Swiss chard is one of the popular green leafy vegetable. it is summer vegetable and does not comes in winter season so you can buy in bulk in summers and store it in freezer for the use in green smoothies, vegetable mix salad, green curries etc. winter by following simple method shared below to avoid turning the swiss chard brown and wilted upon defrosting.
It comes with lot of vitamin K which amounts of almost 3 times the daily intake requirement by our body and also contains almost 40% vitamin A requirement by our body. a study also found that leafy greens rich in nitrates like swiss chard helps in maintaining healthy vascular system of our body and reducing blood pressure, improving endothelial function for smooth blood transfer in lymph’s and other body parts. The nitrates present in leafy vegetables are also useful in healthy working of our heart and respiratory systems.
Here we will learn everything about freezing swiss chard in right manner to get good flavor and green color when we thaw them to eat later.
How to freeze swiss chard
Go to supermarket and buy the fresh swiss chard and then bring them home to clean under running water to remove all the dirt from the leaves of the swiss chard, once clean you will cut the swiss chard with santoku knife from its stem area, making leaves and stems separate for freezing.
Now we will blanch the swiss chard before freezing to retain its flavor throughout its lifetime. take a pan and add water to it and once it start boiling add the swiss chard to boiling water for 30-40 seconds and once it start to turn light green then turn off the gas and take the swiss chard and put it in cold water bucket to stop the cooking process as overheated swiss chard could become mushy which no one wants.
once it is done take our the swiss chard from cold water and remove the excess water from it by using paper towel. then take swiss chard stem and bottom part and keep it in reusable plastic bags and remove air from them before sealing and then keep in freezer and then take another bag and put all the leaves of the swiss chard in it and seal it and place the date label on it so it can remind you to use the swiss chard in due time before it gets bad and then place it in freezer.
flash freezing swiss chard
if you are wondering can you freeze swiss chard without blanching then this method is for you. In this if you intend to flash freeze the swiss chard then take a bowl of ice water and place the swiss chard in it until they get cold for 10 minutes once done place them on baking sheet and remove excess water from them and then place them in freezer for 1 hour.
Then take out from freezer and put the stems and leaves in 2 different freezer bags and seal them by removing excess air from them and then place the labels and then place in freezer for long term freezing.
How to defrost swiss chard
Swiss chard generally last for about 6- 12 months when kept safely in freezer, although i would recommend it to consume it as soon as possible after freezing but nevertheless you can thaw it by keeping it in the fridge for few hours and then using it your salad recipes and other dishes.
If you want to use the swiss chard in soups, stews or stir fry on induction stove then you don’t need to defrost the swiss chard rather add it directly to cooking pot. the cooking heat would directly thaw the swiss chard greens and make the recipe tasty.
Conclusion
Hope you got the right method to freeze swiss chard for using them later in various salad bowls and other different recipes. if you store the swiss chard in right way then it wont get spoiled and bad for long time so that you can use it at later date whenever you want.
if you like this post on how to freeze swiss chard then share this post with your friends to help them store these leafy greens in freezer for later use. let us know how do you consume swiss chards and what all recipes you make with these swiss chard leaves.
If you are interested in learning about freezing spinach dip or storing fresh spinach in fridge then checkout our detailed post on them for complete information.
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