How to save greenery for the winter 

Many housewives use fragrant, fragrant and very healthy greens in the preparation of first and second courses. In summer, it can be found in abundance in the beds, but in winter it is available fresh only on store shelves and its prices are by no means low. Fortunately, some housewives came up with recipes for how to prepare greens for the winter. By performing simple manipulations, you can maintain the quality and benefits of this versatile ingredient until the new season begins. We will talk about how to do this later in the article.

Methods for harvesting greenery

There are several fundamentally different ways of harvesting greenery for the winter. So, most widely housewives use drying and freezing. These methods are quite simple and accessible even to inexperienced cooks. Canning and salting are used to preserve green supplies in the winter less often, since these methods require certain skills and abilities.

You can harvest any greens for the winter, for example, parsley, dill, sage, celery, spinach. The main requirement for greens is that they must be fresh. Withered greens are not suitable for harvesting.

Drying green supplies

Since ancient times, people have sought to preserve food by drying. The main advantage of the method is the ability to preserve all the vitamins and nutrients in the product. You can dry the greens in natural conditions, however, in this case, weather conditions play a huge role. You can artificially dry greens, some vegetables and fruits in a dehydrator. This device allows, regardless of external factors, in a gentle mode to remove moisture from the product, while retaining all the useful substances in it.

How to dry greens

You can dry any fragrant herbs and greens, with the exception of lettuce. The product collected for drying must be sorted out, damaged and coarse leaves removed. Rinse a quality product with cold water and dry it by spreading it on a kitchen towel or newsprint. After removing moisture from the surface of the leaves, the greens are cut. It is important to remember that large pieces dry for a long time and, if they are not properly dried, rot during storage. Very small fragments of a fresh product lose a lot of juice during harvesting, as a result of which they lose their flavor after drying. Thus, based on these important points, for each type of greens, you need to choose the average size of the pieces when cutting.

There are three different ways to dry green supplies:

• Using a dehydrator will allow you to dry the product quickly and efficiently. To do this, set the temperature to 40⁰With and scatter greens on pallets.
• You can dry the product in a conventional oven. To do this, the gas is turned on to a minimum, the baking sheet is placed in the uppermost groove of the oven. The door must be kept open at the same time. It is important in such conditions not to burn, but to dry the greens in a gentle mode.
• The “grandfather” method involves drying in natural conditions. To do this, the crushed product is laid out on a tablecloth, which is spread in the shade with good air ventilation.

The readiness of a dry product can be checked by touch: the finished product, when compressed, should break into several small pieces.

Storage and use of the dried product

You can store greens in paper bags or hermetically sealed jars. The choice of capacity largely depends on the humidity of the air in the room. The thing is that dried greens have the property of hygroscopicity and can lose their qualities when stored in conditions with high humidity.

Each type of product can be stored for storage in separate containers or seasoning obtained by mixing several components. You can use the product in the process of preparing first and second courses, as well as add it directly to the plate with ready-made food.

Freezing

You can save greens for the winter by freezing them. The advantages of this method are long-term storage without loss of quality and the preservation of all useful substances in the product.

Freezing methods

There are two ways to freeze greens: dry and wet.

The dry freezing method consists of the following steps:

• greens are carefully selected, washed, dried;
• cut it into small pieces, given that grinding the product in the future will be almost impossible;
• the prepared product is laid out in plastic bags, tightly tied and placed in the freezer;
• before the onset of complete freezing, the bags are broken several times by hand so that the product is free-flowing and does not freeze into a single large lump.

The wet freezing method involves the creation of ice cubes, which are based on chopped greens. The advantage of the method is the portion size of the product. To implement wet freezing, you must:

• finely chop the selected and washed greens;
• decompose the product into small silicone or plastic molds;
• fill the molds with water, put in the freezer until completely iced;
• collect the frozen cubes in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer.

After freezing, different types of greens are almost impossible to distinguish, so it is recommended to sign packages before freezing. You can freeze both individual types of the product, and their mixture.

Features of using frozen greens

Greens in the freezer always remain fresh. You can add it to soups or main dishes shortly before the end of cooking.

The frozen product is stored in a freezer. Short-term power outages will not cause significant harm to the product. But it is important to remember that a defrosted product cannot be re-frozen, as it will lose its quality.

canning

Canned greens can be not only tasty, but also healthy. You can preserve various types of fragrant herbs. To do this, you need to find recipes that will help you properly preserve the product. Here are just a few of them:

1. Wash and dry the greens. It can be parsley, dill, celery, cilantro, or a mixture of all these herbs. The total mass of the green product should be 2 kg. Additionally, 500 g of parsley root or celery root can be added to the mixture. The greens are chopped, the parsley root is cut into thin rings. 250 g of salt are added to the total mixture of products. Fill the jars with the resulting mixture. It is better to choose containers of small volume, since the canned product cannot be stored for a long time in the open state. Banks with a volume of 100 and 200 g are densely filled with greenery so that it starts up the juice. After that, 70% vinegar is added (2 tablespoons per 100 g jar). Filled jars are sterilized in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, after which they are rolled up.
2. Greens (dill, celery, parsley) in the amount of 1 kg wash and finely chop. Leek (200 g), onion (300 g), carrot (300 g) peeled and cut into slices. Add chopped hot pepper pod and 3-5 sweet bell pepper pods to the mixture. Add salt to the mixture in an amount of 460 g and 4 tbsp. l. vinegar. After thorough mixing, the jars are filled with greens, sterilized for 5-6 minutes and rolled up.
3. A universal canning recipe involves the use of a mixture of various fragrant herbs in an amount of 2 kg. The chopped mixture of products is placed tightly in jars and poured with syrup (1 liter of boiled water, 45 g of sugar, 25 g of salt, 1 tbsp of vinegar 8%). Sterilize the mixture in boiling water for 20 minutes.

For the preparation of canned greens, you can use the above or other recipes with a photo.

An unusual recipe can be found on the video:

You can store jars with a canned product all winter in the cellar or basement. After opening, they are stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Add the canned product to soups, about 1 tbsp. l. for 2 liters of liquid.

Salting greens

The high concentration of salt prevents the herbs from spoiling. For beginners and experienced housewives, a universal recipe for making pickles can be useful:

Washed and dried fragrant grass (any) finely chopped and mixed with salt. For every 1 kg of product, there should be about 250 g of salt. After thorough mixing, the product is placed tightly in clean jars and covered with a nylon lid. For 2 days, salt is placed in the refrigerator. During this time, the greens in the jar should thicken. Free space in this case must be additionally filled with a salt mixture. Store prepared pickles in a cool, dark place. The refrigerator compartment is ideal for storage.

Conclusion

There are many ways to keep greens. Each hostess must independently choose the best way for herself. For example, if the house has a large freezer, then the easiest way to freeze the product. This method of harvesting does not require much effort, knowledge and time. Using a dehydrator allows you to quickly and efficiently dry the product and at the same time do not take up space in the refrigerator during storage. Canning and salting takes time and knowledge. Such harvesting methods are more often used by experienced housewives. But no matter what harvesting method is chosen, you should always remember that greens are a source of vitamins, which is especially necessary for a person in winter.