13 best homemade greens recipes for the winter
Fresh herbs can be prepared for the winter. There are many simple and interesting preparation methods. Dried, frozen, pickled or pickled greens are an ideal addition to soups, borscht, salads, and vitamin drinks. It tastes like fresh herbs, and there are many vitamins in it. It takes a minimum of time to prepare, but in winter, when everything is expensive in the store, it will help save the family budget.
Features of harvesting greens for the winter
Fresh dill, parsley, basil, sorrel are herbs that are full in summer, and in winter you have to buy at fabulous prices in stores. If you prepare greens for future use, you can not experience a shortage of this product throughout the cold season.
There are several known methods of harvesting fresh plants for the winter: drying, freezing, conservation, salting. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
What you need to know when harvesting greens:
- herbs for harvesting are fresh, green, without rot and unpleasant odor;
- depending on the method of preparation, leaves and stems are finely cut or harvested whole;
- for storing herbs, you need plastic boxes or containers, freezer bags, cotton bags, jars with plastic or twist off lids;
- take not iodized salt, vinegar - 9 percent;
- the least amount of vitamins is in dried greens, the largest is in frozen.
Preparation of raw materials
The herbs are prepared during the height of the summer season. For harvesting, they take fresh greens bought on the market or grown independently. The herbs are carefully examined, rotten or dry leaves, twigs are removed, washed in water and dried for 2-3 hours. It is undesirable to use greens that have stood in water for a long time or wilted.
Greenery harvesting methods
There are 4 ways to harvest vegetation for the winter: drying, freezing, salting and conservation. Greens prepared according to one method or another will differ in taste, color and the amount of stored vitamins.
Drying green supplies
An easy way to harvest herbs. This method allows you to preserve the taste and aroma of plants, as well as 50 percent of vitamins. Before drying the greens, they must be sorted out, sorted, washed in cold water, shaken off excess liquid, dried on oilcloth. It is recommended to dry herbs horizontally on a tray, plywood lined with paper, or hanging (in bundles).
On open air
Garden greens can be dried outside. Spread out with a thin layer of grass in the summer are taken out into fresh air and left in the shade under a canopy for several days. The main thing is that the sun's rays do not fall on the greenery, otherwise it will become faded. You can dry herbs on the windowsill, veranda, on a rope under a canopy. Dry blanks are stored in bags or jars.
In the oven
The easiest and fastest method of harvesting garden herbs. Plants are dried on a dry baking sheet (on paper) in the oven at a temperature of 42-52 degrees for 1-2 hours. The dried herbs are stored in cloth bags or glass jars with a plastic lid.
Freezing
The collected basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, dill are finely chopped and frozen in the freezer. This method preserves up to 90 percent of vitamins, as well as the natural color of plants. Before freezing, greens must be washed, sorted out, dried thoroughly, and finely chopped. Then - put in plastic boxes, containers or freezer bags.
You can put finely chopped vegetation in ice molds and pour melted, slightly salted butter, and then send it to the freezer.
Canning
To preserve greenery, you need to prepare glass jars (0.5 liter or 1 liter). Dill or parsley is washed, dried, coarsely chopped and placed in containers. Then a marinade is prepared from water, salt, sugar and vinegar. Dill or parsley is poured with hot marinade, after which the jars are pasteurized for 10-16 minutes. After pasteurization, the containers are rolled up with lids and turned upside down.
Salting greens
This method is much easier to preserve and helps to preserve up to 70 percent of vitamins. Dill or parsley is washed, dried for 4 hours, finely chopped and mixed with salt. For 1 kilogram of plants, take 1 kilogram of salt. The mixture is placed in jars and covered with plastic lids. The workpiece is stored in the refrigerator.
Blank recipes
You can preserve the taste and aroma of the herbs collected from the garden in any convenient way. The simplest is drying, the more labor-intensive is conservation.
Parsley and dill for the winter
Those wishing to preserve the aroma and rich green color of dill or parsley can be advised to use the salting method. The greens are pre-washed, dried well, chopped finely and sprinkled with salt in a 1: 1 ratio. Then the green mass is tamped into jars and closed with plastic lids.
Cilantro harvest
Fresh cilantro can be dried or frozen. You can prepare this spicy herb in another way: pickle. Cilantro is pre-washed, dried, cut not very finely and placed in 0.5-liter jars. Then prepare the marinade from water (1 liter), salt (1 tablespoon), sugar (2 tablespoons) and vinegar (50 milliliters). Cilantro is poured with hot marinade, after which the jars are closed with plastic lids.
Sorrel rolling with sterilization
In order to cook green cabbage soup in winter, you need to roll up sorrel at home in summer. Fresh leaves are washed, chopped at random and placed in 0.5 liter jars. Then the containers are placed in a saucepan with hot water and heated for 5-10 minutes. When the leaves give juice and begin to settle down, you can add more greenery. After filling the jar to the top, it is taken out of the pan and covered with a lid. You can add a teaspoon of salt to each jar.
Pickled green onions
You can cook green onions using the following recipe:
- onions - 1 kilogram;
- dill - 205 grams;
- water - 1 liter;
- sugar, salt - 35 grams each;
- acetic acid solution - 55 milliliters;
- spice.
Onions and dill are washed, dried, placed in 0.5-liter jars. A marinade is prepared from water, salt, sugar, spices and vinegar. Onion and dill are poured with hot marinade, after which the jars are pasteurized for 5-10 minutes and closed with lids.
Adjika with herbs and chili
At home, you can prepare an unusual and spicy snack.The taste of fresh herbs is best preserved in a pasty adjika.
This ready-made appetizer can be used as a spread on bread or a sauce for meat or fish.
How to cook green adjika:
- parsley - 1 kilogram;
- dill - 495 grams;
- garlic - 4-6 cloves;
- chilli - pod;
- salt, sugar - 35 grams each;
- acetic acid solution - 35 milliliters.
Greens are washed, peppers are peeled from seeds. All ingredients are ground in a blender until puree. Add salt, sugar, vinegar. Then the jars are filled with a pasty mass and pasteurized for 5 minutes.
Dried parsley
The easiest way to prepare parsley for the winter. Freshly collected herbs are washed and dried on a towel. Then the parsley sprigs are laid out on a wide plate, tray and dried in the shade for 2-3 days. You can store greens in paper, linen bags, cans under a lid.
Freezing dill and parsley
Fresh garden herbs are cut into small pieces, poured into ice molds, filled with ordinary water, then frozen in the freezer.
Dill or parsley prepared by this method has a long storage period (up to a year), retains its green color and aroma. You can grind the plants in a blender and put the mass in ice molds. You do not need to pour chopped dill or parsley with water, the mass will harden anyway.
