Description
Preparing okroshka for the winter will provide you with delicious fresh vegetables at any time of the year. This method has a number of undoubted advantages. For example, in winter, cucumbers sold in stores are incredibly far from natural and fresh. They are not at all juicy, and they don’t crisp up like in the summer and they have practically no aroma. But it’s fresh vegetables that make okroshka taste exactly the way it should. The same applies to radishes, which are practically impossible to find in winter, but the very essence of okroshka is its refreshing effect, and it is achieved precisely thanks to young and juicy products.
It is freezing of products that allows you to preserve their almost pristine freshness, taste and smell. Of course, in order for everything to work out as it should, you must follow some freezing rules. We will talk in detail about all the details of such a winter preparation in a step-by-step photo recipe for preparing okroshka for the winter. The most important thing is to collect all the young and juicy ingredients in season, at which time they need to be frozen. We will not freeze each ingredient separately, but all together. That is why it is important to select containers for storing this workpiece in advance. It is desirable that they be small but roomy. Each portion should be designed for one process of preparing okroshka. Re-freezing any food is not recommended. Let's start preparing cucumbers, radishes and greens for okroshka for the winter.
Ingredients
Preparing okroshka for the winter - recipe
First, let's collect on the work surface all the ingredients we need to create the workpiece. All of them can be grown independently and collected in your own garden. Of course, only such a preparation will be as healthy and natural as possible. You can also purchase all the products, but before further processing they must be thoroughly washed, or better yet left in cold water for a while.
Pour the dill into a colander and rinse thoroughly in cold water, sorting the branches with your hands so that they are all well washed. We leave the dill in the same colander until it dries completely; you can also spread the greens on a dry and clean kitchen towel: this way they will dry much faster. Grind dry and clean dill as shown in the photo. For okroshka it is advisable to use only the thinnest branches; it is better to remove the stems.
Cucumbers can even be temporarily immersed in cold water, changing it periodically. This process will make the vegetables even more elastic and crunchy. Washed cucumbers must be dried or simply wiped with a paper towel. Next, you need to cut off the dense ends of each fruit, and also cut the cucumbers into small cubes.
We also wash the ripe young radishes in cold water, remove the tails and dense tops, then cut the fruits into small cubes to match the cucumbers.
The onion feathers can be simply wiped with a damp, clean cloth, then it also needs to be finely chopped into rings. In a deep bowl, you need to combine all the crushed products and mix them so that the pieces of ingredients are distributed evenly in the workpiece.
Select clean, dry and preferably new plastic bags for storage, distribute the prepared vegetables and herbs among them, remove the air and close carefully. On top of the bag you can place a plate with an inscription about the composition of the freeze and the time of its creation.
We put the bags in the freezer, where they will be stored until use. Using frozen vegetables is very simple: just pour boiling water over them for a while before starting cooking. Preparing okroshka for the winter at home is completed.
Modern housewives have a lot of opportunities to implement almost all their culinary ideas at any time of the year. For example, thanks to preparing okroshka for the winter, you can get a dish that is not inferior to one prepared from fresh vegetables. Of course, you can continue to cook the old fashioned way, according to grandmother’s proven recipes; the preparations will undoubtedly turn out delicious. But the question often arises of where to store jars with all kinds of brines in a small apartment. And we don’t always have a lot of free time to prepare marinades, salads, and appetizers. But we have a freezer, and it helps us cope with winter supplies in the best possible way.
We can freeze whatever we want and then use fresh vegetables to make delicious meals in the winter. For example, in the cold winter we suddenly wanted to cook okroshka. Well, we missed the hot summer and decided to treat ourselves and our loved ones to such deliciousness. Then we prepare it right now, for this we cut boiled peeled potatoes, ham and boiled eggs into cubes. We take the frozen preparation for okroshka out of the refrigerator and, without defrosting, add it directly to the pan. Let the okroshka brew for an hour and serve.
The fact is that in vegetables frozen in this way, not only all vitamins are preserved, but also their taste, and this is important for preparing delicious dishes. This preparation can be used not only for preparing okroshka, but also as an ingredient in a snack or salad.
For example, from such a preparation you can prepare a very tasty, but very spicy Lebanese sauce, which is suitable for meat and fish dishes. To do this, take a hot chili pepper and remove the seeds. Combine frozen cucumbers, peppers, garlic and pickled cucumbers, blend them into a homogeneous mass with a blender and add low-fat kefir or yogurt. The sauce should have a thick consistency, a beautiful soft green color and an open spicy taste.
In order to prepare the cucumber preparation, we take beautiful, young, strong cucumbers. We will not peel them, so we choose fruits that are sweet and without bitterness. A particularly important point is that salad cucumbers are absolutely not suitable for freezing.
We freeze the workpiece either in food-grade plastic containers suitable for freezing, or in special zip-lock bags.
Ingredients:
- strong pickling cucumbers - 1 kg,
- green onion - 100 g,
- green sprigs of dill - 50 g.
We wash all vegetables in cold water and dry them on a towel. The greens should be dry. It is important.
Chop the cucumbers into large strips or cut them into cubes.
We also chop fresh dill.
Place the cucumbers and greens in containers, containers or bags prepared in advance for freezing.
It is advisable not to mix the products. In the future, this is very convenient if you need a little onion or dill for soup or potatoes.
You need to store the preparation in the freezer, take out as many vegetables from the bag as necessary for cooking. Place the preparation in a frozen dish.
We recommend another useful recipe -
The universal seasoning “Okroshka for the winter” is used not only for its intended purpose. The aromatic mixture can be added to salads and even sauces.
To prepare okroshka seasoning for the winter, you will need:
- Cucumbers (overgrown vegetables can also be used) - 350-400g.
- Horseradish - 200g.
- Dill (not young, since the tougher adult stems in the preparations are more fragrant) - 300g.
- Salt - 150g.
Not all housewives know how to choose horseradish at the market. Choose a root vegetable that is clean, without signs of damage: stains, cut out damaged areas. Horseradish should be firm, but not dry, with a smooth, light surface and white flesh. The optimal length of ripe horseradish is 20-25 cm.
You can prepare okroshka for the winter like this:
Peel the cucumbers and remove seeds if you are using overgrown ones. Grate the pulp using a grater (large).
Grind the horseradish root using a meat grinder. Many people are afraid of the pungent smell. This can be easily avoided. You need to put a new, whole plastic bag on the outlet hole in the meat grinder. Use a tight rubber band to secure the bag so that the smell does not spread. When the rhizome is twisted, all you have to do is remove the bag with the vigorous contents.
Horseradish in the preparation is not only spicy. It contains more vitamin C than lemon and kiwi. Grated horseradish in winter okroshka is an excellent natural remedy for the prevention of influenza and other viral infections. Naturopaths say that just one spoon a day of grated horseradish is an effective protection against harmful bacteria.
Finely chop the dill. When prepared for the winter, aromatic greens will share their essential oils with horseradish and cucumbers.
Mix all the okroshka ingredients well and add salt. Store the seasoning in the refrigerator. There is no need to use salt when preparing okroshka or other dishes, since the mixture is sufficiently salty. In winter, all you have to do is chop potatoes, eggs, meat or sausage, pour kvass over everything, and add seasoning to taste.
Let the prepared cold soup stand for 10 minutes so that all the ingredients bind to the kvass.
Delicious ideas
The union of horseradish, dill and cucumbers is a unique company. Add kvass - you get the base of okroshka, mix with tomato sauce - you get a spicy sauce for meat. Jellied piglet goes perfectly with such spiciness,
In summer, during the wonderful time of fresh, vitamin-rich vegetables and juicy, aromatic herbs, do not miss the time to prepare for the winter. Take advantage of this successful idea of preparing hash from cucumbers, herbs and radishes by freezing.
Having at your disposal portioned sets of vegetables and herbs for okroshka, you can prepare this delicious dish from fresh cucumbers, juicy crispy radishes and fragrant dill in the winter. In cold weather, frozen vegetables are expensive in the store, and the ingredients you need may not be on sale. It’s a different matter - take the prepared package out of the freezer to prepare okroshka for the sunny summer.
Okroshka for the winter: Ingredients:
- dill greens
- fresh young cucumbers
- young radish
- onion or green onion
Okroshka for the winter: Preparation:
- Rinse the dill in cold water and dry well, spreading it on a paper towel. Then sort through the green mass so that there are no large, dry and coarse twigs in the green mass and chop finely.
- Pour water over the cucumbers to soak and remove all the dirt on them, and rinse with clean water. Then wipe dry with paper or cloth napkins or towels. Cut off the ends and chop into small cubes.
- Wash the radishes well, dry them on a paper towel, trim off the tops and tails, and cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size.
- Rinse green onions or spring onions, dry and finely chop. Mix all crushed ingredients.
- Place the prepared vegetable mixture in plastic bags in portions convenient for one-time preparation of okroshka. Place the bags in the freezer to freeze.
- Frozen vegetables and herbs will be waiting for you when you want to taste delicious summer okroshka in winter.
- And preparing okroshka from summer vegetables in winter is very simple - take the package of the mixture out of the freezer, fill it with whey, kvass or other liquid with which you are used to making okroshka.
- While you chop the sausage and boiled eggs, the mixture of vegetables and herbs will thaw in the liquid.
Recipe for making okroshka dressing for the winter. There is probably no person who doesn’t like okroshka. As a rule, with the onset of the season, housewives try to prepare this delicious first course as often as possible. Why don’t we prepare a universal, aromatic dressing for okroshka for the winter right now, in the summer, while all the products are in their juice. The dressing is considered universal because it can be added not only to okroshka, but also to fresh vegetable salads, and goes especially well with fresh cabbage salad. If you add a spoonful of spicy dressing to sour cream, then this sauce will go perfectly with jellied meat, jellied meat and even potatoes.
This article describes the two most popular and simple ways of preparing okroshka dressing for the winter - the first method with a small addition of salt and sterilization, and the second without heat treatment, but with a high salt content. If desired, this mixture can be distributed into bags and frozen (you yourself know how to do this), and in winter, take out one portion, defrost and also use it in cooking.
The basic composition in both versions is almost the same: fresh cucumbers, fresh horseradish root and dill - the most aromatic ingredient. Moreover, greenhouse dill and young shoots are not suitable for such preparation; they do not have such a rich taste and aroma as ripe branches contain, so take only ripe garden dill.
The first method is with sterilization.
Compound:
- 400 g cucumbers;
- 2 horseradish roots;
- a bunch of dill;
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of pickling salt;
- 1 teaspoon of vinegar essence.
Step-by-step preparation:
First of all, prepare the horseradish root. Rinse the root in warm water and peel. Then the horseradish root needs to be chopped. This can be done in different ways; for convenience, I used a mixer, but first you need to cut it into smaller pieces. Many housewives prefer to grind horseradish in a meat grinder, directly into a plastic bag. Wash the cucumbers and grate them on a coarse grater or cut them into small cubes (pieces) with a knife, there is no difference. Wash the garden dill, dry it, and chop it with a knife. 
Next, put chopped cucumbers, horseradish, dill and salt into a cup. Stir the mixture until smooth and fill the pre-washed and boiled jar. If you are using a jar with a metal screw cap, boil that too. 
Compact the workpiece, add a spoonful of vinegar essence, it will protect the workpiece from mold. 
Then the preparation for okroshka needs to be sterilized. Pour warm water into the pan, put a cloth napkin and place the jar, cover it with a lid. Bring the water to a boil, simmer over low heat for another 5 - 6 minutes. Seal the hot workpiece with a lid; if you are using a screw lid, screw it on as tightly as possible and turn it over to make sure it is secure. 
The preparation for okroshka with sterilization is ready. This jar can only be stored in the refrigerator. From this amount of products we ended up with a little more than half a liter of product.
The second option is without sterilization
Compound:
- 400 gr. cucumbers;
- two horseradish roots (about 50 - 60 grams);
- a bunch of dill;
- 150 gr. pickling salt.
Step-by-step preparation:
The products for this preparation are prepared in the same way as in the first option. Grate the washed cucumbers on a coarse grater and place in a deep container. Rinse fresh dill in cold water and dry. Chop the dill finely with a knife and place in the cucumbers. 
Wash, peel, and chop the horseradish root in any convenient way. Add the horseradish to the cup with the rest of the ingredients. Pour salt into the okroshka dressing and mix the mixture thoroughly. Prepare a jar for the dressing in advance.
Rinse the container and sterilize it in any convenient way, do not forget to boil the metal lid. Be sure to ensure the container is completely dry before filling. 
Fill the jar tightly with the preparation to the very top, release the air bubbles and replenish the container. Screw the lid on the jar as tightly as possible and put it in the refrigerator for further storage. Dressings for okroshka are ready for the winter. I think you know how to use them further, but do not forget that such preparations already contain salt. To determine whether additional salting is required for okroshka, add the dressing, wait 5 minutes, and then take a sample.
