We're Still Buying Fresh Produce—We're Just Preserving Half of It

The coronavirus outbreak has rattled our daily lives, and things seem to change minute by minute. But there’s one constant: we have to eat. How do we cook among the chaos? What recipes do we lean on? How can we use cooking to stay calm? That’s what we’re exploring in this series,The Way We’re Cooking Now.

On a recent trip to the grocery store, a colleague passed mostly barren shelves that once held canned goods and rice, walking through the freezer aisles that held nothing but bags of neglected frozen cranberries.

And then he arrived in the produce department which was brimming with fresh greens and fruit.

The lesson here isn't to panic and hoard. Stores continue to stock their shelves—my local market was overrun last night, and fully stocked again this morning. (Don't forget to thank your grocery clerk!) But it can be an annoyance when you get to the store only to realize that the things you wanted to buy are gone. And it might make you nervous to buy too many bunches of kale and broccoli or bananas and grapes when you aren't sure if you'll be able to use them before they go bad.

但还有一个新产生一个that's important to consider if you can't find a bag of frozen green beans, or if you already have a bunch of broccoli wilting in your fridge. You can preserve the fresh stuff at home.

The Best Frozen Veggie Burgers Are the Ones You Make Yourself

If you find fresh squash at your local market instead of canned purée, you're not out of luck. Instead of buying canned pumpkin at Thanksgiving, I often roast a whole squash (any kind of winter squash will do) and then purée it and strain it through afine-mesh sievelined with a moistened cloth. I use the purée to make pies and cakes, but it's also great for making asquash-based curry, or adding to alasagnain place of tomato sauce. I stash the strained liquid in my freezer and save it to add to soup.

To keep a stash of something green on hand for lunches and dinners, senior editor Maggie Hoffman made a batch ofkale pestoflavored with all the mixed herbs she had lingering in her fridge. She pops those cubes into ice cube trays until they're solid and then packs them into an air-tight freezer bag as a salve to calm any future cravings for fresh flavors that may arise when there aren't any whole leafy greens in the house. A couple of cubes of green sauce and a drizzle of oil tossed through hot noodles with a splash of cooking water, or added tosteamed riceand topped with a fried egg turns into an easy dinner on a night when everyone's tired.

Freezing doesn't have to be about making something, though. If you want to keep a stash of broccoli (or peppers, or collards, orberries) on hand, but there's none left in the freezer aisle, buy a fresh bunch, wash and pat it dry, cut it into smallish pieces, lay it all in a single layer on a sheet pan and freeze until solid. Then pack the veg or fruit into a freezer bag and know that it'll be there when you need it.Here's a full guide to freezing fruits and vegetables.

Canning and picklingare other great ways of preserving. If you have the time and energy, you might as well spend it in your kitchen making food that will nourish you and add layers of bright flavor to thepantry mealswe'll all be turning to in the days to come.

Staff writer Kendra Vaculin has a jar ofsalted lemonswaiting in the wings to flavor achickpea tagineas soon as they're ready. You can do the same thing withalmost any other citrusin case you bought more than you know what to do with, or you just want to know you have a flavor booster waiting for you two weeks from now. It's bright spot in your future, just 14 days away.

Oh, and one more thing: go ahead and buy those lonely frozen cranberries—they're delish in a morning smoothie.