Tomatoes, chard, kale, basil, parsley, zucchini, squash, eggplant, corn, peaches, plums, berries, melon, I could go on and on…
Our kitchen counter used to have a fruit basket that was adequate. But now that we’re in farm country it’s spilled out onto the counter and beyond! I love it!
And for the record, we have a really big kitchen counter!
[Yikes, that’s messy]
What to do with all this wonderful cheap produce! Uh, freeze it? Yep, that’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.
First up, pesto!
I used TONSSSSS of greens in this. As in 75% of my bed of greens. Hellooooo chlorophyll!! There must have been at least a pound of chard…plus a ton of basil and parsley…and walnuts (instead of pine nuts), garlic infused olive oil, and salt. Nothing was measured, I just tasted it to make sure it was yummy. [It was.]
Then I distributed the batch evenly amongst the ice tray cubes and froze it overnight.
The next day I popped them out – two per ziplock – and now they are ready to go whenever I get the itch for fresh summer pesto in the coming (non-summer) months. And since I have basil and parsley coming out of my ears, it was practically free.
I also chopped and froze a few baggies full of eggplant. And cubed melon. And plums. Lots of plums. Did I mention all of that produce was free? Soooo, the freezer is pretty much packed. Smoothies anyone?
How do you store your summer bumper crops? Ideas?
Your produce selection looks great! Unfortunately, this year, my local farmer’s markets haven’t had such a great selection, but some the zucchini has been great, at least!
Such a fab idea to freeze pesto in ice cube trays! Lately I’ve been freezing coffee for quick iced coffee 🙂
I am so incredibly jealous of what you’re getting from your garden. My boyfriend and I live in an apartment and there is no possible way of creating a garden. The ice cube trays are a good trick!
If you have any tomatoes, roast them and then puree. They last for a few months in the freezer, so when you want tomato sauce, just defrost and simmer for a few minutes with olive oil and fresh herbs.
Soup, of course!!!
You can make HUGE amounts of it at the same time, too. You chop up the bounty all at once and then you can make like 4 differnt kinds.
Having frozen soup in the fridge is also nice because you never know when your gonna be sick and not able to eat anything but.
I LOVE love love pesto and have been making fresh batches with basil from our backyard. Really need to start freezing it. Oh, and I prefer it with walnuts over pine nuts, especially toasted walnuts. Yum. The best!
The amount of jealousy I have over all of your fresh produce is unreal. I love living in LA but, if I can get all of that elsewhere, I may need to reconsider! haha.
I can’t wait to see what else you use it for!
Love it! I just made a batch of purple curly kale lightly steamed, pinch of sea salt, 1/2-lemon squeezed, 1 C sunflower seeds, steaming kale juice (eyeball), blended in VitaMix. I won’t freeze it, though I might try this later when the last Farmers Market falls. I put it on my Van’s GFV waffles for breakfast or lunch (I know I’m weird!), love those greens!
I love this trick! I also freeze extra bits of broth, wine and even fresh herbs and organic grass-fed ghee or olive oil in ice cube trays for smaller amounts or muffin tins for larger amounts. So many recipes just call for a few tablespoons, so it is nice to have small amounts around to use as necessary.
Since zucchini becomes a waterlogged mush when it’s defrosted i make zucchini bread and muffins with like 2xs what the recipe says and freeze that.
I am crazy jealous that was all free!!
Ah that’s awesome! I need me some ice trays. Do you defrost in the microwave or a saucepan over the stove?
Such a great idea – Definitely trying this! <3