The Beauty of Blanching

Blanching is a great cooking technique to have in your back pocket. This method can help you soften and bring out the vibrant colors in your vegetables and it can also be used to loosen skins of fruits like tomatoes and peaches. Almost always the goal of blanching is to prepare the food to be utilized further in a recipe. Blanching is a very simple method that every cook should know and utilize.

To blanch, bring a pot of water to a boil and plunge the vegetable into the water until it is just tender. Immediately plunge the vegetable into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and bring out the vibrant color of the vegetable. Let the vegetable sit in the ice bath for 1-2 minutes then drain. The vegetable is now ready to be sautéed, stir fried, or even tossed in a salad. You can blanch your vegetables far in advance to speed up your actual meal preparation — just cover the blanched vegetables and refrigerate until you are ready to use them.

If you are looking to remove the skins of a vegetable or fruit, follow the directions above but mark and "x" in the bottom of the fruit first then plunge into the boiling water. Let boil for about 30 seconds to loosen the skins then follow with the ice bath. The skins should easily peel off once removed from the ice water.

– Glutenfreeda