Delicious & healthy recipes featuring frozen produce?

See the above post. The texture is going to be your primary issue. I'm not sure what the problem is with regards to waste from preparing the produce you mentioned. If you're worried about food waste, that's going to be there anyways with something like most winter squashes and corn (though you can use the cobs (and then fish them out) in some recipes - corn chowder for instance). It'll just be further back on the production chain. You can also eat the stalks from broccoli and cauliflower there's going to be next to no waste from something like spinach (which I think tastes significantly better cooked from fresh).

My general strategy for buying produce that I'm not sure if I'll like is to buy a very small amount of it (typically fresh). That way I won't have to deal with a bunch of leftovers that I have no have no desire to eat.

For what it's worth, the only vegetables I will buy frozen are peas and corn. I prefer to buy both of those frozen when they're out of season and I froze a bunch of corn kernels a few weeks ago. I'm sure broccoli, cauliflower (which I don't like), and carrots would also fare well but I've never felt the need to buy them frozen.

I have picky eaters and I think Broccoli is the biggest offender for frozen texture issues. I only use frozen vegis for making puree or frozen fruits for making smoothies. But, I know peas are not bad frozen, neither are beans or corn kernels. If you're making a dish with a thick sauce, like chicken pot pie or stew, it's less of an issue. People expect these dishes to be very well cooked and moisture is part of the dish. A dish with pasta though, I think texture issues in vegis are just highlighted. Perhaps that is why we crave these kinds of dishes in the winter.

This is a recipe I think was developed by Kraft, if I recall the brand name ingredients that were listed in the magazine ad that we clipped it out of 40 to 50 years ago, and have been having mainly at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas ever since.



I'm too lazy to go look for the recipe, but basically it calls for two boxes of frozen broccoli spears (each box was about 12 ounces in those days, I think, but manufacturers may have cut back on what they put in a box -- if you can find them in bags totalling close to 24 oz. that's fine). Cook them according to package, but on the low end of cooking time. Drain the spears and line them up in a casserole dish (something in the 9 X 13 inch range) so that the spears are parallel to the short sides of the dish, and the spears alternate which direction their florets point to (i.e., the first spear has its florets closest to long side A, the next has its florets closest to long side . This is just to give you an attractive presentation.

Crush corn flakes (not frosted), Wheaties, Total, or other cold cereal that is plain grain flakes. (I prefer corn flakes.) You don't want dust; you want smaller pieces maybe a quarter of the size of the original flakes (you don't need to be measuring or anything -- I'm just saying don't keep crushing until you've completely pulverized the flakes.) You want to end up with about a cup of crumbs -- my best guess is you'll need close to three cups of uncrushed cereal to start with. Mix half of the crumbs with a tablespoon or so of melted butter.

Meanwhile, make a white sauce from butter, flour, and milk*, and add a lot of shredded, sharp cheddar cheese (the recipe called for 6 oz from one of those long Kraft or Cracker Barrel blocks, but the blocks are 8 oz., so lots of times I just use the whole block, because more cheese is never bad). Stir in one can (12 to 15 oz. is fine) of drained corn niblets (I can't see any reason not to substitute frozen corn kernels). Stir in the remaining half of the crumbs (not the ones you mixed with melted butter).

Pour the cheese mixture down the center of the casserole dish (from one short end to the other), so that you're covering a good portion of the stalks, but the florets don't get covered. Distribute the buttered cereal flakes on top of the cheese sauce. Bake for about 20 minutes in a 350 F oven. (You can make it ahead and stick it in the refrigerator, although if you could hold off on mixing the second half of the cereal crumbs with the butter and do that just before cooking, you might slightly better results. But I don't think that's crucial -- I've certainly prepared it completely, including the buttered crumbs, as much as a day ahead, and then baked it, and it's been fine. You'll probably want to give it an extra 5 or 10 minutes if it's going directly from the refrigerator to the oven.)



*If making white sauce is beyond your skill set or time and energy availability, I have successfully subbed canned condensed cheddar cheese soup -- I think I used about half or a little less of the liquid called for to turn it back into soup -- for the white sauce and cheese. Heat it up and stir in the corn and crushed cereal flakes as described above.

We make a lot of sauté /styr-fry with frozen veggies. I buy any asian-type mix for Arctic Garden.

I pretty much go with how I feel and what I have for spices and sauce. Soya sauce, garlic, honey, sesame oil, ginger... with chicken, frozen veggies ans udon noodle or rice... https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/why-the-freezer-aisle-is-a-woks-best-friend-article

I totally get the need to cut effort to a minimum about cooking. My husband has cancer and my daughter is autistic. Sometimes you need strategies to save your sanity.

Im vegetarian and use frozen vegetables also alongside fresh.

Its very handy to throw a few frozen vegetables in to chinese egg noodles, quality stock, maybe frozen quorn or fresh tofu and bingo its a noodle soup so quick and healthy and easy. I freeze herbs too and so will have coriander (cilantro) etc frozen also and chuck that in.

I have a rice cooker and put that on when running out to the gym. Brown rice is done when I get back starving. I often put frozen veg on top of the steamed rice while I shower and when I get out its cooked. So easy.

Quorn I mentioned already is a vegetarian protein and I typically have quorn pieces in the freezer.

I freeze fruit, berries & bananas mostly however mango and pineapple I've been known to freeze. I add a few frozen berries to my oats most every morning. I will blend up frozen banana and add in some protein powder maybe with light soya milk and make a 'nice cream' or milk shake. Sometimes I keep it thick and add in muesli.

Frozen mashed potato I recently discovered and the one I like comes in frozen pellet form. So easy and all I have to do is to put my vegetables, a liquid and these mashed potato frozen pellets on top and it cooks so quick and easy in my mini oven or microwave. As they are in pellet form its easy to use very little of the mashed potato for calorie counting or carb control purposes.

Freezing fresh tofu with the water drained out changes the texture of tofu to much more chewy. Many people prefer tofu prepared in this way.

Thanks hope some of that helps.

You can defrost them and eat them straight from the bag. I used to do that all the time. Carrot, broccoli, cauliflower mix was my favorite.

Soup:
package frozen mixed veg
large bottle bloody mary V8
Can rotel tomatoes and chiles
1 pound hamburger
Worcestershire, salt, pepper to taste

Brown the meat, mix it all together, let it simmer.

I'll use frozen mixed veg or peas and carrots in shepherd's pie and pot pie. Always defrost, rinse and drain first.

I don't like the frozen mirepoix or frozen holy trinity you can find. The seem to lack flavor compared to using fresh for that.

Saw this today and it made me think of this thread (I haven't tried any of these yet):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/09/04/frozen-veggies-bring-flavor-color-and-convenience-to-these-7-recipes/

I believe their business model lets you look at a few articles a month before hitting a pay wall.

I use frozen onions and peppers in dishes frequently. One of my favorites is a fajita or taco seasoned combination of onions, peppers and a protein over Spanish rice (also cooked with frozen onions, peppers and tomatoes). The veggies are not crisp, but they have texture.

I'll also add whatever veggies I have on hand to supplement fresh veggie soups. Kale, corn and peas work very well.