We all want to eat healthily. Still, it isn’t always easy. You throw away moldy and mushy produce constantly. You feel like your fruits and veggies have no shelf life at all. It seems like all your money spent at the supermarket or farmers market goes down the drain.
“It’s important to store produce properly so that it lasts longer and maintains the proper texture and taste,” says Sarah Mirkin, a registered dietitian who practices in West Palm Beach. Here are her tips to help keep your produce looking perfect for as long as possible.
Bag It
A plastic bag can help prevent rinsed vegetables’ moisture from evaporating. Just be sure it doesn’t have water at the bottom. Not all produce follows this rule, though. Mirkin notes that broccoli shouldn’t be washed before storage. Instead, store it loosely in a perforated plastic bag.
Refrigerate It
Once your fruit is ripe, transfer it to the refrigerator to help delay spoiling. Store vegetables and fruits in the crisper drawer so they last longer, says Mirkin. Put anything that wilts easily like asparagus, broccoli, lettuce and fresh herbs in the high-humidity drawer. In the low-humidity drawer, put apples, pears and melons. The low humidity drawer’s open vent will prevent those foods from rotting.
Use It
Eat produce with a shorter lifespan first. Spinach, lettuce, kale and other leafy greens have a short life as do tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers and mushrooms. Bananas and peaches go bad quickly because they release a gas which makes them ripen faster. That can impact other fruit, so store them separately. Berries also have a short lifespan. Store in a paper-towel lined container, unwashed and with the top ajar, says Mirkin. Potatoes, beets, onions, yams, winter squash, fennels, ginger, turnips, parsnips, apples, oranges, carrots and cabbage can last a month or longer.
Freeze It
Just about any vegetable can be frozen except for ones with a high-water content like celery, watercress, endive, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber and radishes. Blanch or boil veggies. Freeze in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to airtight plastic bags.
Let It Breathe
Yes, you want to fill your fridge with nutritious fare. But the less you have, the better your fridge can work. “Don’t overfill your refrigerator,” says Mirkin. She says to keep it three-quarters full. “If your fridge is packed, air can’t circulate, which can cause produce to deteriorate faster.”