Frozen broccoli: how to cook it deliciously to preserve all its beneficial properties?

I had frozen broccoli in the refrigerator for a week - of course, I know how to cook it delicious. I just didn't get around to it. Today I finally “received” the stock, and now I’m sharing the recipes.

Fans of vegetable snacks will surely appreciate them. The dishes are simple and quick. In a few minutes you get the perfect dinner or breakfast: satisfying and incredibly positive!

I recently learned that it is called asparagus cabbage. I somehow didn’t notice the resemblance to asparagus. Cabbage is similar to its cauliflower cousin. I fell in love with her for a long time. I tried it for the first time in the Adler canteen about six years ago. Since then it has been one of my favorite vegetables.

How long should you blanch vegetables?

How long should you blanch vegetables?

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What is blanching?

Blanching, in other words, scalding, is a short-term (several minutes) exposure of vegetables, fruits, berries to boiling water or hot steam. Tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, eggplants, carrots, zucchini, asparagus, spinach and, of course, a very healthy vegetable, broccoli (cabbage), are often processed this way.

Reference. The term comes from the French verb to blanch, which literally means to wash, bleach, or pour boiling water over.

Scalding broccoli can be not only a preparatory step before further cooking, but also the main method of preparation for consumption.

Blanching Broccoli

There are two ways to blanch vegetables - boiling and steaming. If you choose to simmer, you will need to bring a large, deep pot of water to a full boil.

See also: Benefits of coconuts. How to choose and open a coconut correctly

Blanching Broccoli by Boiling

Place broccoli in boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.

Boil broccoli

Steam Blanching Broccoli

If you are going to steam, you will need a saucepan, as well as a basket insert that fits snugly inside. Pour 5 to 7 cm of water into a large, deep saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Place the prepared broccoli pieces in a steaming basket or insert. Place in a pan of boiling water, cover the pan and start timing. Cook for 5 minutes.

Steamed broccoli

General rules

During the season, broccoli is sold fresh in stores and markets. When choosing cabbage, you need to buy a uniform green color without yellow or brown inflorescences.

The stem should be hard and the crown should be elastic. Soft stems or limp inflorescences are a sign of long storage.

Store broccoli in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator for no more than a week.

The inflorescences can be consumed fresh without any heat treatment. But more often broccoli is boiled or fried. The main goal when preparing is to preserve maximum benefits and pleasant taste.

Cooking begins with thorough cleaning, dividing into inflorescences. Then rinse with running water and trim the stalks.

You can cook in several ways:

• Steamed;
• In water;
• Blanch.

What to serve with

Broccoli can be served as the main ingredient of a dish or as an accompaniment. Suitable for preparing salads in combination with tomatoes and eggs. Vegetable soup is being cooked.

The easiest way to serve is to season with vegetable oil.

Also add:

• Garlic;
• Pepper;
• Lemon zest;
• Toasted sesame seeds or chopped almonds.

Season with sour cream and mayonnaise. Sprinkle with a little balsamic or rice vinegar and lemon juice.

Broccoli frozen in sour cream in a frying pan

Cooking cold-treated cabbage differs from fresh cabbage. It is not necessary to cook it. Just fry or simmer until cooked and pour in creamy sour cream sauce. If you don’t know how to cook frozen broccoli in a frying pan, do it this way – you won’t regret it!

How to make the gravy:

• Fry 30 grams of flour in a dry frying pan until golden brown.
• In a separate bowl, mix it with 1/3 tbsp. vegetable broth, 30 grams of tomato paste and 0.5 tsp. table mustard.
• Add salt and ground black pepper (a pinch).
• Place on the stove. When it boils, pour in sour cream.
• Mix quickly until smooth.
• Remove from heat.

How to cook broccoli:

• Heat vegetable oil (3-4 tbsp.).
• Carefully fold in the broccoli.
• Cover and reduce heat.
• After 5-6 minutes. it will become soft and slightly crispy. During this time, it must be turned over 2-3 times.

Remove from heat and pour in the sauce. It will give the snack a unique charm. If desired, add fried onion and crushed garlic clove. Garnish with chopped herbs.

Instead of tomato, you can put processed cheese. Grate it and swirl it with a fork – a new taste is guaranteed!

Why should you blanch broccoli?

Whether it is necessary to scald broccoli, everyone decides for themselves. Here is a list of reasons why this is worth doing:

• The procedure gives softness and elasticity to the cabbage.
• Blanching removes most of the microbes from the surface of the skin.
• The vegetable retains its color, texture, taste, vitamins, and beneficial properties.
• Possible bitterness is removed, the taste of broccoli becomes more delicate.
• Asparagus cabbage, scalded before freezing, is better stored in the freezer; even after freezing, it retains its taste and nutrients. Moreover, after blanching the vegetable shrinks in size, so the stock will take up less space in the freezer.

Reference. Broccoli is recognized as a negative calorie food, meaning the body spends more calories digesting it than it contains. Cabbage has low calorie content: 34 kcal.

How to cook delicious frozen broccoli in a frying pan - an easy way

This is the best alternative to sandwiches, a great breakfast or light dinner. The snack is liked by adults and children. It is moderately high in calories, bright, beautiful.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• broccoli – 300 -400 g,
• eggs – 2-3 pcs.,
• full fat milk or cream – 70 ml,
• cheese (hard varieties, feta cheese, suluguni, Adyghe) grated – 50-70 g.

Procedure:

• Break the eggs into a bowl.
• Pour milk, salt, pepper, whisk until smooth.
• Place broccoli on a hot frying pan.
• Fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle with cheese.
• Reduce heat, cover and wait for the mass to set.

Turn off the heat and wait a bit. Serve as a separate dish with black bread toast, canned tomatoes, and homemade adjika.

Cooking broccoli

To cook broccoli, trim off and discard tough stem bases. You can use a vegetable peeler to scrape off the tough outer skin on the stems and simply trim off the ends.

Then soak the broccoli in cold salted water for 30 minutes. This will remove any insects that might remain. To remove dirt, rinse thoroughly with cold water. Next, cut the broccoli into equal-sized pieces so they cook evenly.

Fill a clean sink or large container with ice and water. Ice water will be used to quickly cool the broccoli after blanching.

How to cook broccoli

Broccoli pancakes: how to cook - recipe

What could be better than hot pancakes with tea? They are prepared instantly, so they retain most of the vitamins. Fry them in a non-stick pan to reduce the amount of fat.

You will need:

• broccoli (frozen) – 450 g.
• any fermented milk product (sour cream, fermented baked milk, kefir) – 200 ml,
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil,
• wheat flour – ¾ tbsp.,
• soft cheese – 50 g.

The principle is the same as for zucchini pancakes:

• Grind the boiled broccoli with an immersion blender until pureed.
• Add grated cheese and remaining ingredients.
• Add some salt. If desired, add seasonings (black pepper, thyme, chopped dill).
• Mix thoroughly.
• Place the dough in small portions on a hot surface.
• Fry on both sides until golden brown.

Some of the flour can be replaced with crushed oatmeal or corn semolina. Place the finished broccoli pancakes on a paper towel to remove excess fat. Serve warm with sour cream, ketchup, salted homemade lard.

How to wash broccoli

• Let's separate the cabbage into inflorescences, removing small leaves.
• Some housewives also leave the leaves in the food, then they are also washed and cut into thin strips. Such leaves can be frozen along with the inflorescences and used in soups and vegetable sautés.
• We fill the sink with cold water and dip the inflorescences into it.
• Take 1-2 at a time and rinse under running water, placing them in one layer on a towel.

How to conveniently freeze broccoli for the winter

Place the blanched inflorescences on a towel and let the cabbage dry. Now we are close to putting the cabbage in the freezer!

Of course, portion freezing is the most convenient way. Place the approximate amount of broccoli that you will use in soups, sautés or omelettes into bags and, after removing the air, close the lock. Usually this is 250-300 g, if you focus on dishes for a family of 2-3 adults.

You can also use the most economical type of polyethylene - transparent disposable bags without a lock. These are usually used for storing small items in supermarkets. Just tie the bags with a bow so that, if necessary, you can select the right amount of cabbage and return the rest to the freezer.

Freezing cauliflower and broccoli together is also interesting. This is beneficial for anyone who often cooks with two cabbages or wants to master recipes for similar soups and stews.

It is convenient to sign the freezing date with a pen on self-adhesive price tags of different colors. They are sold in rolls in large supermarkets and office supply stores.

How and why to soak broccoli in salt water

The saline solution removes invisible larvae and possible excess nitrates. Beware of nitrates in the case of cauliflower and broccoli is not at all safe. These are one of those vegetables that grow most productively only with the participation of unsafe fertilizers.

Pour cold water into a large bowl and dissolve 4 teaspoons of salt in each liter of water. Leave the cabbage for 30-60 minutes.

Then put it in a colander and rinse with tap water.

How to deliciously cook frozen broccoli as a side dish with vegetables?

Take any frozen vegetables. Choose the ones you like: green peas, green beans, or zucchini. A ready-made mixture with bell peppers, tomatoes or young corn is also suitable.

Procedure:

• Add broccoli and vegetable mixture to a hot skillet. You can add finely chopped onion to them.
• Stir constantly with a silicone spatula to prevent them from burning.
• When the edges start to brown, add a spoonful of H2O.
• Reduce heat to medium.
• After the liquid has evaporated, add salt and half a glass of sour cream.
• Add salt and mix.

If you are deciding how to cook frozen broccoli tasty and quickly, choose this method. Vegetable stew harmonizes with meat, poultry, and fish. And it takes minimal time.

To make the side dish satisfying, combine it with boiled rice or slices of boiled potatoes.

Serve with cutlets, beef tongue, chicken liver. It's useful and unusual. An excellent combination is obtained with funchose. In this case, instead of sour cream, add soy sauce.

Frozen broccoli: how to cook deliciously - in batter!

Fragrant, with a crispy crust - what could be better? For 2-4 servings you will need 300 grams of frozen food and 200 ml of vegetable oil (sunflower, olive or corn).

Ingredients for batter:

• eggs – 2 pcs.,
• milk - half a glass,
• wheat flour (premium grade) – 150 grams,
• salt - level teaspoon.

It is permissible to replace milk with sour cream, kefir, fermented baked milk or mineral water.

Combine the ingredients in a deep bowl, beat with a whisk or mixer. To make it tasty, do not leave any lumps. The dough is “like pancakes” or a little thicker.

What to do:

• Place the frozen semi-finished product in boiling water and boil for 2-3 minutes.
• Rinse under the tap.
• Heat the fat (pork, vegetable, butter).
• Dip each piece in batter and fry with the lid closed.
• Once browned, turn over to form a golden brown crust on all sides.
• Transfer to a plate lined with napkins to drain excess fat.

Don't fry too much. Place on the table while warm. Delicious is not the right word! Yes, and it looks beautiful.

How to freeze broccoli for the winter

The convenience of kitchen chores these days can hardly be overestimated, and the freezer is a prominent representative of devices that improve the quality of food.
How to freeze broccoli for the winter - we will answer this question in today's article, welcoming a healthy diet rich in vegetables all year round.

Having learned the intricacies, we will profitably prepare a healthy and safe vegetable to diversify stews and soups or decorate stewed white cabbage with green inflorescences.

Frozen vegetables are convenient and economical for your budget and overall preparation time for winter meals.

Unusual types of cabbages are stored well frozen. Cauliflower has long been a part of our diet. Broccoli is just gaining universal recognition, but you can freeze them using a similar algorithm. So, let's get started with proper freezing!

Algorithm of actions: select vegetables for freezing - rinse - soak in saline solution - blanch - put into portioned bags - freeze.

Let's look at each of the stages.