Category "produce"

What methods are there of getting fresh local meat & produce?

I often go to Whole Foods, but I feel like I'm getting ripped off there. I can walk out having spent $120 on a single bag of groceries. I try to get to a Farmer

How should I choose corn?

What should I look for when I'm buying corn on the cob? We have a lot of roadside corn stands where we live, and I'm never sure how to pick the best ears.

Fruit Flies and Storage of Fresh Produce

What is a good way of keeping fresh produce (in particular, from the garden) and herbs in the kitchen without attracting fruit flies? We dispose of tomatoes etc

What's the best way to clean and dry blueberries?

I buy organic blueberries which come in a little plastic container. I like to wash them and put them in a tupperware container. After I wash them I place them

Is unnecessary refrigeration problematic?

Our local grocery store's produce section has a few areas of refrigerated produce along the walls--mostly "wet" vegetables like lettuce, squash, peppers, green

What are ways to reduce cellulose in vegetables and fruits?

I (and some family members) have a medical condition that affects the ability to digest cellulose, so we have to avoid most fresh fruits and vegetables. We hav

Is there a reason to peel onions for storage or sale?

I typically try to buy organic onions. Recently the only organic onions that are available are already peeled (i.e., have the outer papery skin removed). Why

What's the skinny on fat asparagus?

I had always heard that pencil thin asparagus is the best, and that has always been what I look for. But now I've heard from a few (what I would consider reliab

Does Freezing Broccoli Dry it Out?

When I used to work for a grocer a senior employee told me that the broccoli suppliers tried not to freeze or pack the broccoli in too much ice to prevent it fr

How to tell if fresh chilli is off?

So, I keep running into this difficulty. I buy and use a lot of fresh chillies in my cooking, but sometimes the dish turns out, well, significantly worse and I

Substituting fresh vegetables/fruits for canned

I've made a commitment this year to reduce the amount of waste coming out of my home. This includes cooking and buying in smaller portions so less is composted

How does produce grading in the US work?

The US has a lot of standards about grading produce. Is everything graded on the same scale (with the same labels)? What characteristics do the grades generally

How can I tell if vitelottes/purple potatoes have "green flesh"?

I know not to eat white-fleshed potatoes if the skin/flesh is turning green. Is there any way to tell with purple potatoes? I know this variety is darker purpl

Do I need to worry about differences in produce in foreign recipes?

I am from Egypt and so I think some produce is different from the ones in Europe or the US where most of the recipes found online are written. Should I stick to

Why is grocery store celery trimmed of its leaves?

I only use celery as an ingredient. It’s part of the trinity, and gumbo wouldn’t be gumbo without it. While I was in Asia, I learned how useful and

Are tomatoes worth rinsing off if you boil them soon after?

Have a large set of tomatoes to make some pasta sauce. To soften them for the food mill I boil them. My question is whether it's worth rinsing if they're eventa

Quality of Garlic

Is grocery store garlic as good as it gets or are there places to get higher quality garlic that will elevate ones cooking? Would better quality garlic last l

How to choose not only juicy lemons but lemons with less acrid flavor

What is the teaching in choosing lemons—I know the obvious of picking heavy weight lemons, avoiding a dried-out looking lemon with significant pitting. I

Should you wash raspberries?

I know, the hard and fast rule is to wash all your produce, but I have the hardest trouble washing raspberries. They inevitably get waterlogged and lose so much

What is the point of washing produce in cold water?

You can find tons of tips online saying you should always wash your produce. What is the point of it though? I mean with some hard produce, say carrots you can