By Sarah Nassauer, Wall Street Journal

In winter’s depths, family cooks often finds themselves facing a produce dilemma: Buy “fresh” produce out of season, which may have spent days or weeks getting to the local supermarket, or begrudgingly turn to the freezer aisle to find a bag of frosty peas, broccoli or blueberries.

Frozen produce is convenient, and often it is nutritionally comparable to fresh produce. But it has an image problem. Often, “there is a perception that if you are using a frozen vegetable you have taken a shortcut and you are not trying to help your family,” says Kate Gallager, research and development manager for Green Giant, a big producer of frozen produce and a unit of General Mills Inc.

Frozen food companies are going on the offensive, aiming to make products that look better, taste better and offer enough convenience to overcome frozen-food phobia.

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