fresh or frozen?

growing up, my mom served salad at almost every dinner we had. my parents would eat all of the vegetables in it, my brother wouldn't eat any of it, and I would limit myself to lettuce, vegetables, and cucumbers (I came around to tomatoes as a teenager). We never ate frozen vegetables, because my mom always believed that fresh is better.

When I started cooking for myself my junior year of college that i discovered the joy of frozen vegetables. my mom was appalled when she went food shopping with me and i headed for the frozen food section. the thing is, frozen vegetables are the best option...for me at least.

first, I'm only cooking for myself, so fresh vegetables won't last long enough for me to stretch to their full potential. Green Giant makes Just for One frozen vegetables, which are individual packages of single serve frozen veggies. My favorite is the peas and corn in basil butter sauce. second, research shows that frozen vegetables are more nutritious than fresh produce. fresh produce is picked before they reach full maturity because they are shipped across the country. frozen vegetables are harvested at their full maturity, which means they contain all of their nutrients.

in a recent issue of Vegetarian Times, there was an article on vegetables that professional chefs recommend buying frozen. I won't post the entire list, but it did include edamame and peas.