As Kermit told us so many years ago…  It’s not easy being green.

It’s especially not easy if you’re a big, green, leaf.  Outside of the South, collards and other greens just don’t have the appeal – or history – that other foods have.  In the grocery stores, the big, fresh, leafy greens passed over for pre-cut, pre-chopped, and pre-washed bags of limp lettuce that probably have less nutritional value than the plastic they’re packaged in.  Because we know all about “today’s busy lifestyles.”

So I was thrilled to receive a big bunch of collards and brussels sprout leaves from our neighbor and friend, Anne.  Fresh from her garden.

I knew I wasn’t going to be using them right away, and I also knew I wasn’t letting them go to waste.  This is where the FoodSaver comes into play!

We bought the FoodSaver years ago so we could vacuum-pack things in manageable quantities as well as take advantage of sales and deals on things that a mere two people could not immediately consume.  It has paid for itself over and over.

 

Taking care of the greens was easy.  First, I removed the tough center rib.  Then, I chopped the leaves into manageable sizes.  I dropped them into a pot of boiling salted water to blanch and set their color.  I let them cook a few minutes to help reduce their natural bitterness.

From the pot they went into the food processor.

They received a really good chop – just short of a puree – and from there, went into freezer bags.

These are going to be excellent in pots of soup this winter.  When my body is craving greens and vitamins k, a, and c, we will have the perfect ingredient right in the freezer.

And this works for anything that comes out of your garden, neighbors, or CSA.  We have tomatoes for later in the winter – I refuse to buy Florida tomatoes – and a few other odds and ends that make the winter soups and stews interesting!

And ya know…  if you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can still freeze things with ziplock freezer bags.

No excuses.