Let’s face it: Canada doesn’t offer much in the way of fresh fruit and locally grown vegetables year-round. So sometimes, it just makes sense to switch to frozen.
Not only are frozen fruits and vegetables convenient to have in your freezer at all times, but they’ll be in peak condition at the moment you want to use them! This also means they’ll offer peak nutritional value too because they are harvested at the perfect moment and frozen immediately. All of this means better value as frozen fruits and vegetables have minimal wastage which makes them more cost effective.
Farm Boy offers a wide selection of frozen fruits and vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts, kale, mango, avocado and berry blends, perfect for making winter smoothies and soups, or compotes for eating with yogurt.
Smoothie
For a dark berry smoothie, throw a mixture of frozen blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and a ripe banana into a blender. Add a half cup of plain, full fat yogurt, a few drops of vanilla essence, a teaspoon of cinnamon and some orange juice to create the thickness you prefer.
Compote
Frozen fruit is perfect to create a compote to eat with yogurt at breakfast, or as a dessert. Choose your fruits. I like dark cherries, blueberries, peaches and raspberries.
- Put a cup of each fruit in a saucepan.
- Add a drizzle of orange juice – just enough to wet the bottom of the pan – as the fruit will produce plenty of its own juice and you don’t want it to be watery.
- For a warm, spicy flavour you can add cinnamon and a pinch of powdered cloves, or for a lighter flavour, a drizzle of rose water.
- Add a tablespoon of honey to sweeten.
- Gently bring the fruit to a simmer, over a very low heat.
- You want the fruit to maintain its structure and not go soggy.
- Once the mixture bubbles, turn the heat off and set aside to cool.
- Taste for sweetness and add more honey to taste or a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to brighten the flavour.
- Serve with full fat plain yogurt or crème fraiche.
Vegetables
Eat your greens! It’s just so easy to throw a handful of frozen peas or green beans into a bowl of soup or a Thai curry – they’ll add sweetness and zing – or to use frozen spinach to make an earthy, dark green soup. Frozen sweetcorn goes particularly well in a chunky chicken or ham soup, offering crunch and a sweet top note. Use Farm Boy stocks to make a quick and nutritious dinner, served with a wedge of crusty fresh bread.
Frozen squash cubes are also an easy and soul-warming hearty side dish.
- Place in one layer over the bottom of a glass or ceramic oven-friendly dish, add enough water to reach halfway up the squash.
- Bake at 365 Fahrenheit for approximately 25 minutes, or until fork firm, but not soggy.
- Drain any remaining water, pour enough cream to nearly cover, add a generous pinch or two of salt, freshly ground black pepper and liberal amounts of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- Bake until the cream is bubbling and cheese begins to brown.
Frozen avocado chunks are great to have to hand for adding to green smoothies or as a quick, nutrition-filled breakfast, smashed onto toast, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Leave the chunks to thaw at room temperature for about an hour, before crushing them with a fork to make guacamole, adding finely chopped red onion and tomatoes, plenty of lime juice, salt and chopped fresh cilantro, or incorporating them into a creamy green salad dressing
Recipes
Here are a couple other recipes to try enjoying Farm Boy Frozen Fruits and Vegetables:
Rainbow Cauliflower Rice
Creamy, Tangy Avocado Dip
Mixed Berry Strata
