My Favorite Things from the garden

We got a large freezer this summer and were busy stocking it with good things to eat during the winter. If you're like me you miss fresh food during the winter but hate to go back to the packaged stuff. So I tried out some new things and here are my favorite things from the garden to eat this winter. 1. Frozen pesto--AWESOME! Freezes perfectly, just as good as fresh. With a glut of basil in July this is a perfect way to preserve it. 2. Eggplant parmesan--not quite as good as the fresh version, but not bad and very easy. I fried them, then flash-froze the fried slices individually. Then packaged the frozen slices in a food-saver vacuum-sealed bag. The slices came apart neatly and reheated well. The consistency was a little on the mushy side, less crispy-crunchy. And additional cooking time is needed to heat back up from frozen, but overall very good. 3. Frozen stuffed peppers--again, not as good as the original, but a good second. They take quite a bit longer to cook since they are so dense. 4. Green beans--I have found that there is a trick to this. The beans retain their flavor better when they are frozen whole, not cut. They taste more fresh when let them thaw first, then sautee them quickly in some garlic and oil with a little bit of herbs thrown in. Better than boiling.