Dried, Canned or Frozen?

Ever wonder what's the best option for cooking? Although, fresh is always best, sometimes we just have to use the convenience of frozen, canned or dried foods.

You may or may not be surprised to learn that both canning and freezing food is an effective way of preserving most of the nutrients in vegetables and fruits. You do lose a minimal amount of Vitamins A and C during the heating process before they are canned or frozen, but it's comparable to the same amount you would lose while blanching the veggies before cooking them. In fact, some scientists believe that both of these processes help to better preserve the nutrient carotene, because the exposure to light is minimized. Other vitamins and nutrients tend to hold up quite well, and canned meats tend to hold their nutritional value similar to fresh. The only other thing to be aware of when it comes to frozen foods, is how texture may change. Foods that have a high water content could become more soggy when thawed. This is because as the item is freezing the water cells expand, and often burst, when the foods thaw, the water is no longer kept in the cell walls and essentially leaks out. I don't recommend freezing tofu for this reason (although some people love frozen tofu), it develops a spongy texture. And although flavor is still retained, I don't recommend mushrooms, unless they're going into some sort of saute or stew, but they're no longer viable raw.

Dried foods also maintain their nutritional value quite well. In fact, ounce for ounce, pound for pound, it actually contains more nutrients than the fresh. That's because as the water evaporates, the vitamins and minerals become concentrated. However, you must remember, that when consuming 2 ounces of dried fruit, could be equivilant to eating much more of that fruit than you normally would. And as the nutrients become concentrated, so do the calories. For example, eating a handful of dried apricots, could be like eating 5 apricots, but normally, you would maybe only eat 2. So, although dried fruits make a great nutritional snack, if you're trying to shed some pounds, be aware of all the extra calories you're consuming as well. Like freezing and canning, the most depleted nutrients are Vitamins A and C, but the process of sulfuring helps protect that loss a bit, so you can always look for dried fruits and veggies that have gone through that process (drying foods tends to darken them, most commercially dried foods go through the sulfuring process to maintain the colors we're accustomed to).