Frozen Vegetables Make Tasty Side Dishes

I always keep frozen vegetables on hand to make quick, healthy, and easy side dishes. Truthfully, I can enjoy a bowl of  low fat healthy veggies within 7 minutes from start to finish. 

So, no more excuses for not cooking veggies! 

Frozen vegetables are a great way to make sure you eat vegetables daily. 

I also freeze fresh ginger to grate in the skillet of vegetables. 

Keep fresh garlic frozen in the freezer ( don't peel it). To use it, simply grate it with the peel.

Freshly grated ginger tastes great with sautéed broccoli. 

I keep fresh organic ginger in the freezer in small baggies. It stays fresh for about 6 months. 

I wash and dry it whole (just the way it comes) before freezing it. 

Then I simply grate it frozen into the pan as needed and return the unused ginger to the baggy and back to the freezer.  The flavor is amazing. 

This simple, healthy, easy side dish was sooooo delicious that I felt I needed to share it. 

 I cooked up a bag of organic broccoli and some organic green beans (bought at a reasonable price at Costco). 

Recipe: Quick Frozen Broccoli and Green Beans With Ginger : 

I used a wide skillet. I poured in the bag of broccoli into the skillet and then added about a large handful of frozen green beans, 1/2 cup of water and grated freshly ginger on top, salt and garlic powder. Cook uncovered on a medium flame for about 5 minutes! (adding 1/4 cup of water while cooking if water evaporates)

Why I keep frozen vegetables in the freezer?

• Most frozen vegetables are frozen as soon as they are harvested, thus they retain the greatest amount of nutrients. 
• Fresh vegetables such as broccoli are shipped for a few days and then sit in the supermarket often for a few days or more. By the time we eat it, the nutritional value may have deteriorated. 
• My time schedule and lifestyle is unpredictable. I often buy fresh vegetables with great intentions, only to find out that we ate out or I just didn't cook them and they went bad!
• If I buy frozen, they can stay in the freezer for months. 
• I don't need to clean them and chop them, therefore I am more likely to actually make them.
• 
  

Not 

Recipe for sugar snap peas and ginger with sesame seeds 

Not Mushy 

If you cook frozen broccoli or frozen green beans in a skillet with just 1/2 cup of water to start for about 4 minutes uncovered,  they stay firm and bright green.

My favorite frozen vegetables: 

• Organic broccoli- Costco sells a large bag with 4 individual sized bags inside 
• Organic cauliflower rice- Costco for large bags with 4 individual bags or Trader Joe's for one 12 ounce bag.  
• Organic edamame - Whole Foods one bag
• Organic cauliflower-One bag at Whole Foods 
• Organic sweet peppers (red and green) one bag at Whole Foods which I use added to other vegetable dishes or for soup recipes.
• Organic peas - One bag at Whole Foods 
• Frozen organic artichoke quarters- One bag Trader Joe's
• Frozen Baby Brussels Sprouts (for Baby Brussels Sprout Soup)-I buy a bag from Hanover brand at most supermarkets and use them in stir-fry (with broth not oil) or soup.

Plain Cauliflower Rice (Heated in skillet with 1/2 cup of water, salt, pepper, and garlic powder).
Can beused it in place of rice! Try my cauliflower rice fiesta recipe that follows.


Cauliflower Rice Fiesta Recipe Link

 Frozen Baby Brussels Sprout Soup

Roasted Carrot Appetizer With Cumin Seeds and Tahini Maple Dip

I am truly excited about this roasted carrot appetizer recipe and you should be too! Why? Because it is not only absolutely easy to make, it is absolutely crazy delicious. 

If you are a reader of my blog, you will know that the last week I made a delicious dip (link)with tahini, maple syrup, and lemon juice. 

Yesterday I was shopping in Costco and I noticed an interesting bag of little bag of multi colored carrots. They were from Guatemala and were hand picked and shaped. They looked so cute, I decided to buy them and make them for an appetizer for the dinner party I was having. 

At first, I thought I would serve them as a vegetable side dish drizzled with the tahini sauce which would have been great ! 

But then I realized that they would also make an amazing appetizer as well, and I needed an appetizer for a party I was giving. (I forgot to take a good photo) 

All of my guests raved about the carrot appetizer. These beautiful looking roasted carrots with cumin seeds were the BIG hit!

I served the roasted carrots as an appetizer along with my maple tahini sauce for dipping which totally enhanced the flavors of the carrots! 

Ingredients: 

1 bag of cocktail carrots (as seen above)

1/2 cup of acquafaba (the liquid from cooking chickpeas or from canned chickpeas- I use it in place of olive oil) 

2 tablespoon of cumin seeds 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper 

Wash and dry the carrots 

Brush carrots with acquafaba ( If you use oil, spray with olive oil spray) 

Sprinkle on the cumin seeds and salt

Place in the oven and roast for  20 -25 minutes until carrots are soft.

Remove from oven. 

My Notes: 

• For a side dish, arrange carrots in a serving dish and drizzle with the tahini maple syrup sauce. 
• For an appetizer, arrange the carrots on a flat serving dish and put the tahini maple syrup dip in a small bowl for a dip.

Tahini Maple Party Dip- Easy and Delicious

The flavors of creamy tahini and sweet maple syrup are a match made in heaven!

Green Cay Nature Center and Wetlands-Our Adventure

We visited Green Cay Wetlands in Boyton Beach, (Florida) with our dear friends Fay and Howie who rented a place in Boynton Beach. The incredible area overlooks 100 acres of wetlands and hosts a one and a half mile elevated boardwalk that takes you directly into the wetlands.