Freezing Fresh Carrots

In the fall, I take a little time out of my regular schedule to prepare and freeze vegetables to use later in the winter. Today, I am working with carrots. I have grown quite a few in my garden and also purchased some at my local farmer's market. Since we are a family that loves roasted carrots,I try to stock up on the fresh ones and freeze them so I have them on hand whenever needed. It is really a simple process. Today,I am preparing a small batch ,but will prepare many more over the course of the next few weeks.

You will need:

Carrots
Vegetable peeler
freezer bags
boiling water
Bowl with ice water

   As you can see, this is a dirty bunch of carrots. Cut off a small piece from each end,then peel each carrot.After peeling,wash them,then slice into the desired size.

Nice and clean.

Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, carefully drop in a bunch of the carrots for one minute. Immediately remove them with a strainer and place in a bowl of ice water(this will halt the cooking process). Remove them from the ice water and place in a colander to drain.

 

I like to blanch each color separately because the darker ones tend to bleed as you can see here. I now have purple water.I start with the lightest color and end with the darkest.
 

Once they have drained, spread them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment and freeze them for about 15 minutes. Remove from the freezer and  place them in freezer bags that have been labeled and dated.

As you can see, the carrots retained their vibrant colors.They are now ready to freeze until needed. This is really an easy way to make sure you are eating fresh food all year long. Enjoy!