Flavor Cubes

 Gardens are producing already, so I am posting this in a hurry because I think it is a time saving idea and an efficient way to handle quantities of produce.

Use peppers, tomatoes, herbs, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and some olive oil to make a sofrito. I like a little heat in nearly everything I cook, so I use jalapenos and poblanos, but you can also use bell peppers and ortega chilies in your sofrito.

Cook the mixture until everything is soft. Spoon it into a Pyrex mixing bowl, and let it cool  slightly. Use an immersion blender to make a paste, and spoon the paste into ice cube trays.

When the flavor paste is solid, remove from the trays and wrap in wax paper. I found this nice unbleached wax paper at Sprouts.

After your pieces are wrapped, pop them into a zipper bag and store them in the freezer.

Use them to flavor rice, soups, stews, stir fry dishes, salad dressing, or any other place where you need a flavor burst.

Rice nearly always needs a little something to make it interesting, and popping one or two of these into the water when you are boiling it will do the trick quite nicely.

The total time for creating these flavor cubes is pretty modest. When the gardens are gone, you will have some pleasant reminders of your summer harvest.