How to freeze garden peas

If, however, you find yourself with a bountiful harvest of fresh peas and no time to blanch, you can freeze fresh peas without blanching them first. You should use unblanched frozen peas within four to six weeks of freezing; they lose color, flavor and nutrition the longer they are stored. Shell the peas.

Save fresh peas for dishes for months to come

Giving the peas a quick blanching in boiling water before freezing them ensures that they will retain their bright green color and do not turn to mush when you get around to cooking with them. The single-layer initial freeze prevents the peas from clumping together.

Freezing – The best way to preserve edible pea pods is by freezing. Blanching stops enzymes from continuing the ripening process. Unblanched vegetables will have undesirable flavor, texture and vitamin loss during storage. Wash and trim ends of pods, removing any strings.

Drain the water and spread the peas on a kitchen towel. Let them dry for a few hours. Drying the peas to get rid of excess water is important otherwise they will stick to each other after freezing. Store the peas in zip lock bags and freeze until ready to use.

You can take normal water and add ice cubes to it or take chilled water from the fridge. You can also take containers to preserve the green peas but the polythene bags are much easier to place as they fit in the freezer properly taking less space. You can use the preserved green peas all the year round.

In the last step, use ice cold water or water with ice cubes to immerse green peas. You can also store them in air-tight containers. However, storing in polythene bags with zip-lock is more convenient to keep in the freezer, as they occupy less space.

You can make them the star of a side dish, as in my quick-braised peas, purée them into a soup, add them to a stew, or briefly blanch them and toss them in risottos or pastas. And when they’re small and tender, they’re also great raw in salads.

Drying shelled peas (or beans)

To dry indoors, preheat oven or food dehydrator to 130°F to 140°F. Prepare, blanch, and drain shelled peas or beans; pat dry before placing on drying trays. Dry until vegetables rattle. Cool until no longer warm and then store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place up to 2 months.

Garden Peas

The peas are sweet and may be eaten raw or cooked; these are the common peas that are sold shelled and frozen. Peas get starchy and mealy as they get larger or if they are not cooked quickly after they are picked.

AS anyone with a vegetable garden knows, there is nothing like fresh peas eaten straight from the pod. They are so sweet and tender, they do not need to be cooked at all — and once you have started to eat them it is hard to stop.

Peas are a good source of vitamins C and E, zinc, and other antioxidants that strengthen your immune system. Other nutrients, such as vitamins A and B and coumestrol, help reduce inflammation and lower your risk of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

They Contain Antinutrients. Despite the abundant nutrients in green peas, there is a downside to their nutritional quality — they contain antinutrients. These are substances found in many foods, such as legumes and grains, that may interfere with digestion and mineral absorption.

If not cooked properly — Do Not Eat! Beans contain a compound called lectin. Lectins are glycoproteins that are present in a wide variety of commonly-consumed plant foods. Some are not harmful, but the lectins found in undercooked and raw beans are toxic.

LOUIS (US)—Lima beans won’t kill you, but they are one of many plants that naturally contain some level of the deadly poison cyanide. Due to proper food processing techniques and strict regulations, cyanide-wielding plants pose little threat to the American food supply.

A drawback to these gaudy varieties is that they’re more poisonous than the average bean. Lima beans contain cyanogenic glycosides, sugar-bound compounds that are harmless until cellular disruption—brought about by chewing—releases an enzyme that chops the molecule in two, generating deadly hydrogen cyanide.

The cyanide content of wild lima beans can be very high (Costa Rica, Mexico, Nigeria: 3,000-4,000 mg/kg) Fortunately, in the US, commercially grown lima beans must have <200 mg cyanide/kg. The cyanide content in US lima beans is usually 100-170 mg/kg.

Lima Beans

Raw lima beans actually contain cyanide. Because the US regulates how much cyanide lima beans can contain, we are safe as long as we cook them, but in other countries, eating too many lima beans can cause sickness.

Digestive Health

In addition to containing soluble fiber that your body can digest, beans also contain insoluble fiber, sometimes known as roughage. While your body cannot digest this type of fiber, it helps aid digestion by helping stool pass through your gut more quickly.