A key to cooking with fresh foods, is keeping those foods fresh until you get around to cooking them!  The following tips are a good guide to keeping your fresh local Spring veggies in top condition for as long as possible.

Asparagus:  Cut  ½ - 1 inch off of the base of the asparagus.  Wrap asparagus stalks in damp paper towels, place inside a plastic bag, and refrigerate.  The fresh cut on the base and damp paper towels will help the asparagus to retain and replenish moisture, extending storage life.  

Cabbage:  Leave the tough, outer leaves on until you are ready to use.  Refrigerated, cabbage will keep for at least 2 weeks.  Cabbage can be used portions at a time.  Simply wrap remaining portions in saran wrap to limit moisture loss, and exposure of interior leaves.  

Cucumbers:  Cucumbers should be refrigerated and kept relatively dry.  Over exposure to moisture can cause premature deterioration through mold.  

Herbs, bunched:  Commonly bunched herbs include basil, cilantro, and parsley.  Remove band or tie, and pick out any stems or leaves that have been damaged from banding.  Snip the base of the stems, wrap in damp paper towels, and store in plastic bag in the refrigerator.  This will help herbs to retain moisture, and extend storage life.   

Greens, Collards, Kale, Chard:  Greens should be placed in a plastic bag, and stored in the refrigerator.  If greens start to look wilted, you can revive them by snipping the base of the stems, filling a tub with cold water, submerging the greens in the water, and placing the water tub in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours.  The freshly snipped stems will soak up the cold water, and revitalize the greens.  Grocery stores commonly use this trick before placing greens on their produce shelves.

Lettuce, heads:  Lettuce loves moisture.  Remove any wilted leaves, and dampen interior remaining leaves.  Place in plastic bag, and store in refrigerator.  If lettuce becomes wilted, you can revive it in a cold water bath similar to the method described for greens.  However, 1 hour in the bath is usually plenty, more can result in oversaturation and wet-rot.  

Sweet Potatoes:  Sweet potatoes should be stored at room temperature.  They attain maximum sweetness 1-2 months after being pulled from the ground and stored above 45F.  Sweet potatoes often keep for over 6 months, just don't forget about them!

Tomatoes:  Tomatoes are best stored at room temperature.  Refrigerating causes them to become mealy and lose much of their flavor.  Check tomatoes occasionally for softening, and use softest tomatoes first.  Softness is a sign of ripeness.   

Strawberries:  Check for any damaged or bruised strawberries, and remove them from the container.  Damaged fruits release ethylene gas which signals other fruits to ripen at a faster rate.  This means that one bad apple really does spoil the bunch.  Berries can go bad quite quickly, so make sure they are covered, and store them in the coldest part of the refrigerator.  However, strawberries will be at their juiciest at room temperature, so if possible bring them to room temperature prior to consuming.  

Search:
Browse all recipes