Frozen versus Fresh

This week in the cooking conference on The WeLL, we've been having a lively conversation about fresh versus frozen vegetables. It's the kind of thing that always erupts a) during the depths of winter when fresh veggie varieties become scarce and b) California cooks interact with those of us who cook in the real world. (And I mean that in the nicest of ways.) Seriously, California has such a terrific growing season, they have a much wider range of fruits and vegetables available fresh to them year round. In the midwest, it's not even a matter of cost -- it's a matter of quality and price. Try finding a really good tomato in the Midwest in January. If you do, it's going to cost you. Home cooking purists always like to trash anything frozen, but once you dig a little deeper into your repertoire, you might find that frozen isn't so bad.

And wouldn't you know that Mark Bittman goes on at length about the benefits of frozen veggies in today's Minimalist column. Even he was surprised. So, for this winter, I'll just keep on going to Trader Joe's and haunting the frozen veggie section for cooking. And know that even Bittman says it's OK.