How to preserve this produce?

[PunkRotten]

Hi,


Is there any way to preserve this produce longer rather than having to eat it all up fresh right away? Here is what I am growing:


Radish
Lettuce
Beets
Carrots
Arugula
Cilantro
Parsley
Kale


Thanks

[gumbo2176]

Hi,


Is there any way to preserve this produce longer rather than having to eat it all up fresh right away? Here is what I am growing:


Radish
Lettuce
Beets
Carrots
Arugula
Cilantro
Parsley
Kale


Thanks

In the past I've put up beets in pint jars. I'll use carrots in a pickling brine along with onions, celery and cauliflower and add some hot peppers or pepper flakes to the brine to make it a little spicy.

You can also put up carrots in jars or simply blanch them and freeze them for later use.

I'll cook down Kale. I start with a couple tablespoons of bacon grease or olive oil, add some onions, garlic and a bit of smoke sausage or ham and cook that off until the flavors blend then add the kale cut up in good size chunks. I'll add just a cup of chicken broth or just plain water, cover and let it cook down for about 30 minutes until tender. This freezes fine when done.

The lettuce and arugula I only use fresh. If I have an abundance---I usually do---I'll give any extra away to family and friends.

Herbs are used fresh or dried for later use.

[lorax]

You can pickle the lettuce and radishes together with a bit of hot pepper in the same way that cabbage is pickled.

Beets and carrots cry out to become pickles as well - beets sweet, and carrots sweet and sour with dill.

The herbs can be frozen into ice cubes.

[jal_ut]

Radish and lettuce I have never tried to preserve any longer than putting them in the fridge.

Beets and carrots can be canned with a pressure cooker. They could also be made into pickles then canned with a water bath canner. They will also store very well in a root cellar if covered with sand. Without the sand covering, they will dehydrate.

Arugula ,Cilantro,and Parsley can be dried.

Kale? Good question. This plant is loaded with good food value and vitamins. I have never used it any way except fresh. I wonder if it can be dried?

[gumbo2176]

Radish and lettuce I have never tried to preserve any longer than putting them in the fridge.

Beets and carrots can be canned with a pressure cooker. They could also be made into pickles then canned with a water bath canner. They will also store very well in a root cellar if covered with sand. Without the sand covering, they will dehydrate.

Arugula ,Cilantro,and Parsley can be dried.

Kale? Good question. This plant is loaded with good food value and vitamins. I have never used it any way except fresh. I wonder if it can be dried?

James, one of the recipes I use for Kale dries it out a good bit but I don't know how long it will last because I wind up eating it before it can go bad.

I'll take Kale, cut it up in fairly large chunks, drizzle just enough olive oil to very lightly coat it, sprinkle some sea salt and black pepper and place it on a cookie sheet. I'll put this in a pre-heated oven at 250* and allow it to dehydrate. This forms a very crispy piece of Kale similar to a chip.

Excellent stuff and better for you than commercial chips.

[rainbowgardener]

I like freezing things. The carrots particularly freeze very well. Wash them, trim and peel them, slice them however you like to serve them (coins or sticks, etc). Then blanch them, I.e. dip them in water that is already boiling for 2-5 minutes (less for smaller pieces like coins, longer for bigger pieces or whole baby carrots). Pull them out and immediately put them into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain thoroughly and put in freezer bags, pressing as much air out as you can.

The parsley I dry.

Never have tried preserving green leafies, but spinach freezes well so probably the kale would too. I'd use the same process, but brief blanching time, like 2 minutes. But personally, frozen spinach doesn't seem to me to have much relation to fresh spinach leaves-- love fresh spinach, can't eat frozen-- so the same might be true of the kale.

[applestar]

When I was in a hurry, I chopped and froze kale in a large zip bag without doing anything else. I grabbed frozen handfuls to add to salad, soup, omelet, pasta sauce.... probably used it up in a month or so.

I like gumbo's kale chip idea and am going to try that next time I get the chance. (I still have some kale out there....)

[PunkRotten]

I make kale chips all the time in my dehydrator. I blend cashews, red bell pepper, little bit of olive oil and nutritional yeast. I rub that all over the kale then dehydrate.

[gumbo2176]

I make kale chips all the time in my dehydrator. I blend cashews, red bell pepper, little bit of olive oil and nutritional yeast. I rub that all over the kale then dehydrate.

That sounds great and I happen to have a dehydrator----hmmmmmm.

I use it almost exclusively to make beef and turkey jerky and when my figs come in, I'll dry a lot of them for later use.

I'm assuming you puree and make a paste of the cashews, peppers and oil so it is easier to spread???? How about a hint on the amount of ingredients for your recipe. I know when I give out a recipe, I've worked on it for quite a while to perfect it-----at least to my taste.

Thanks.

[PunkRotten]

Hi,

This is a good amount to use on a whole head or Kale


1 cup cashews, (soaked 2 hours)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 teaspoon agave nectar (optional)
Salt

You blend it all together to make a batter/paste then rub all over the Kale. The nutritional yeast gives it a cheesy flavor. If you don't have it substitute it for something else or you can skip it. Depending on the dehydrator you have it should take about 12 hours to finish. Just put it on overnight. You also don't have to fear of it being over dehydrated either.


I make all kinds of stuff in my dehydrator; kale chips, flax crackers, flat breads, fruit leathers, corn chips. Plus I dry herbs, and one time I made jerky out of chicken it came out pretty good.