Vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet, but they're also surprisingly easy to
mess up.
From cutting to chilling to storing and cooking, everyone makes the same mistakes when prepping
veggies.
Here's how to avoid the most common slip-ups.
Buying vegetables in bulk can be a great way to save money.
But you have to be prepared for long-term storage when buying large bags of potatoes,
onions, apples, avocados, and more.
Potatoes and onions, for example, can last over a month if they're stored in a cool,
dark space, but you should never store them together.
The onions release gasses that cause the potatoes to sprout, spoiling them faster.
The same goes for apples: They release ethylene gas that causes other fruits and vegetables
to ripen faster, so you'll want to store them away from other produce to keep the apples
from ruining the bunch.
When it comes to refrigerated vegetables, wrapping vegetables like kale, broccoli, carrots,
and celery in a plastic bag will extend their shelf life.
Storing them in the crisper bin will buy you an extra week, or more.
Mushrooms, on the other hand, do better in a dry environment like a paper bag, so keep
them out of the crisper bin.
Finally, if you buy root vegetables like carrots and beets with their greens attached, be sure
to remove the green tops before putting them in the fridge.
The tops are edible, but they will suck nutrients and moisture out of the roots, leaving you
with sad, limp carrots.
Preparing for the week by chopping your vegetables in advance is a great way to save time, but
it might not be the best way to preserve the vegetable's flavor and color.
It's not a problem with antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, like berries, kale, broccoli,
or beets.
These items are protected from oxidizing, and they won't change color when you cut into
them.
The same can't be said for items like potatoes, apples, bananas, eggplant, parsnips, taro
root, celery root, and avocados.
As soon as they're cut, the exposed surface begins to turn brown.
You can limit the browning by brushing the cut surface with citrus juice.
The best way to prevent your fruits and vegetables from oxidizing, though, is to keep their insides
away from the oxygen in the first place.
Keep them whole until just before you plan to cook or consume them.
Oxidation isn't the only problem you have to worry about when slicing fruits and vegetables.
Cutting produce too early can cause a loss of nutrients and overall quality, as well.
According to experts, nutrient loss is caused by oxygen, light, and heat.
Fruits and vegetables are naturally protected from the first two factors - before they're
cut, that is.
Once the insides are exposed, the vitamins start to break down.
Vitamin C is especially vulnerable, as it can leak out in fluids when you cut produce.
Cutting vegetables can also accelerate their spoilage.
Cutting into them releases carbon dioxide, and in excess, that gas can change their flavor
and texture.
That's a good reason to buy whole fruits and vegetables and avoid the pre-cut vegetable
options in the grocery store.
It's just not worth the time savings.
It might seem tedious to spend the time to cut vegetables into perfectly uniform pieces,
but it's really quite important.
At culinary school, students' knife skills are constantly assessed, and it's not just
because the instructors want the finished dishes to look prettier.
Uniform shapes cook more evenly than randomly sized pieces.
This applies to vegetables cooked in a skillet on the stovetop as well as sheet pan baked
vegetables.
Anything cut into very small pieces will cook more quickly than larger cuts.
If you were to toss both sizes together, the tiny pieces would burn by the time the larger
pieces cooked through.
The only reason to cut vegetables into dissimilar sizes is when different cook times are desirable.
It can work to your advantage with sheet pan dinners, for example.
Cutting longer-cooking items like sweet potatoes into a small dice while leaving broccoli in
large florets would ensure that they cook at a similar rate.
But, for most meals, it's best to concentrate on consistent size when slicing vegetables.
Round vegetables are the most dangerous item in the kitchen for beginner cooks.
It's oh-so-easy for fruits and vegetables to roll around on the cutting board.
If you've already committed to making a cut before you notice the roll, that could spell
disaster for your exposed fingers.
The best way to cut produce while protecting your hands is to hold the cut food properly
and create a flat surface for cutting.
For starters, you should always protect your fingers by using what's called the claw grip.
Curl the fingers of your non-cutting hand so your thumb is tucked behind your fingers
and the knife's blade sits flat against your knuckles.
Move the claw backward with the knife as you slice, holding the vegetable steady without
exposing your fingertips to the blade.
To keep the vegetable from rolling around, try to create a flat surface on one side.
For example, with round items like potatoes, you can start by slicing off a strip of potato.
When you turn the potato onto the cut side, it now sits flat making it much easier to
slice.
If you have a chef's knife, you might think it's the right tool for any chopping, slicing,
or dicing task.
But there are several different types of knives out there for a good reason: Each blade is
particularly well-suited for a specific task.
Instead of using a large knife to cut everything, try using shorter knives like santoku knives
or Japanese vegetable knives.
You can also look to a paring knife for small tasks like segmenting oranges or peeling apples
and potatoes.
Longer utility knives are great for chopping shallots or mincing garlic, and the serrated
versions are perfect for thinly slicing tomatoes.
More important than using the right knife is using a sharp knife.
"Sharp knife, imperative."
Some people say they're scared of sharp knives, but there's really nothing scarier in the
kitchen than a dull knife.
Dull blades require more pressure to use, and they don't grip the surface of the food
they're cutting, so they can slip more easily.
Of course, some peels are inedible, but you might want to think twice before peeling vegetables
like carrots, cucumber, potatoes, or ginger.
You might be throwing away the most nutrient-rich parts of the vegetable!
In general, the peels contain the highest concentration of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants,
and as much as 30 percent of a vegetable's fiber can be found in the peels.
That fiber is not only good for your digestive health, but it can also help you feel fuller
for longer.
It's not just the peels, either: The stems and leafy tops often contain more nutrients
than the vegetable itself.
Instead of throwing away vegetable tops, try to repurpose them into part of your dish.
You can use carrot tops to make pesto or chimichurri, and beet and turnip greens create a delicious
sauteed greens side dish.
Even broccoli stems are delicious.
You can chop them up and add them to stir-fries, shred them for coleslaw, or simmer them in
cream and puree them to create a full-flavored broccoli soup.
If you do decide to peel fruits and vegetables, make sure you're using the most efficient
peeling method.
Peeling incorrectly not only wastes valuable, edible product, but it also wastes your time.
For many tasks, a vegetable peeler works best.
It makes quick work of removing the skins from potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers, and
you can also use it to remove the fibrous strands from celery.
A vegetable peeler can also be used for removing the skin from mangoes, but it's not the best
tool for every task.
A vegetable peeler is overkill when it comes to thin-skinned foods, like garlic and ginger.
There are several ways to peel garlic, including crushing it with the butt of your knife or
shaking the cloves between two metal bowls.
And ginger skin slips right off with the stroke of a regular spoon.
Try not to let things like vegetable peels, woody stems, or wilted green tops go to waste.
Those parts might not make it into your dinner, but they could certainly be repurposed to
create an essential building block of a great meal: Vegetable stock.
"Scraps that you might otherwise compost or discarded may be added to your vegetable stock."
Most vegetables are fair game.
You can use peels, the inedible ends of carrots and onions, the woody ends of asparagus and
mushrooms, stalks, roots, and stems.
You can even save things like onion skins, which can add an appealing color to your stock.
Here's the thing with fruits and vegetables: They're dirty.
Root vegetables like potatoes and carrots grow underground, but even above-ground produce
like lettuce and tomatoes can be splattered with dirt and mud during the watering process.
And anything that's not organically grown can contain pesticide residue, so it's very
important to wash your produce before using it.
That doesn't mean you should wash your veggies as soon as you get home from the grocery store,
though.
Washing produce too early can actually promote bacterial growth that can speed up food's
decay.
It's really best to wait to wash vegetables just before consuming them.
If you do have to wash them ahead of time, make sure they're as dry as possible before
storing them.
Excess moisture can also speed up food spoilage.
"For long term storage or even short term storage, bone dry is better."
It's super easy to contaminate fruits and vegetables by accident during food preparation.
The United States Food and Drug Administration says cross-contamination happens when ready-to-eat
foods come in contact with unclean surfaces or utensils.
Since these ingredients are never cooked, they're never exposed to the heat that kills
most bacteria, leading to foodborne illness.
That's why it's super important to keep fruits and vegetables away from raw poultry, meat,
and seafood, along with any cutting boards or knives that touched those products.
If you have two sets of cutting boards - one for raw meats and one for vegetables - you'll
minimize the risk of cross-contamination even further.
It's also important to wash cutting boards and cooking utensils well with soap and hot
water.
If you're using nonporous cutting boards, like plastic, it's safest to clean them in
the dishwasher to remove any bacteria that may linger, although both plastic and wooden
cutting boards can also be sanitized with bleach.
Every vegetable is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, but you might not be able
to benefit from those nutrients if you don't cook them the right way.
You see, some vegetables - like potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, and Brussels
sprouts - contain water-soluble vitamins, including vitamins B and C. Boiling these
vegetables causes the vitamins to leach out into the cooking water.
Unless you're making soup, you'll miss out on these vitamins.
Instead, it's better to steam or microwave these vegetables to keep the nutrients within
the vegetable.
Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, on the other hand, are actually more absorbable by
the body when they're cooked in a fat.
Cooking sweet potatoes, leafy greens like kale, broccoli, and cabbage in fat like oil
or butter makes the vegetables more nutrient-dense than they would be if they were cooked in
water.
If you do cook them with a moist cooking method like steaming, find a way to incorporate a
fat into the dish, such as by tossing these vegetables with butter, vinaigrette, or drizzling
them with high-quality olive oil.
If you're trying to extend the shelf life of your fruits and vegetables, the freezer
is a great way to go.
It'll stop vegetables from spoiling, and it can also be an effective way to prep meals
for later.
There's no greater feeling than knowing that you have a bag of ready-to-use vegetables
in the freezer for your favorite stir-fry recipe!
But you shouldn't just throw them in the freezer raw.
You'll want to blanch your vegetables in boiling water before hitting the freezer.
This process sets the color of the vegetable, as well as preserving the vitamins and minerals.
More importantly, it also stops enzyme activity that can affect the vegetable's flavor.
Sadly, some veggies can't be frozen at all.
Vegetables like cucumbers, cabbage, celery, and lettuce can't be blanched, and freezing
raw would turn them limp and watery.
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