{|> M:H:O <|} !! Secrets to Choosing Fresh Produce !!

 

YES Man Just No Words Mood Killer - Hilarious Bleach Television Advert Crazy Cat Vladimir Moldavskiy s Surreal Art milk dress fashion Wedding Dress Fall 2009 trends Soldier Fashion What's better than a freshly picked tomato, sliced into a salad? Or a firm, crisp apple for a healthy snack? For the freshest produce, try to find locally grown, in-season fruits and vegetables. The closer you are to where the produce is grown, is the less time it sits in a truck and warehouse. If you're shopping for produce at a farmer's market, shop early in the day. Scan the farmer's entire produce offering to get a general idea of the quality before you purchase. Choosing the best produce means knowing what to look for and what to avoid when buying fruits and vegetables. Buying Produce in Season Depending on where you live, you may find better produce at certain times of the year. Your grocery store may be stocked with virtually every fruit and vegetable all year, but at certain times of the year, certain foods will taste fresher and better. If you want to be assured that you're buying the freshest produce, use these guidelines: In Spring: Buy apricots, fresh artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beets, cauliflower, cherries, radishes, rhubarb and spinach. In Summer: Buy berries, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic and tomatoes. In Fall: Buy apples, broccoli, brussel sprouts, squash, pears, sweet peppers and sweet potatoes. Use your judgment. Just because a fruit or vegetable is out of season doesn't mean it isn't good. It may just be shipped in from another region. How to Choose the Best Produce Choose fruits and vegetables using your senses, as well as your common sense. Look to make sure the produce is not moldy, slimy, bruised or shriveled, and that it doesn't have any wormholes or insect holes. Smell it to see if it smells moldy, overripe or just not right. Feel the produce to make sure it doesn't have any mushy spots or is not too hard. Apples should be firm with no bruises or soft spots. Yellow and green apples should have a slightly rosy tone to them. Apricots should be slightly soft and uniform in color. Asparagus should be firm and bright green with purple-tinted buds. The thinner asparagus stalks are more tender and flavorful than thicker asparagus. Avocados should be slightly soft and squeezable but not mushy. If you buy avocados hard, let them sit on a kitchen windowsill for a few days to ripen. Bananas can be greener and less ripe than you like them, because they ripen fairly quickly. You can extend the life of your bananas by refrigerating them when they reach the perfect ripeness stage. The peel will darken, but the flesh will be unaffected and their freshness will be extended. Beets should be dark red and no more than 2 inches in diameter. Berries should have a bright, vivid color. Check the berries in the bottom of the container for signs of mold. Blueberries should be plump and firm and uniform in color with a silvery frost. Broccoli should smell sweet and have a dark-green color. The stalks should be tightly formed and be firm, not limp. When broccoli begins to overripen, it turns yellow and smells like cabbage. Cantaloupes should be slightly soft with no lumps or extra-soft spots. Carrots should be firm with a relatively smooth skin. Avoid thick carrots, since they usually have tough centers. If you buy carrots with green tops, remove the tops before storing, since they can pull out moisture and nutrients from the roots. Cauliflower should be white with a smooth, solid head with no brown patches or speckling. Corn should be in husks that are tightly wrapped, grass-green and slightly damp. Many grocery stores allow you to partially open the husks to check for rotten kernels. Cucumbers should be solid and deep green with no yellow spots. Medium-sized cucumbers are better than large. Eggplant should be firm and shiny. Look for eggplant without marks or bruises. Smaller eggplant are sweeter. Figs should be ripe and soft, almost shriveled. Garlic should be plump and firm with bulbs completely surrounded by their tissue. Avoid garlic bulbs that have green sprouts or that have a strong odor. Grapefruit should be heavy, with a thin skin and slightly springy when pressed. Like oranges, don't just a grapefruit by the color of its skin. Do avoid thick, rough skins and overly soft spots. Grapes should be plump, uniformly colored and firmly attached, with no brown spots at the stem connections. Kiwi should give slightly when pressed. If a kiwi is hard, it won't be sweet enough. If too soft or shriveled, it's spoiled. Leeks should have white bulbs and dark-green leaves without yellow or brown spots. Mangoes can be any shade of yellow, red, green or orange and still be ripe. Mangoes should be slightly soft to the touch and have a sweet aroma near the stem end. Mushrooms should be smooth and cream-colored, without blemishes or brown spots. Avoid slimy or wrinkled mushrooms. Onions: Dry onions should be firm and have no soft spots and no sour odor or musty smell. Green onions should have bright-green leaves and white tips. Oranges can have yellow, green or brown patches without affecting the ripeness and flavor of the fruit inside. Look for a firm, heavy orange with a thin, smooth skin. Peaches should be a creamy-peach color or yellowish with no bruised areas and no wrinkles. Pears should be firm but not hard. Pears begin to ripen at the stem end, so choose pears that are beginning to soften at the top. To ripen, let set on a kitchen counter until they soften. Peppers should be dark green, smooth and shiny, with thick flesh. Check for soft spots. Pineapple should be heavy for its size and have a sweet smell near the stem. Check for soft spots and dark patches. Plums should be slightly soft and have a deep color. Potatoes should be firm and free from bruises or soft spots. A bag of potatoes should not smell musty or moldy. Spinach should have bright-green, crisp leaves. Dark leaves may mean the spinach is getting mushy. Strawberries should be brightly colored and plump, with a strong scent. Avoid the extra-large strawberries; they look scrumptious, but their flavor is actually inferior to smaller-sized berries. Tomatoes should be bright red, firm and free of bruises. Watermelon should be firm and heavy with a smooth skin. Watermelon should have a yellow area on one side, from where it rested while ripening. If it doesn't have a well-defined yellow side, it may have been harvested too soon. Zucchini should have firm, dark-green skin. Avoid zucchini that are soft and wrinkly. Regards, MHO The Rocking Group

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