best fruits/veggies for freezing and how?

[anomaly13]

so i tried freezing fresh brocoli and failed, i guess i cooked it too long before freezing cause when i tried to reheat it it was all mushy. fruits i think i get- trim, peel, cut up, freeze right? but what do i need to do for veggies? and which work best?

[mommy2two babes]

Broccoli is one of the things that I love freezing.
I just blanch it for 1 minute cool in ice water and freeze.
I do the same with cauliflower, carrots, and green and wax beans.
I have also frozen halves skinned peaches.

[BetsyS]

Tomatoes are very easy to freeze--just throw them in a ziploc. No prep necessary.

I freeze broccoli with good results. Also cauliflower, green beans, greens (like mustard, turnips, spinach, collards, whatever), beets. This year, I'm trying my hand at freezing tomatillos for the first time.

[cristeen]

Never cook your produce first. Blanching it should take less than a minute, plunge it into ice water and it's done.

Fruit is fairly easy, but different fruits have different requirements... small whole fruits like blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries freeze well on a parchment lined sheet pan, then toss them into a ziploc, done. Apricots I halve, pit and freeze on a sheet pan. Peaches/nectarines/plums are a little tougher because it depends on how ripe they are. If they're still firm enough, they can go like apricots, only 1/4'd instead of 1/2'd. But if they're too soft, then you really need to freeze them in something to contain the juices. Then I chop them, and sometimes I use a muffin tin, sometimes a small tupperware container - always measured so I can use it in a recipe later. Cherries like to be halved, pitted, tossed with a touch of sugar and then frozen. The main fruits that don't care for freezing would be citrus and hard fruits like apples. But since both of those keep just fine for long periods, it's not usually an issue.