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Healthy Produce Tips

Timeline for Using Veggies at Their Best

Oct 5, 2009 Chris Conard-Shultz

Whether it's overstuffed chicken enchiladas with homemade salsa, or vegan seitan fajitas with red and green peppers, it's all about keeping veggies fresh and safe to eat.

Healthy eating recipes abound, whether on foodie-inspired blogs, social networking sites, TV food shows, or in cooking magazines.

But before you even assemble your ingredients, you need to be sure your food items are at their peak performance levels, especially your veggies.

Recipes don't tell you about the shelf life of fresh ingredients or the best ways to keep them fresh till you need to use them. Airtight or zippered, plastic storage bags like Hefty® Fresh Extend Bags, or vacuum-sealed containers like Tupperware® or Tellfresh® do the job nicely.

Here's a guide for how long veggies will stay fresh if you'll be keeping them in the fridge for a few days:

Broccoli and Cauliflower

Both will stay fresh up to 4 days when sealed in an airtight container or plastic bag.
When florets turn yellow or darken, discard them. The stalks are still fine for soups, stews or stir fry.

Green, Red and Yellow Peppers

Will keep up to 7 days in the fridge. If they wrinkle or soften, cut away any soft or dark spots and use the peppers for stir fry, rice dishes, or as toppings for cheesesteak sandwiches.

Fresh Corn

Keeps up to 2 days in fridge. But corn begins to lose its texture and flavor immediately at harvest as sugars convert to starch, which compromises taste and quality.
If you can't use it all, cut off the cob and put in containers to keep in the freezer up to 10 months.

Tomatoes

Fresh sliced or leftover tomato sections will keep 4 to 5 days until it begins to turn mushy; at this point consider frying, stewing or making salsa.

Carrots

Will last 2 to 4 weeks in container or sealed bag in the crisper of the fridge. After that time, most vitamins and crunch will be depleted. Be sure to remove them from the original bag they came in before placing in container.

Leafy Greens, Spinach and Parsley

Between 7-10 days. Keep in the crisper drawer. Remove any wilted leaves to get to fresher leaves at the center of the bunch.

Mushrooms

Up to 4 or 5 days in their original box or container, but remove the plastic wrap or cellophane covering. It's also fine to put them in a paper bag in the crisper drawer. Check the "gills" before using; any with open gills should be used ASAP. Toss any with soft, slimy or browned spots into the compost.

Celery

Remove from store-bought bag and wrap tightly in aluminum foil as soon as you unpack it. Keep rewrapping as you use. Can last up to 3 weeks.

The copyright of the article Healthy Produce Tips in Healthy Cooking is owned by Chris Conard-Shultz. Permission to republish Healthy Produce Tips in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.