There comes a time when whole armfuls of green onions are brought from the garden, which means it’s time to think about processing them and storing them for the winter. At home, green feathers can be dried, salted, frozen and even pickled, and thereby keep the onion fresh throughout the winter. And this is a completely different taste of dishes, plus additional vitamins all year round. Frozen onions can be added to first and second courses, and added to salads.
Different varieties of onions are suitable for planting on feathers and subsequent harvesting for the winter:
- Leek.
- Onion.
- Slime bow.
- Shallot.
- Chives (chives).
- Multi-tiered onions (Canadian, Egyptian).
All of them, to a greater or lesser extent, are distinguished by high yield, early ripening, resistance to frost, and do not require special care skills.
Green onions for the winter in the freezer
Deep freezing in the freezer is the easiest and fastest way to keep greens fresh throughout the winter. There are several reliable methods for freezing fresh green feathers, and they are all fairly simple. With this storage method, onions do not spoil, retain their natural color and taste, without losing a single vitamin. Shelf life up to 12 months.
Be prepared for a very onion-like aroma in the freezer for the first week. It will soon disappear and will not spoil other products.
The first two methods are the most common and simple:
Method number 1. Cubes.
- Rinse the feathers thoroughly and place them on a paper napkin. Wait until they are completely dry.
- Chop and place in ice cube trays for freezing. Fill to one third of the volume.
- Fill with chilled boiled water and freeze.
- Place the finished cubes in a bag and use as needed.
Method number 2. In the package.
- Place chopped green onions in tight bags or containers. Do not compact it under any circumstances.
- Do not tie the bags, but on the contrary, open them as much as possible and do not close the containers.
- When the onions are frozen, transfer them to one common bag (container), bleed out the air, and tie securely. Then roll it up and place it compactly in the freezer.
Optimal conditions and terms
Fresh green onions should not be kept in the refrigerator without packaging, but they should not be tightly packed either. In the first case, the stems dry out, in the second, they deteriorate from excess moisture.
A refrigerator is suitable for ideal preservation of vegetables in urban environments. The optimal storage temperature for fresh feathers for a month is 2-7 °C. When cooled to 0 °C, the period can be extended by 2 times.
Make sure that no moisture comes into contact with the product during this time. That’s why the bags are cooled before packaging, only then filled with herbs. Before this, it is washed and dried.
The container and type of product play an important role during storage. Onions in oil and salted are kept cool, without access to light, at a temperature of 5-10 ° C. It is recommended to pour dried feathers into small canvas bags.
Be sure to read:
How to preserve pumpkin at home all winter
Consumer deadlines directly depend on the procurement method:
- ice cream - about a year,
- dried – 16-24 months,
- pickled - up to six months,
- freshly harvested – 3-4 months.
How to freeze in a bottle
An excellent and very convenient option for freezing green onions. It’s quick to do, and getting the workpiece out of the bottle is not at all difficult.
Step by step recipe:
Rinse the feathers thoroughly.
Place on a paper napkin and blot thoroughly. If time permits, let it sit on the kitchen counter for a few hours to dry it out further. This is one of the conditions for successful freezing - the feathers must be absolutely dry.
Chop the onion into small cubes.
Pour into a clean and dry plastic bottle of any size. Shake it constantly during the process to get more in. But don't compact it too hard.
Screw on the cap and place the bottle in the freezer.
With this method of storage, feathers will be perfectly preserved without loss of quality.
Preparatory stage
First of all, the onion feather must be properly prepared for further storage. The process is carried out in several stages:
- choose for harvesting only fresh feathers of a bright green color without any damage;
- do not use onions with limp or dried out tips for storage;
- Wash your greens under running water, even if they look clean. Water will wash away unnoticeable remains of soil and dust;
- dry the plant by blotting it with a towel. This way you can quickly remove excess moisture;
- Grind the green leaves for ease of use.
At the preparatory stage, it is necessary to chop the onion, regardless of the further harvesting method.
What size the chopped onion should be depends on the choice of the housewife. If you need to prepare greens for liquid dishes (soups, borscht), it is better to cut them into medium rings. For preparing sauces, finer cuts would be appropriate.
The size of cutting greens depends on the preferences of the housewife
Green onion sauce
The sauce can be frozen for the winter, but first I advise you to set aside some and do a tasting. You can serve it with any dish, or add it to a vegetable salad.
Take:
- Green onion feathers – 80 gr.
- Dill, parsley – 40 gr.
- Garlic cloves – 2 pcs.
- Lemon juice - large spoon.
- Honey - a small spoon.
- Vegetable oil – 2-3 tablespoons.
- Salt, pepper - a pinch.
Step by step recipe:
Chop the washed and dried feathers.
Chop the parsley and dill.
Place the greens in a blender bowl, throw in the peeled garlic, and add salt.
Season with lemon juice, honey, oil.
Using a blender, puree.
Place into ice bins.
Freeze in the freezer.
Pickling
A simple option to provide yourself with vitamins during the cold season is to prepare green onions for the winter by pickling. The leaves are prepared, washed, and dried thoroughly.
- For pickling, for every 1 kg of greens, take 250 g of salt.
- Mix the prepared leaves with ½ portion of salt.
- Place the mixture in a jar, sprinkling each layer 1-2 cm thick with the remaining salt.
- Sprinkle the last top layer generously with salt.
Greens with salt will be ready for use in 15-20 days, when they give juice and marinate. It is recommended to store it no longer than 7 months.
Tip of the day
If you have not tried this preparation before, then make a little sample. This method slightly changes the color and smell of the onion; gourmets may not like it.
Creamy green onion pate
You can simply spread it on bread and serve it for breakfast or as a light snack.
Take:
- Onion – 80 gr.
- Dill – 30 gr.
- Butter – 40 gr.
- Salt pepper.
Step by step recipe:
Chop the onion feathers.1
Chop the dill sprigs.
Place in a blender bowl. Add a softened piece of butter and salt. If desired, add a little pepper, but in moderation.
Beat with a blender into a homogeneous mass. Transfer to a bowl.
Place into molds. Make this more convenient using two spoons. You can take the molds of any size, but it is more convenient to freeze them in a container for making ice.
Cover the container and freeze. As a result, you will get cubes for one-time use. The cubes can be placed in a bag and taken out as needed.
How to pickle green onions for the winter in a jar of salt
Salt is an excellent preservative that humanity has known for centuries. I offer a recipe for a fragrant and very healthy preparation in jars.
We take:
- Feathers – 0.5 kg.
- Table salt – 100 gr.
- Coriander (optional) - large spoon.
How to prepare:
- Sort through the feathers, select the youngest ones without damage. Rinse thoroughly and cut off the ends.
- Place them in a single layer on a paper towel and wait until they dry.
- Pass the onion through a meat grinder or puree in a blender.
- Season the mixture with salt and coriander, stir thoroughly.
- Distribute into small sterilized jars. Screw on the screw cap or roll it up. Store the workpiece in a room with low temperature.
How to dry green onions at home
It's a bit of a hassle to prepare, but you'll get dried onion powder that stores compactly. This method also preserves all the beneficial properties of the plant.
- Wash the arrows, dry them thoroughly, spreading them in one layer on a paper towel.
- Pass through a meat grinder or use a blender.
- Spread the resulting mixture in a thin layer on a baking sheet and place it in an electric dryer to dry. If your household does not have one, use a regular oven.
- Using a coffee grinder or mortar, turn the raw materials into powder. Store in a dry jar with a sealed lid.
Pickled green onions - a simple homemade recipe
Can be used as a side dish with meat and fish dishes.
Necessary:
- Green arrows – 1 kg.
- Salt – 2 large spoons.
- Sugar - the same amount.
- Vinegar 9% - 2 large spoons.
- Water – 0.5 liters.
- Black peas – 20 pcs.
- Bay leaf – 5 leaves.
How to marinate:
- Re-sort the feathers, wash, dry, crumble into 2-5 cm arrows.
- Boil water and send the raw materials to cook. Boil for 2-3 minutes, remove from the burner.
- Sterilize jars with lids. Throw 2 bay leaves and 5 peppercorns onto the bottom of each container.
- Drain the broth from the pan with onions, place the raw materials in jars, and compact tightly.
- Prepare the marinade by boiling a glass of water with sugar and salt.
- Pour into jars. Sprinkle a spoonful of vinegar under the lid.
- Sterilize the workpiece within 5 minutes after the water boils in the lower pan. Seal in any way, cool the jars upside down, wrapping them warmly.
- Transfer to the cellar for winter storage.
Helpful information
The following tips will help maintain the freshness of the product:
- The less time passes from the moment the onions are picked from the garden until they are sent to the refrigerator, the better. This will allow you to retain maximum vitamins in it.
- Feathers should not be crushed or broken. It is better to remove all damaged parts immediately.
- Stems with roots that were not cut, but torn out of the ground, are stored longer.
- You can't keep the bow open. In the fresh air, it quickly gives off moisture and deteriorates.
- The small bulbs at the ends of the feathers do not need to be trimmed. When stored in the refrigerator, they are simply wrapped in a damp cloth and secured with thread.
You should not eat spoiled food. The main signs indicating that onions need to be thrown away are the appearance of an unpleasant odor and the formation of mold.
A lot of useful information about storing onions can be found here.
Green onions, pickled for the winter
You will need:
- Green onion feathers - 5 bunches.
- Water – 200 ml.
- Apple cider vinegar – 800 ml.
- Garlic – 3 cloves.
- Granulated sugar - ½ cup.
- Salt - to taste (2 tablespoons).
- Hot chili pepper – 2 pods.
- Ground cinnamon – small spoon.
- Allspice, ground - the same amount.
Blank:
- Remove the seeds from the pepper pods and chop the pulp.
- Cut the green onions into arrows, 3-5 centimeters long. Chop the garlic into slices.
- Pour water, apple cider vinegar into the pan, add salt and sugar. When the marinade boils, wait for the sweet crystals to completely disperse.
- Place the chopped onion into the pan. After boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes without covering the lid.
- Let cool directly in the marinade, then put into jars. Store in the refrigerator. After a day, you can try the pickled onions.
Why freeze greens?
Nowadays, green onions can be purchased in stores at any time of the year, so is there any point in using them frozen? There are at least two reasons for this: first, greens are very expensive out of season, second, onions grown in greenhouses are inferior to their summer counterpart in both taste and aroma. Some housewives prefer to dry their produce, believing that after exposure to sub-zero temperatures, the onions will lose most of their vitamins, and the feathers, after defrosting, will stick together and lose their elasticity. To avoid such incidents, you need to approach freezing correctly.
The healing properties of feather onions are not lost when frozen. Vitamins are destroyed by exposure to high temperatures, air and light. Therefore, beneficial nutrients are more likely to suffer during the process of preservation and drying than from being in the freezer. The frozen vegetable contains vitamins A, C, E, K, group B, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, boron, cobalt, rubidium, copper, iron, chromium and other mineral elements. Adding such a product to food improves immunity and helps the body cope better with viruses during the cold season.
To obtain an all-season harvest of fresh greens, producers grow mainly spring onions rather than onions
