Image Credit: Humorland
It’s hard enough for many folks to include vegetables in their diet. Add to that the penance-level approach many take to vegetable consumption (only raw and the less seasoning the better), and they might be hard-pressed to understand why anyone could eat vegetables for pleasure.
I’m not here to knock raw veggie consumption. I just love to cook, to find ways to marry various flavors, and to savor the end product. I also like to share, so I want even the most ardent vegetable and fruit hater to be surprised by the spectacular gift that plant-based dishes offer. If prepared correctly, produce will not only contain body-healing properties, but they’ll taste great.
In my quest to improve my vegetable and fruit prep lot, this week I researched key ways to kill the flavor in produce. One of the major culprits in ruining produce flavor and texture comes from refrigeration. Why go through all the trouble of buying great produce and then preparing your favorite plant-based dishes only to undermine work by damaging your ingredients before they even make it to the pot or pan?
Just say no! Image Credit: Kombucha Kamp.
Don’t worry. Not all produce needs to hang out on your counter until you get around to cooking them. Below I’ve included three kinds of fresh produce you should consider not refrigerating.
Seasonal organic tomatoes are the BEST. Image Credit: Chiot’s Run.
1. Tomatoes: If you don’t already know, a refrigerated tomato tastes gross. Its flesh can crystalize from the cold or, just as bad, the flesh can go mushy. I’m gagging just remembering all the times I’ve eaten mushy tomatoes from low-end salad bars. Don’t do it! The best tomatoes are local varieties purchased during the summer months, but even if you’re buying fresh tomatoes on the winter solstice, refrigerating them will worsen their flavor. Here’s a video on ways to store your fresh tomatoes, san fridge.
Image Credit: Are Potatoes Healthy?.
2. Potatoes: Sadly I’ve cut back on my white potato consumption, but when I do eat them, I want to get the most of their flavor. Refrigerating the potato will break down its starch into a sugar. With that sweetness comes a gritty texture. People (you, if you’re a potato gardener!) work hard to get the dirt off your potatoes before you eat them, so don’t thumb your nose at their efforts by cooking with gritty-textured potatoes. It’s not enough to forego the refrigerator with potatoes. Potatoes need to be stored in a darkened room. If they’re exposed to light for extended periods of time, potatoes can turn green. Green potatoes = toxins, so keep those potatoes in the dark until they’re ready to be sacrificed for your dinner.
Caught in the Wild! Image Credit: Agriculture Research Service.
3. Onions: Similar to tomatoes, onion flesh turns mushy if kept at refrigerator-level temperatures. Worse, they mold more quickly. Similar to potatoes, keep uncut onions away from direct sunlight.
What vegetables or fruits would you never sacrifice to the refrigerator gods?
Reblogged this on Ann Novek–With the Sky as the Ceiling and the Heart Outdoors.
Thanks for the reminder about tomatoes, especially! I am so excited because we purchased a vegetable share from a local farm for weekly pick-ups beginning mid-June! Yum! ~ Kat
I thought you were going to say that you shouldn’t refrigerate the cat
My mother told us to wrap the greens in paper, then refrigerate. Although, she really hasn’t done this herself.
Lemons. Apparently they dry out if kept in the fridge. I store all my veg in a cupboard. And buy fresh almost daily.
Whew! You had me worried there for a sec, right up there with, “Okay, everyeone, take out your pencils–this is a pop quiz.” Fortunately, nothing on the DNR list was in our refrigerator. Kale, fennel, scallions, carrots, celery, and herbs wrapped in damp paper towels. ken
P.S “…only raw and the less seasoning the better…” Ha! ken
My cousin is married to a chef and, in their apartment, the fridge is really small. Big enough to contain wine, milk and butter and that’s about it. However, for people who can’t go and buy fresh every day, and who don’t believe in leftovers, a small fridge just won’t do — especially when the temperatures can get v. hot. Eggs do not need to be refrigerated either!
I never store my onions or potatoes in the fridge but I didn’t know about the tomatoes. Good to know! Thanks for sharing this info. And I LOVE the cat w/ carrot photo, btw. Hilarious!
Thank you very much for the info. Especially, the video on the tomatoes was very helpful. I never put tomatoes in the frig, but I should go and take out my potatoes and onions. I wonder why I didn’t follow my mother’s example… she had a box in the lower kitchen cabinet with her potatoes and onions. Fae.