BLANCHING

Blanching is often the first step in a two-step vegetable cooking process. Blanching is used to cook vegetables just to the crunchy and crispy stage. Drop the cut and prepped vegetables into a large amount of rapidly boiling water.

• As soon as the vegetables begin to brighten in color, remove them from the boiling water with a strainer or tongs.
• Depending on the vegetables being blanched, cooking time can take from less than a minute to up to 3 minutes.
• To complete the process, plunge vegetables into a large bowl of cold water, until they are cooled. Alternately, spread the vegetables out on a towel-covered surface to drain and cool.

Blanching can be done ahead of time, with cooking such as roasting, sautéing or microwaving, completed up to a day later. Crisp blanched vegetables can also be served immediately.