It is important to take into account that greens grown in greenhouse conditions in the cold and little sunny season are poor in those nutrients and vitamins that are inherent in the seasonal harvest. And the price issue is not always in last place. Profitable and economical: collect a feather on the site, buy and store green onions for the winter at the beginning of summer. Fortunately, today it is not at all difficult to do this, and if the space in the freezer allows you to place stocks there, then why not save the fruits of the summer harvest by making stocks for future use.
One of the simple, quick and versatile ways of harvesting greens (not only arrows of green onions, but also dill or parsley) is the freezing method. Due to the fact that the product does not lend itself to heat treatment, fermentation, salting, but is harvested in its natural form, all useful components are preserved in it.
To prepare green onions for the coming winter fresh, by freezing them in the freezer of the refrigerator, you need to know only three of the best recipes and simple tricks.
You can freeze both in whole form and in the form of slicing. For liquid dishes, it is best to grind the onion arrows in advance and send them to the freezer. In winter, all you have to do is take out a bag, take the right amount of chopped greens for hot dishes and a jar of sorrel. But for salads, it is best to save green onions for future use as a whole, without chopping.
Let's stop in detail and consider the subtleties of each method.
For this we need:
- Large bunch of green onions
- Small plastic cups - 4 pcs.
- Cling film or dense cellophane
- Packages - T-shirt - 1 pc.
- Plastic bottle - 500 ml
- Paper napkins - 10-15 pcs. You can also use a hairdryer to dry the greenery.
- Water.
Yield of the finished product: from one and a half kg of green onions, taking into account that which is cut for freezing and the white part of the arrow, one package of sliced onions, 4 plastic cups with a blank, one full plastic bottle and five blanks of onions as a whole, preserved in cling film ...
Preparation Sort the onions, rinse thoroughly under running cold water and shake off the remaining water or remove excess liquid with paper towels. Separate 5-7 onion arrows for further slicing. The first recipe with a photo will show how to store the pen in a bag, cellophane, in the freezer for future use:
Freezing and vitamins
Onions are extremely healthy. Its green feathers contain vitamins B1, B2, B3, B4, B9, C, A, E and K. In addition, it contains folic acid, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur and calcium. A whole pharmacy!
Some sources claim that vitamins and minerals are destroyed after freezing. This means that feather onions in the freezer will lose all healing properties. It is a myth. Vitamins are destroyed in the light, under the influence of high temperatures, as a result of oxidation, that is, under the influence of air. Preserving and drying will destroy nutrients much more efficiently than freezing them.Even after lying on the shelf of the refrigerator for a couple of days, greens will lose many useful substances. Subzero temperatures will retain most of the nutrients.
This is how the most capricious vitamin, ascorbic acid, is destroyed:
- When frozen, foods lose only 10-15% of this nutrient.
- When washed and sliced, it disappears up to 30%.
- On the shelf of the refrigerator, a bunch of greens in 7 days will lose up to 50% of vitamin C.
- Thermal preservation will give the same result.
- Drying will kill up to 70% of the nutrient.
Therefore, keeping greens in the freezer in winter is the best option.
Basic storage rules
If green onions are soaked in water, then it must be removed naturally by spreading them out on a towel. In all methods, except for freezing, washing is excluded.
In case of light pollution, it is not necessary to wash the vegetable; it is enough to wipe it with a napkin.
Storage in polyethylene is effective when air is circulated in the bag. Green onions do not like moisture, so condensation should not be allowed.
You can pack greens in a cardboard box. Regularly inspecting feathers for rot and dryness will increase shelf life.
When freezing, the packaging does not affect the quality of the resulting product, it is important to beat the herbs at the beginning of freezing. Blanching in boiling water will keep the frozen vegetable fresher when defrosted.
How to freeze onions correctly?
Choose the most beautiful and juicy greens. The feathers should be firm, dark green, with no yellow or dark spots. Pay particular attention to the white tips of the shoots. If you see signs of rot, refuse to buy. Rot does not appear immediately. If the shoots began to deteriorate, this means that they have been in the water for more than a day. Greens have lost a lot of vitamins, they are simply saturated with moisture, so they seem fresh. But there is no use in it.
At home, rinse a bunch of onions with cold water and wrap in a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Then dry the shoots, but in a shaded place.
Then prepare the onions for long-term storage:
- chop finely;
- distribute in sealed bags;
- remove air from the package and close it carefully;
- put the workpieces in the freezer.
Correctly caught feathers are stored the whole winter without losing their useful properties. In the second year, it is better not to leave onions.
Preparing the refrigerator before starting the process
The refrigerator or freezer must be properly prepared before harvesting fruits and vegetables in the fall.
Last year's blanks need to be reviewed and removed from the freezer. Perhaps some have already passed their possible shelf life. If there is snow and frozen ice, the refrigerator must be unplugged and defrosted. It is better to leave it off for three days.
See also
TOP 10 recipes on how to freeze tomatoes in the freezer for the winter at home, in pieces and whole
To read
After complete defrosting, it is necessary to rinse the surface and containers with warm water with the addition of soda. Wipe dry with a cotton cloth.
Make sure the temperature in the chamber is above 18 degrees. It is this temperature regime that is necessary to preserve frozen vegetables and fruits. After a few days, turn on the camera and wait for the required temperature. The next stage is freezing.
It is important to observe the correct neighborhood of the products. Meat and fish products should be kept separately from vegetables and fruits. Keep vegetables and fruits on separate shelves. This will allow you to quickly find a workpiece in the winter.
It is important to put the date and year of freezing on each package and bag.
Useful Tips
To make the product tasty and healthy, in no case rinse the already chopped onion. This will destroy most of the vitamins.
For packaging, use small sachets for 1 serving of herbs.Frozen foods cannot tolerate heat. If you constantly remove a large container of onions from the freezer, soon thick frost will appear on the greens, it will become watery and tasteless.
If you don't have a vacuum dispenser, use regular zip bags and cocktail straws:
- Fill a bag with herbs, insert a straw into it and close the zipper as tightly as possible.
- Then run your hand over the package, squeezing out the excess air. It will go out through the hole in the tube.
- Remove the straw quickly and close the bag all the way.
For the healthiest meal possible, use frozen onions at the very end of cooking. It is better to sprinkle with herbs not hot, but warm food, and do this just before serving. Of course, the feathers must first be thawed at room temperature.
You can make a "cocktail" from greens. Prepare, according to the scheme described above, not only onions, but also dill, parsley, cilantro, basil. There are no restrictions - use whatever greens you like. Mix the slices thoroughly and pack the assortments in zip bags.
Preparatory stage
First of all, onion feathers need to be properly prepared for further storage. The process is carried out in several stages:
- choose for harvesting only fresh feathers of bright green color without any damage;
- do not use onions with flabby or dried ends for storage;
- wash greens under running water, even if they look clean. Water will wash away imperceptible earth residues and dust;
- dry the plant by blotting it with a towel. So you can quickly eliminate excess moisture;
- chop up the green leaves for ease of use.
At the preparatory stage, it is imperative to chop the onion, regardless of the further harvesting method.
What size the chopped onion should be depends on the choice of the hostess. If you need to make a preparation of greens for liquid dishes (soups, borscht), it is better to cut it into medium rings. For sauces, smaller cuts are appropriate.
The size of the cut of greens depends on the preferences of the hostess
Aroma oil
Some housewives prepare fragrant butter for the winter, mixing it with herbs and spices in advance.
You will need:
- butter - soft, plastic, but not melted;
- green onions;
- any aromatic herbs to taste;
- spices are also to taste;
- some salt.
Combine the onion, herbs and oil, add the spices and salt a little to keep the seasoning fresh. Pack the blank into sachets or freezer molds. If using molds, then remove the butter cubes and place in a vacuum container.
It can be added to soups and side dishes instead of regular butter. It is very tasty to put pieces of such a freeze in cutlets or meat rolls - the dish turns out to be unusually juicy and aromatic.
Canned green onions, salad in a jar for the winter: a recipe
- Fresh and juicy onion feathers should be selected for pickling. Yellow feathers are not suitable for pickling
- Trim the ends
- Before pickling hot onions, it must be doused with boiling water, eliminating excessive bitterness. You can also put onions in a saucepan and bring them to a boil.
Pickled onion
1 kg green onions 200 g dill and vinegar to taste pepper
- Sort out the onion greens and rinse. Chop the onion dried on a paper towel. Prepare a brine with 120 g of salt and a liter of water. Pour the brine over the chopped onion and leave for 2 days. Drain the brine
- Prepare the dill: Blanch 200 g of dill in boiling water for a few minutes. Combine the onion and dill and prepare the marinade. To do this, take 80 ml of 6% vinegar, two grams of dill seeds, 4-5 peppercorns, sugar and salt
- Wash the jars thoroughly and place the dill and onions in them. Pour the hot marinade over the onion and sterilize for 10 minutes. Then everything is as usual: roll up the lids and under the covers!
You can also cook an unusual pickled onion with wild garlic, which tastes like garlic, but not so spicy.
Pickled onion recipe with wild garlic
- Onion feathers and wild garlic should be finely chopped and covered with a pre-prepared marinade (sweet and sour or cooked to taste)
- After boiling a little greens, you need to put them in jars and place them in the refrigerator for storage.
Pickled onions are an excellent addition to meat or stews from meat and vegetables. A significant disadvantage of pickled onions is that they cannot be stored for a long time (but only two weeks).
Sprouted greens
If you don't want to freeze your greens, try growing them. Fill a small jar of water and place the onion in it. Submerge it in water halfway or slightly higher, but do not "sink". Place the jar on a sunny windowsill. After a week, you can sprinkle sandwiches with aromatic herbs.
For germination, choose homemade onions that are firm and juicy. Stores often trim the tips of the bulbs to prevent roots from growing. It is impossible to germinate such a product.
Don't count on much. Winter greens grown on windowsills are pale and watery. Both in taste and aroma, it is inferior to summer juicy feathers. There are also fewer vitamins in sprouted onions - they simply have nowhere to come from. Summer onions grow in the garden, with fertile soil and unlimited sunlight at their disposal. It is impossible to create the same conditions on the windowsill, no matter how hard you try. Even frozen summer greens are healthier than sprouts.
Dried seasoning
Many onions are dried. For this, the prepared feathers are finely chopped and placed in a dry, warm place with good ventilation. Make sure that the sun's rays do not fall on the greens: they destroy vitamins. You can dry onion feathers under a canopy on a balcony or attic. In 3-4 days you will receive a fragrant seasoning. True, the aroma will change, moreover, the piquant pungency will disappear, but some even like it.
It is better not to use dryers. At high temperatures and aggressive ventilation, greens will dry out quickly, but will lose all vitamins.
So, freezing a green onion for the winter is a great idea. It will retain most of the nutrients and, even after thawing, will be tastier than a feather grown on a windowsill in the cold season.
Testimonials
Many housewives, who have tested the method of freezing green onions by their own experience, were satisfied with the result. Here are some reviews on this topic.
Anastasia, Moscow: “I liked the method. Last year, I froze a lot of such blanks, the onion tastes like fresh. I added a little to soups, to pies with an egg. "
Valentina, Kazan: “I froze greens with water and cubes, and with butter. For the potatoes what you need - both oil and onion at once. Due to the water, the taste and aroma are perfectly preserved. All surplus greens I collect like this. "
Lyudmila, St. Petersburg: “I have been using frozen onions for a long time in the winter for soups and pies. I love both dried and frozen greens. The taste lasts well. The family likes it! "
