[Jojo F.]

I have a boatload of beets right now. I'm planning on fermenting some beets and want to freeze the greens.

Should I wash, cut up, and blanch the greens first and then freeze?

 

[kjbrown92]

My mother froze beets last year (blanched them first) and they weren't very good when thawed. The ones she canned (as pickled beets) were awesome. She didn't freeze any of the greens though. I've been eating a lot of them because my mother's garden produces a ton of them. I LOVE fresh beets.

 

[Jojo F.]

I love beets and fortunately so does DS (5) so I know I won't have any troubles eating the beets themselves.

My problem is the greens. I think I will sneak some into the salad my MIL is making right now, cook some up like a side dish tonight and just save some for a soup later this week.

Has anyone frozen the greens before? Do they come out well?

 

[audsma]

I assume that kale and beet greens have the same texture. Yes, I chopped and blanched Kale to use in soups and fritattas, and it came out well in the different applications I used them for.

 

[BetsyS]

I have frozen beet greens. I generally freeze greens in one of two ways. The first is in water. Sometimes, I blanche the greens, then freeze in the water. When you're ready to eat them, take them out, drain them, then stir fry in some oil and garlic. We eat our greens a little softer than most people (I'm from Georgia

), so we like these a good bit.

The other way is to blanche, then shock (in an ice water bath), then drain. After draining, I put the greens either leaf by leaf or in little clumbs on a cookie sheet to individually freeze. Once frozen, pop them off the cookie sheet and store in a ziploc bag. These greens aren't quite as soft, but very, very handy to just take out as much as you need during the year.