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Use Nutritious Frozen Vegetables for Mediterranean Slow Food Diet!!
One of the key characteristic of the Mediterranean food is abundant usage of vegetables and thus it's the ideal healthy diet. However, compared to the Mediterranean region, fresh vegetables in the US are fairly expensive and limited in variation. We therefore suggest mixing of frozen vegetables with the fresh vegetables when making dishes. Usage of frozen vegetables is not only convenient but it also enables us to eat more variety of vegetables throughout the year.
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What is ˇ°Slow Foodˇ±?
Slow Food Movement was founded by Carlo Petrini In the late 80's. He recognized that the industrialization of food was standardizing taste and leading to the annihilation of thousands of food varieties and flavors, Concerned that the world was quickly reaching a point of no return, he wanted to reach out to consumers and demonstrate to them that they have choices over fast food and supermarket homogenization. It advocates that pleasure and quality in everyday life can be achieved by slowing down, respecting the convivial traditions of the table and celebrating the diversity of the earth's bounty instead of succumbing to the effects of the fast life. Slow Food has its origin from Mediterranean home cuisine, which simply prepares seasonal vegetables, fish or shellfish with olive oil. Scientific research has proven that these nutrients are easily absorbed and can improve blood circulation in human bodies.
One easy and convenient way to incorporate slow food in your daily life right now is by for example using frozen spinach whether in whole or cut style to make Mediterranean dish. For instance, to make the famous Catarunia stir fry spinach dish, you simply stir fry frozen spinach with roasted pine nuts, raisin, chopped garlic and olive oil. You can also use the frozen cut spinach to easily make Italian ravioli stuffing or use it to make Thai green curry with chicken.
One of the great advantages of the frozen vegetables is that there is no preservative added thus it's healthy and safe to eat. Another advantage is of course that you don't need to worry about it getting rotten. Some people think that by freezing the vegetable , its nutrition is lost . However, research has proven that on the contrary, when fresh vegetables are instantly frozen during its peak harvest season , not only this would preserve its vitamin C but also its minerals. Fresh vegetables harvested at its off season contain only 1/3 of nutrition to those harvested at its peak season. In contrast, frozen vegetables are processed by using fresh vegetables at their peak season with technology that doesn't loose its nutrition.
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- Tips In Cooking Frozen Vegetables
There are few tips in best how to cook frozen vegetables. First, never take frozen vegetables out of the freezer to room temperature in order to defrost as it would spoil them. Instead, frozen vegetables should be cooked in high temperature right out of freezer, meaning it should be brought from -18 c freezing stage immediately to +100c cooking stage. So whether you are stir frying, boiling, deep frying or steaming the frozen vegetables, the key is to cook with strong fire for short period of time. As the temperature is crucial in preserving its quality, it is also highly advisable to place the frozen vegetables in a cooler box after purchasing at the supermarket so its temperature won't drop before you put them in your home freezer. It is also important to remember that once they are defrosted, refrain from refreezing the vegetables. Take out only the amount you need from the freezer each time.
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Always Stock Frozen Vegetables In Freezer To Broaden Your Cooking Recipes
Some people might think when using frozen vegetables for cooking, they would have to use frozen vegetables for that entire dish but that is not necessary the case. Frozen vegetables can be mixed with fresh vegetables such as carrots and onions which are available year round. So stocking few kinds of frozen vegetables will broaden your cooking recipes.
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Frozen Vegetables ? Instant Freezing For Lasting Quality, Taste and Nutrition
Many people have misconception that frozen vegetables are low in nutrition, especially in vitamin C. However, according to research reports conducted by major frozen food manufacturers in Japan using frozen spinach, it was concluded that frozen spinach after boiling had higher vitamin C content then the fresh spinach after boiling. The reason is simple, frozen vegetables are packaged at their peak harvest season in the factory which is usually located right nearby the farmlands, meaning, fresh vegetables are picked in the morning, instantly boiled, instantly frozen and processed within the hours at the factory into frozen vegetables thereby locking in its vitamin C and nutrition. Whereas fresh vegetables at the supermarket are usually on the shelf after over 24hours from the time harvested due to transportation and logistic procedures therefore loosing much of its nutrition.
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Mediterranean 
