will they be ok?

loopychicken

hi all
i made a salad today for 2 people but as its allways cheaper to buy capsicums than peppers i did but there is allways to much an then as u do they go in the fridge an then in the bin but today i took the bits i didnt use as well as the letuce cucumber and onion an bagged them an froze them will they all be ok for futher use some off them had a reduced price as well as they go out of date today
i was really chuffed with my self when i did it but now im worried..lol

grimelda

Unfortunately salad vegetables don't freeze well. When you defrost them you will very likely have a slushy mess. If I recall correctly from high school home ec., freezing causes ice crystals to form which break the cell walls in the plants. It's the cell walls which keep them crisp and firm.

I'm not sure what the difference is between capsicums and peppers. In Australia we call all of those big, red/green/yellow bell-pepper things capsicums. Usually if I have a few of the red or yellow ones going off in the fridge (I don't often buy green ones) I roast them under the grill, take the skins off, cut into strips and mix with extra virgin olive oil and garlic. It always reminds me of a Sicilian couple I used to live with and beautiful summer lunches back home.

loopychicken

i dont think there is a diff except the price
and thinking about it the cucumber may well turn in to slush

ok then what else can i do with them if anything to help preserve them?

DawnW

Hi,
the cucumber will not freeze properly (or at least will be all soggy when you thaw it out, due to the very high water content). Peppers (same as capsicums, that is just the 'official' name for them) will freeze OK, without bothering to blanch them, but they will only be good for cooking after freezing, not salads. I grow them in the summer, and always freeze loads, just chop them up, open freeze them on trays so they don't all stick together then, when frozen, put them into bags or boxes for storage in the freezer. I do this with reduced/special offer bought ones as well, and it is fine for green, red, yellow, any colour (also grow purple and orange ones lol). They are great for adding to casseroles, chilli, pasta sauces, omelettes, quiches and just about any other cooked dish you can think of where you would use peppers/capsicums, and you can add them striaght from the freezer, no need to thaw out first. Very handy!

randomtask_2

grimelda wrote: »

I'm not sure what the difference is between capsicums and peppers. In Australia we call all of those big, red/green/yellow bell-pepper things capsicums. Usually if I have a few of the red or yellow ones going off in the fridge (I don't often buy green ones) I roast them under the grill, take the skins off, cut into strips and mix with extra virgin olive oil and garlic. It always reminds me of a Sicilian couple I used to live with and beautiful summer lunches back home.

I agree with grimelda - the cost of roasted peppers in olive oil from deli's and supermarkets is often very high (Jamie Oliver's is £3.49 for a 280g jar in Sainsbury for example), so if you can make your own, you'd be saving considerably. And seeing as it's very easy to do so, I'd go with this option rather than freezing.

Roasted peppers are much sweeter and tastier IMO too.

Plum_Pie

Random, you've just reminded me that I saw some Jamie Oliver Olive Oil for sale in a 99p shop on a really scruffy road last week. :rotfl: