Just like certain fruits, vegetables are full of secrets. You might think that they are just a short shelf life food, and yet once they wither, they recover.
With a few very specific tips, extend the life of your vegetables and limit their waste. Whether your radishes are rotting, your onions have sprouted or your salad is wilting, don't throw away a crumb and try these recovery and conservation tips instead.
Store your vegetables properly
It is best to store your vegetables in the refrigerator compartment. Once started, ideally store them in jars, always in the vegetable drawer. These foods, rich in ethylene, a molecule which causes their natural maturation, can quickly deteriorate upon contact with air and humidity. This is why it is also recommended to buy them day by day according to the planned menu, to guarantee their freshness and not risk them spoiling.
In advance, you can also freeze them. Be careful, however, to blanch the vegetables well before placing them in the freezer. To do this, immerse them in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to ice water and draining them.
Finally, the point that should not be forgotten: do not mix fruits and vegetables in the same container, since in contact with the ethylene of the fruits, the ripening process of the vegetables accelerates, leading to early wilting. .
Recover and anticipate spoilage of vegetables, thanks to water
After a few days in the refrigerator compartment, the vegetables that we haven't had time to eat start to show their ugly heads. The salad softens, the peppers wilt, foam appears on the tomatoes. The degradation of these foods can push us to throw them away, however, they are completely recoverable. As a child's play, place any damaged or softened vegetable in a bowl of cool water, this will restore their crunch, vigor and color.
If water is the ingredient for recovering vegetables, it can also be used to anticipate their degradation, as soon as they are purchased. This applies even to herbaceous plants, such as aromatic herbs.
Herbs, plants that turn black too quickly
To prevent your bunch of basil from turning black after just 24 hours after purchase, place its still fresh leaves, whole or not, in a cool bowl of water. You will maintain their vigor over the long term. Enough to avoid the disappointment of finding your basil wilted when you were planning to use it to prepare your tomato mozzarella salad.
A sprouting onion is not wasted
If your onions have sprouted, immerse them, this time, not in water, but in the earth. Planted in the middle of the ground and unpeeled, the onion shoots should develop and decorate salads, omelettes and toast. Remember to water it well.
