Fresh-Frozen Chard and Arugula

Photos Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

I walked down to my garden today and realized that I still have ample opportunity to harvest and freeze the last of my summer greens. The two types of greens that are the most prolific are chard and arugula so I thought I would concentrate on learning how to properly freeze each one. After researching the best way to go about this process, I learned that all greens with the exception of lettuce can be frozen. All you need is a big pot, a big bowl or sink, water, slotted spoon, strainer, freezer bags and a sharpie pen. I also learned the following process.

Step One: Wash greens and remove stems. Chop into manageable-sized pieces.

Step Two: Submerge greens in boiling water for 30 seconds (for finer greens like arugula) to two minutes (for heartier greens like collards). I boiled the chard for just over a minute because it is mid-range on the heartiness scale.

Step Three: Move hot greens to cold water with slotted spoon and submerge until heat has been removed. You may need to freshen water if it gets too warm. This process is called blanching.

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

Step Four: Place greens in strainer to remove excess water (I added this detail because the greens were quite wet). Pack into freezer bags, remove air and seal. Label bags with type of vegetable and date packed. If there is a lot of one green, separate into 1-cup serving sizes and put in freezer bags for single servings.

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

This process was so easy! The only time consuming part was separating the arugula greens from the stems. I must have purchased a different variety of arugula than I am accustomed to growing. This particular type of arugula is smaller thus more tedious to remove and prepare. What started out as a sink full of arugula stems, ended up as three 1-cup bags of blanched arugula. Chard on the other hand, is very easy to prepare. While doing my research, I learned that chard stems don't freeze well so the greens must be cut from the stems. I usually chop the stems and cook them with the greens but this does not work well for freezing. The only necessary task for getting the chard ready was to cut each side away from the stem and then to chop the greens into smaller pieces. Now the arugula and chard are ready to be used for various winter soups and pasta dishes. What a breeze! I plan on freezing my Dinosaur Kale tomorrow.

Recipe Sources:

ritasroots.wordpress.com

shinycooking.com