What do you guys think of frozen vs fresh?
Personally i prefer frozen because a couple hours before lunch or din din i set it out, Heat it when ready. No chopping no mess.
Depends on the veggie. Some of the frozen kinds I find DISGUSTING, but fresh can take much longer to prep. Frozen buttered corn is a staple for me, as is the occasional variety mix of green beans, carrots & peas. I prefer broccoli fresh and then I steam it. I also like a nice ear of corn on the cob in the summer
I prefer fresh everything. If I had a personal chef, I'd want almost everything from scratch. But, I'm no master chef, and I hate spending hours in the kitchen. So most of the things I make have to be a compromise.
I keep frozen bags of veggies of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, etc on hand that I can steam in the microwave in 5 minutes. Quick and easy.
But I buy fresh things like asparagus, squash and peppers that are very easy to prepare and roast that don't take too long.
For me, I prefer fresh fruits compared to fresh veggies. While I have some staple veggies in the fridge I have several steamables and frozen veggie packets cause I like to be able to just add them to whatever I happen to be cooking for lunch/dinner.
I use fresh, frozen, and even a few canned veggies, but fresh is almost always my preference.
I used to think that prepping and cooking veggies took "too much time" until I started actually counting how much time it actually took.
Using flexible, plastic cutting boards (from the dollar store), and a garbage bowl has been a huge time saver.
I also don't peel most veggies. I just scrub well with a veggie brush or even a clean, wet dishtowel. Then I chop coursely and cook as I wish.
Usually I either roast in the oven, or steam/bake in the microwave.
Roasted veggies are my favorite, I just toss "shake and bake" style first with oil (in ziploc bag or a tupperware container) and then with seasonings (ranch dressing mix powder, usually). Then pour into a foil lined pan and roast until tender at about 425 degrees.
I also love making veggies in the crock pot. French onion soup, veggie soup, stew with root veggies...
I'm with you, Kaplods, I almost never peel veggies, either. My mom always did, and when I realized that you can literally not tell the difference with carrots, and I kind of prefer the peel on zucchini and cucumbers, it did save a lot of time (though you're right, it didn't really take that long, it just *felt* like it!).
I make a mix of chopped frozen broccoli, chopped frozen spinach, and frozen shredded zucchini to throw in eggwhites in the morning. It's super easy, and as much as I don't mind chopping veggies for dinner, I can't seem to make myself do it for breakfast (prolly cuz bfast is just cooking for me).
I also like using my George Foreman grill for veggies. I swear I could sell those things, I love mine so much! Grilled zucchini (fresh, never frozen for that!) is AMAZING!! Also, grilled sweet potatoes and grilled pineapple are awesome, and grilled onions make EVERYTHING better!
My Costco has some really good frozen green beans, the super skinny fancy kind, and I usually get a huge bag of those and make them up a bunch of different ways as side dishes. YUM! Lately I've been making them sauteed in a little water and no-stick spray with chicken boullion and a chopped tomato and sometimes some fresh cilantro added. For some reason, it's SOOOO good, even my foodie friend was like, "WHAT is in these green beans??" Chicken boullion, my friend. It's amazing.
I adore fresh veggies and prefer them. However, I always stock up on tons of frozen veggies, too. Many sources say that they are frozen at the peak of freshness and contain all of the vitamins. Of course the counter argument to that would be that fresh veggies contain vitamins only found when the vegetable is still living. As long as you're getting in your veggies I think that either variety is great. If it's frozen make sure it's free of preservatives and added flavorings if you actually want to retain a closer resemblance to the benefits of fresh veggies.
I don't really have a preference. I find frozen veggies convenient and faster than fresh somehow. But I guess fresh taste slightly better than frozen. Other than mushrooms, I'm really not a fan of canned veggies though.
I keep frozen peas and spinach on hand. Sometimes I'll buy frozen corn, green beans or stir-fry mix, but I prefer fresh. The texture of most frozen vegetables is inferior to me. I don't buy canned vegetables for the same reason. I like crisp vegetables, not mushy.
It takes me no time to chop up vegetables and I eat a lot of them. Of course, I love to cook. So, I don't see kitchen prep as a burden.
Since I'm kind of poor, I have no choice but to buy frozen. I usually stock my chest freezer (great investment, btw) with kroger's bagged frozen veggies when they're $.88-$1 each.
When we do a saute' vegetable meal, we saute fresh vegetables, then we had little of the frozen mix vegetables....then add beef, chicken, or shrimp. I like to keep fresh cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash, celery, carrots, and onions for stir frying.
Frozen all the way. They are "fresher" because they are flash frozen immediately after picked, they last forever so no fears of eating a veggie that has started to go bad (had a bad experience with carrots that looked fresh and crispy but once I bit into it the inside was complete mush) and they take less than 4 minutes to prepare by just throwing it in the microwave... even lessor if I just want to thaw them to eat raw, which I actually prefer than cooked.