After a cold, wet start, things are starting to pop around here! And folks may find their boxes to be a little hefty and hard to finish, especially if they have their own garden going on the side. It really is a shame though, to have that good food go to waste. What to do?!?!

For situations like this, the freezer is your best friend! But before you throw your excess produce in a freezer bag, you have to take just one step to prep them for cryostorage. It’s important to kill the bacteria that can start decay, even in the freezer. You might be familiar with blanching before freezing, but we find this affects quality and flavor (ie, soggy and bland) plus loss of nutrients, and have found a better way.

For harder veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, pea pods, zucchini – wash, cut into your preferred sized pieces, toss with olive oil and roast for 5 minutes on a sheet pan at 475. Cool. Bag. Freeze. You can easily save just one head of broccoli, or pounds of it. The coolest part is, when you pull it out for dinner someday, dump the frozen bits on your sheet pan, and roast at the same temp and time (and check for doneness). Voila! Delicious, caramelized roasted goodness!

For greens like spinach, mustard, kale – wash and coarsely chop. Put the lot into a microwave safe bowl and nuke for a couple of minutes, checking along the way, until soft and reduced. Cool to touch then squeeze the excess liquid out (save for smoothies!) chop again if you want a finer texture, pop into a freezer bag, flatten and freeze.