Too Much Cauliflower?

I have really enjoyed growing cauliflower this year.

But, we have an awful lot of it.  Much more then we can eat.

And even though my kids will eat it….I’m afraid if they see it at every meal that they will soon get very tired of it.

So, I gave a whole head away to my mother and then got to work on preserving my cauliflower so that we can enjoy it for the next six months.

It is very easy to do and this method works for broccoli as well.  It called ‘blanching’, which scalds vegetables in boiling water for a few minutes.

Blanching must be done to vegetables before they are frozen.

Why?

Well, blanching stops enzymes that would normally cause the vegetables to loose their flavor, texture and color.

In addition, blanching helps your vegetables to retain their vitamins and even improves their color.

Here is how I did it:

Cut the cauliflower in equal sized pieces – about 1 – 2 inches in size.

 This is about 1 1/2 heads of chopped cauliflower.

 Place the cauliflower in a pot filled with enough water so that the vegetables are covered.  The add 1 teaspoon of salt.

Bring the pot to a boil and then cover for 3 minutes and keep boiling.

Immediately pour the cauliflower into a colander and cool them off with cold water and ice.

You can also dunk them in a bowl filled with ice water.

This ‘shocks’ them and stops the cooking process.

Now it is time to store your newly blanched vegetables.

 Divide your blanched vegetables into plastic freezer bags and squeeze all the air out before sealing the bags.

Label your bags and write the date on the bag when you blanched your vegetables.

Put in your freezer, where they will last 6 months.

So, what type of vegetables would you like to preserve this year?

**Thank you all for sending me your ideas for using cauliflower earlier this month.  I can’t wait to start using them 🙂

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Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."