Making It Last!

By: Naomi Ross

Summertime produce is fresh, sweet, and flavorful, a delicious chance to feast on salads and the best fruit of the year. I get a little carried away at the market—and then I have to scramble to use up or repurpose all the extra produce before it spoils. Here are some hacks for making the most of your produce and stretch its life just a bit further.

First of all, keep it dry! The biggest threat to your produce’s lifespan is moisture. Moisture breeds bacteria and mold, which causes spoilage. The cheapest hack is paper towels. Line your refrigerator’s produce bins with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Wrap high-water content items like cucumbers in paper towels and place strawberries in a single layer in their container between a sheet of paper towels so they’re not sitting on top of each other. Use a salad spinner to remove excess water from greens. Roll checked, clean leaves of lettuce or other greens, like kale or Swiss chard in paper towels, then store in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to a week. This hack can lengthen freshness by 50%! Or you can try freezing your fruits and veggies. If you have a surplus of fruits or veggies, consider freezing them for another day.

Helpful Gadgets: salad spinner, salad crisper, banana hook, ice cube trays, and mason jars.

{Easy Sheet Pan Freezer Hack

Cut up the fruits or vegetables into similar sizes. For example, 1/4 inch sliced zucchini, 1/2 inch sliced peaches, cleaned and hulled whole strawberries, peeled banana halves, etc. Place in an even single layer on a baking sheet and place in freezer. When completely frozen, transfer to zip-top freezer bag for storage, making sure to squeeze out any excess air before sealing bag.

Cook’s Tip for Herbs

To freeze leafy herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, and tarragon you can chop the herbs, pack them into an ice cube tray, and top off with broth or water. Or you can grind the herbs into a paste using a food processor and adding a little oil (like pesto), then pour the mixture into an ice cube tray. Once frozen, transfer cubes into an airtight container or zip-top in the freezer for up to 3 months.

{Pickle It!

Pickling is not only for the pickle man! It’s a universal approach to curing and preserving foods, creating piquant and bold flavors while at the same time transforming textures. The main purpose is to lengthen the shelf life by minimizing the growth of harmful bacteria. Acid is one way, which is why vinegar is commonly used, since very few organisms can survive in it. Salt is also used to pickle vegetables because it discourages the growth of bacteria that cause spoilage. Just about anything can be pickled: cucumbers, green tomatoes, onions, cauliflower, beets, carrots, watermelon rinds, and even fruits like grapes and lemons. What differs is the chosen method of preparation and the ingredients.

Some items benefit from a “quick-pickling” process, which only gets a brief salting before being drained and covered with a vinegar solution. Think cucumber salad!

It’s easy to make “refrigerator pickles,” curing for anywhere from 1 to 7 days in the refrigerator. Classic dill pickles are fermented and cured for about 3 weeks, during which time their colors and flavors will change as the acidity increases.

The Pickling Process:

Create a brine: A brine is the pickling liquid that will cure your vegetables and generally contains a solution of vinegar, water, salt and aromatics for flavoring.

Simmer the solution together in a saucepan before pouring over the vegetables. A safe proportion is 2:1 water to vinegar. Make sure to have good whole spices on hand when pickling: bay leaves, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, etc. Make sure to submerge everything in the brining liquid. Use only ripe, good quality produce. Over-ripe produce will yield mushy results.

Sugar It!

Cooking with sugar is another way of preserving and stretching your food. Compotes, preserves, sauces or even roasting fruit with a little sugar will help preserve your fruit for weeks.

Taking inventory and reducing waste is a constant task when running a kitchen. But the more you stay on top of it, your cooking will become much more efficient and resourceful. Rescuing older vegetables or fruit might mean that fresh pickles are on their way; or that aromas of simmering vegetable soup may soon be emanating from the heart of your house. And to think, you were going to throw that away! n

Naomi Ross is a cooking instructor and food writer based in Woodmere, NY. She teaches classes throughout the country and writes articles connecting good cooking and Jewish inspiration. Her first cookbook, The Giving Table, was released in December 2022. Follow her at @naomirosscooks on Instagram/FB/TikTok or visit NaomiRossCooks.com.