Guide

Fruit and Vegetable Guide

Offering a vast array of color, flavor, and nutrition, fruits and vegetables are a cook’s delight. So it seems a shame to destroy broccoli’s bright green by overcooking, or lose tomatoes’ flavor of warm summer sun by refrigerating.

How to keep your fruits and veggies fresh:

Chilling slows down the metabolic activity. Most fruits and vegetables store best at refrigerator temperatures of 30-40F / -1 to 4C. A few like it warmer: potatoes like 40-50F / 4-10C. Pumpkins, winter squash, and sweet potatoes like 55F / 13C, and tomatoes like room temperature.
Limiting oxygen reduces oxidation-tissue breakdown. This is most often accomplished by storing in an air-tight container. Place the fruit or vegetable in a plastic bag and gently squeeze out all the air before closing. Or vacuum seal: Close the bag except for a small space into which you insert a straw, use the straw to suck out all the air, quickly remove the straw and close the bag. If, however, the fruit isn’t completely ripe, you will want to allow it to be warm and breathe. Store ripening fruits at room temperature in a paper bag. Add a piece of already ripe fruit, such as an apple, which gives off ethylene gas.
Maintaining moisture avoids wilted and limp fruits and vegetables, most of which are 70 to 95 percent water. However, excess moisture can cause mold growth and rot. So remove excess surface moisture for example, with a lettuce spinner and then store in a tight plastic bag to avoid additional evaporation.

Keep your vegetables nutritious:

When cooking or microwaving, use only a small amount of water to assure the best retention of flavor and nutrition.
When microwaving, use only glass dishes. Plastic compounds from plastic containers can migrate into the food. Foods cook more evenly in round dishes than square or rectangular ones.
Save cooking liquid to use as soup stock or broth. It contains concentrated soluble vitamins.

The Fruit and Vegetable Guide is reproduced here with permission of Herald Press, publisher of Simply in Season.


	Guide General Tips Apples Asparagus Beets Blueberries Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Collards Corn Cranberries Cucumbers Edamame Edible flowers Eggplant Fennel Grapes Green beans Kale Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Melon Mesclun Mushrooms Okra Onions Parsnips Peaches Pears Peas Peppers Persimmons Potatoes Pumpkins Raspberries Rhubarb Rutabagas Spinach Summer squash Strawberries Swiss chard Sweet potatoes Tomatillos Tomatoes Turnips Wild greens Winter squash Fruit and Vegetable Guide Offering a vast array of color, flavor, and nutrition, fruits and vegetables are a cook’s delight. So it seems a shame to destroy broccoli’s bright green by overcooking, or lose tomatoes’ flavor of warm summer sun by refrigerating. How to keep your fruits and veggies fresh: Chilling slows down the metabolic activity. Most fruits and vegetables store best at refrigerator temperatures of 30-40F / -1 to 4C. A few like it warmer: potatoes like 40-50F / 4-10C. Pumpkins, winter squash, and sweet potatoes like 55F / 13C, and tomatoes like room temperature. Limiting oxygen reduces oxidation-tissue breakdown. This is most often accomplished by storing in an air-tight container. Place the fruit or vegetable in a plastic bag and gently squeeze out all the air before closing. Or vacuum seal: Close the bag except for a small space into which you insert a straw, use the straw to suck out all the air, quickly remove the straw and close the bag. If, however, the fruit isn’t completely ripe, you will want to allow it to be warm and breathe. Store ripening fruits at room temperature in a paper bag. Add a piece of already ripe fruit, such as an apple, which gives off ethylene gas. Maintaining moisture avoids wilted and limp fruits and vegetables, most of which are 70 to 95 percent water. However, excess moisture can cause mold growth and rot. So remove excess surface moisture for example, with a lettuce spinner and then store in a tight plastic bag to avoid additional evaporation. Keep your vegetables nutritious: When cooking or microwaving, use only a small amount of water to assure the best retention of flavor and nutrition. When microwaving, use only glass dishes. Plastic compounds from plastic containers can migrate into the food. Foods cook more evenly in round dishes than square or rectangular ones. Save cooking liquid to use as soup stock or broth. It contains concentrated soluble vitamins. The Fruit and Vegetable Guide is reproduced here with permission of Herald Press, publisher of Simply in Season.
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