn, sometimes peas... OMG, these frozen peppers and onions destroyed what would have otherwise been a very tasty dinner.

Is there a trick to cooking them? They were total mush. Lacking flavor, but mainly it was the texture that was almost inedible. Is that just what frozen veggies do? I would have loved for this to be my go-to short cut, and to keep a stash in the freezer, but I'm not so sure this is for me.

[Anonymous]

Did you defrost them first?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you defrost them first?

Nope - frozen veggies, hot pan, a little oil. I cooked them alone planning on adding it to the other ingredients separately because I didn't know how long they would take and didn't want to over cook everything else.

[Anonymous]

i will "steam" frozen veggies in the microwave, and they were my go to when making baby food, but i won't ever use them in stir fry, nor have i had much luck roasting them. They just don't have the appropriate texture. That being said if you use ginger and garlic in your stir fry, I've been using the frozen minced garlic and ginger cubes that you can find in whole foods (saves a ton of time and I don't have to worry about using the whole jar before it starts growing stuff).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i will "steam" frozen veggies in the microwave, and they were my go to when making baby food, but i won't ever use them in stir fry, nor have i had much luck roasting them. They just don't have the appropriate texture. That being said if you use ginger and garlic in your stir fry, I've been using the frozen minced garlic and ginger cubes that you can find in whole foods (saves a ton of time and I don't have to worry about using the whole jar before it starts growing stuff).

OP here. I make my own frozen minced garlic and ginger, which is a lifesaver (mince, portion out, freeze). And this reminds me that I did once try to roast frozen broccoli and that was a big failure too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i will "steam" frozen veggies in the microwave, and they were my go to when making baby food, but i won't ever use them in stir fry, nor have i had much luck roasting them. They just don't have the appropriate texture. That being said if you use ginger and garlic in your stir fry, I've been using the frozen minced garlic and ginger cubes that you can find in whole foods (saves a ton of time and I don't have to worry about using the whole jar before it starts growing stuff).

OP here. I make my own frozen minced garlic and ginger, which is a lifesaver (mince, portion out, freeze). And this reminds me that I did once try to roast frozen broccoli and that was a big failure too.

Making your own makes sense. I will have to try that!

[Anonymous]

I'll use frozen veggies for some things, but not for stir fries. I wouldn't cook peppers and onions in the manner you describe.

Some ways I use them:

Frozen veggies are great in soup!

I'll add them to certain pasta salads

I like certain steamed frozen veggies -- there's a mix of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots we eat a lot as a quick side

I have put frozen spinach in smoothies

[Anonymous]

Op again...well that wasn't a total loss...the 8 month old gobbled it up! Mushy veggies are good for some things

[Anonymous]

I've never had luck with frozen, except for corn and spinach, although I still prefer fresh for those.

At one point, I thought I'd be thrifty and stock up on some frozen veggies to keep me from going to the store every other day. Ended up throwing them out, because they were so mushy and flavorless.

I don't even want to know what they have to do to make onions and peppers taste like nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never had luck with frozen, except for corn and spinach, although I still prefer fresh for those.

At one point, I thought I'd be thrifty and stock up on some frozen veggies to keep me from going to the store every other day. Ended up throwing them out, because they were so mushy and flavorless.

I don't even want to know what they have to do to make onions and peppers taste like nothing.

They're probably just water logged from the defrost.

[Anonymous]

OP, onions are cheap. Just buy a bag and chop them up when you need them. They don't freeze super well and do turn to mush. As for peppers, I always keep a "tri pepper blend" from Trader Joes in my freezer for when I need peppers. Not as awesome as fresh, but not as mushy. Put them in your stir fry last, just to defrost.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are not used to using frozen veggies so far, then it is very likely you will not like them.