FRUIT & VEGETABLE TIPS

• Corn, beans, peas and other vegetables will lose sweetness as sugar in their tissues turns to starch. Store dry and unwashed in plastic bags in the refrigerator.
• Winter squash is mature when you cannot pierce the skin with your thumbnail. If the squash has a soft skin, it means the squash is old and past its peak.
• Cutting salad greens with a knife may cause discoloration and bruising. Gently tearing the leaves is better and makes a more attractive salad.
• To retain the white color of fresh mushrooms, slice just before using or dip in lemon juice.
• You can add garlic flavor to salads by rubbing halved garlic cloves around the inside of the salad bowl(s).
• To easily remove the white membrane when peeling an orange, soak the unpeeled orange in boiling water for 5 minutes. Superb for salads!
• Next time you serve sliced cucumber in a recipe, pull the tines of a sharp fork down the length of an unpeeled cucumber before slicing it to give the slices a fancy look.
• You should use canned, not fresh, pineapple in gelatin salads. A natural enzyme in the fresh fruit will prevent the gelatin from setting.
• You can simmer asparagus peelings into a stock that can be used as a base for soup.
• Keep bottled lemon or lime juice in a spray mister in the refrigerator and spray on cut apples, avocados, peaches, pears, ecetera, to prevent these types of foods from turning brown.
• You won't waste any grated citrus zest if you use a kitchen brush to coax every last bit off the grater.

Some tips provided courtesy of the US Food and Drug Administration.

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