The Trick For Getting A Proper Char On Frozen Vegetables

While pairing fruit with yogurt or oatmeal may be a nutritious way to satisfy your sweet tooth in the morning, vegetables can add tons of vitamins and minerals to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Bell peppers and spinach are the secret to cooking up a delicious omelet, lettuce and tomatoes are what make a sandwich a sandwich, and carrots and mushrooms complete any stir fry. However, although Cook's Illustrated reports that there are at least six different ways to prepare this delicious food group to suit your favorite recipes, nothing quite beats digging into a dish filled with charred vegetables.

But while you may enjoy charring everything from mushrooms to broccoli for dinner, these days you may also find you tend to buy your veggies frozen instead of fresh. After all, The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) notes that pre-frozen carrots and celery are typically cheaper and have a longer shelf life than those you'd find in the produce aisle. Not to mention, frozen vegetables provide just as many health benefits as freshly picked ones. Despite the advantages of stocking up on frozen asparagus, you may have convinced yourself that vegetables from the freezer section are meant to be prepped in the microwave and not charred on the stove. But we're here to tell you that this is simply not the case. Just like fresh vegetables, you can give your frozen food a beautiful and tasty char — you only need to follow this simple hack.

As Cooking Channel notes, the key to charring fresh vegetables is to cook them over a stove top in a (preferably cast-iron) pan on medium-high heat. However, if you're looking to roast up frozen veggies, America's Test Kitchen reports that you'll need to do things a bit differently.

The outlet states that to give your frozen vegetables that perfectly charred taste, your first step is to heat up some cooking oil in a pan on high heat. Once your oil is smoking, you can then pour your preferred frozen vegetable mix into the pan. However, while you may be tempted to de-thaw your vegetables first, Christopher Kimball's Milk Street reports that to get the best char you should pour your frozen celery and carrots directly from the package. As with charring fresh vegetables, you'll want to make sure all your food is touching the bottom of the pan so that every piece of broccoli is properly cooked. Then, you only need to avoid stirring your soon-to-be lunch and let them cook until your frozen vegetables have a delectable char.