Frozen spinach deserves more respect. Here’s how to best use it.

Frozen vegetables don t get the respect they deserve. They re long lasting, affordable, versatile and picked and chilled at their peak for optimal fre...

Frozen vegetables don’t get the respect they deserve. They’re long-lasting, affordable, versatile and picked and chilled at their peak for optimal freshness and nutrition. Yet people often treat them like a cheat or, worse, lump them in with other processed foods. Even with as much time and money as I spend at my local farmers market, the seasons for produce can be short, and the grocery store alternatives disappointing, especially after traveling long distancesfrom where they were grown. This is where the value of frozen vegetables, which also often save you prep work, comes in.

I use them in saucy curries and fried rice. Frozen corn is an always-have in our house, as we commonly tuck the kernels into grilled cheese sandwiches (a favorite of my son’s) or quesadillas. Frozen vegetables make an especially convenient addition to soups and stews. You can even roast them, given the right treatment.

If we’re talking about bang for your buck and your time, frozen spinach deserves top billing. Recently, a few readers have taken issue with our use of frozen spinach in recipes, suggesting we should always call for fresh instead. To which I say: Why? The fresh equivalent of a 10-ounce block of spinach can cost two or more times as much. Plus, anyone who has ever had to wilt a ton of fresh spinach knows how it can take multiple batches and minutes to get it all into the pan. And once you do, poof! It shrinks to basically nothing anyway.

Unless you’re flush with spinach from your garden, there’s no reason to twist yourself in knots to spend more money and create additional work when a recipe calls for frozen to begin with. A lot of the work has already been done for you! Here’s what you need to know about how to make the most of frozen spinach and when it can, and can’t, take the place of fresh.