Tips on Keeping Vegetables & Herbs Fresh Longer

With a little extra effort and not really that much time, this can solve the problem of fresh vegetables rotting before you use them. It surely will compensate you for the time and money you spent at the market picking out the "freshest". Plastic wrap, paper towels and plastic bags are all you need.

Romaine, Iceburg, Green/Red Lettuces, Arugula, Escarole, Loose Spinach, Leafy Greens:
If left in their original packaging greens will get brown and unedible and end up in the trash can. Do not wash greens unless you are going to use right away.
Lettuce: To store lettuce, tightly wrap each lettuce individually in plastic wrap and store in the vegetable draw of your refrigerator. When ready to use, break into pieces.
Place in the bowl of the salad spinner; fill with cold water and swish around with your hands. Put handfulls of lettuce into the strainer part of spinner; pour out the water from the bowl, put the lettuce-filled strainer in the bowl and spin dray.
Pour out water and spin again (up to 3 times).
Use right away or store in a plastic bag lined with a paper towel sheet and use within 2 days. Use the same method for other greens.

Cabbage:
Pull off any soft leaves and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate on shelf or in draw.

Celery:
Do not wash. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator drawer or shelf. Pull off stalks needed and re-wrap.

Onions, Leeks, Green Onions:
If not using right away, individually wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator draw. This will not only keep them fresh longer but will save you some tears when slicing them by refrigerating them.

Garlic:
Store at room temperature. When it starts to grow, it usually is old, bitter and beginning to rot. Overall has a long shelf life.

Parsley, Cilantro & Basil:
Fresh Basil does not have a long shelf life and if there is any moisture or bruised on the leaves, it will rot very quickly. The best thing to do is to gently pull the leaves off the stem, thoroughly wash and spin dry (2-3 times)-as for lettuce-until very dry. Place a paper towel sheet in a plastic bag and gently place the leaves in a single layer. Put as many layers as you can, repeating with the paper towel, in the plastic bag. Store flat. Use what you need and freeze the rest for use in soups and sauces.

Fresh Parsley/Cilantro have a longer shelf life if the leaves are pulled off the stem, thoroughly washed and spin-dryed, until very dry (about 2-3 times) and placed in a paper towel lined plastic bag. Proceed as for basil if you want to freeze some for future use which will only be good for soups or sauces. Fresh parsley/cilantro will stay in the refrigerator for over a week for recipes that require the "fresh" herb.

Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes:
Place potatoes in the refrigerator, separate from other vegetables as they have a tendency to turn other vegetables bad. Never put them with apples or other fruit - you will have the same result. If you have a cool accessible place to store them outside the refrigerator, this is the best way to keep them. Don't leave them in the plastic bag, but rather lay them on a paper towel to keep them dry.

Squash, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Carrots:
If uncut, remove them from the store plastic bag and put in the vegetable drawer with the lettuce. If cut, wrap tightly with plastic wrap to retain freshness. Zucchini have the shortest shelf life.