# Making boring frozen vegetables interesting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360 "2013-02-05T04:11:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/21 "2013-02-06T02:31:11Z")
Not terribly healthy, but OH!! So yummy… Dice up 1/2 lb bacon, fry to taste, add 1 chopped onion and either 1 bag frozen corn or green beans. Cook in bacon grease, stirring frequently over med-med/hi heat. salt & pepper to taste. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/22 "2013-02-06T02:41:37Z")
🙂 I like your answer, **silenus**. Lots of great ideas here, which is awesome. I agree with **salinqmind’s** characterization of frozen vegetables coming out “flabby”. That’s definitely part of my distaste for them. But, as expected, you guys have given me so many great options that I won’t have to suffer bland flabby veggies (band name!). Thanks for the other great suggestions for non-frozen veggies, too. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/23 "2013-02-06T12:49:53Z")
One of my mainstays is mixing frozen veggies with canned kidney beans in chili sauce and canned tomatoes. If you want to avoid the salt in the canned beans, you can get close to the same effect with chili powder/garlic powder/minced onions/red pepper. Actually, I generally add those spices anyway even if using the beans in sauce. At least once a week I’ll mix a can of beans, a can of diced tomatoes, and some frozen peas, corn, okra, spinach/greens, black-eyed peas, cauliflower… Basically whatever I have in the freezer. I’ve moved more towards frozen veggies to avoid the salt in the canned ones. You can get diced tomatoes with no salt. I’m especially pleased with the way I can add good amounts of spinach and greens, as I had not been getting enough of those in my diet. I eat it over whole wheat pasta or brown rice - or just toss some rice into the mess as it cooks. If I have green peppers or fresh onion, I’ll either chop it into the mess as it cooks, or put it on top. Sliced avocado is a great topping as well. My wife keeps after me to come up with a better name for this concoction than “slop.” I often think I should try to come up witha different flavoring than the chili-type concoction I make, but this mixture works quite well and I don’t seem to get tired of it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/24 "2013-02-06T12:58:56Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My wife keeps after me to come up with a better name for this concoction than “slop.” I often think I should try to come up witha different flavoring than the chili-type concoction I make, but this mixture works quite well and I don’t seem to get tired of it. I’d call it a variation of [ratatouille](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatouille). And it sounds delicious! ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/25 "2013-02-06T14:29:51Z")
I make a variety of asian inspired soups with frozen veges Make up a broth (miso, or the flavour sachet from ramen, or both) toss in some mixed veges, some prawns/crab stick/diced chicken add ramen or udon noodles, maybe some coconut cream for a laksa spices to taste. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/26 "2013-02-06T14:43:40Z")
[http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1320631](http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1320631) Here is a copy of the Moosewood Cookbook Pot Pie recipe. We have always fried tiny chunks of tofu in a nonstick skillet and added them in with the veggies. This is literally the only way I really like thoughs frozen vegetables. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/27 "2013-02-06T15:41:40Z")
"I agree with salinqmind’s characterization of frozen vegetables coming out “flabby”. That’s " Then you’re cooking them wrong. There’s no reason frozen vegetables shouldn’t cook up bright and crisp. There have been suggestions made above which illustrate my general suggestion - prepare the veggies “soul food style” which essentially means adding fat, spice and (generally) aromatic vegetables such as onion or garlic. Spice should always include salt and heat of some sort ie red pepper flakes. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360/28 "2013-02-06T15:53:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Fancy-schmancy. Cover them all with a cheese sauce. That is, in fact, the only way to make broccoli edible. Ditto cauliflower. I beg to differ. I present: Chicken in Garlic Sauce. I can eat an awful lot of broccoli when it’s covered in any kind of chinese sauce. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-boring-frozen-vegetables-interesting/649360.md?page=1)