vegan

You need air to be able to circulate around fresh veggies. Closed bag always rots faster than an open one. Also storing green onions with roots in water can help they stay crisp longer. Lil paper towel to absorb moisture also helps!

Some things are just going to rot faster than others. Leafy greens especially. Part of why I prefer heartier veggies like brassicas.

Tangentially related but do not sleep on flash steaming. It is hands down the fastest and tastiest ways to cook a lot of veggies. Carrots, beets, aforementioned brassicas, lotta things steam up real nice. I do it over the stove with a pot and metal strainer but even just a glass dish in the microwave w/ a little water will get great results, if a lil soggier.

CONGRATS ON GOING VEGAN!

I’ve got many many tips from a lifetime in restaurants so feel free to reach out anytime!

vegan-liberation

Eat everything all at once and then not eat anything for the rest of thr week likr a vidro gamr cjaracter

In general: Produce storage is about proper management of moisture, temperature, and in a few cases, separation from things that promote rot.

1. Moisture. You generally want to keep things at their preferred level of humidity while preventing condensation. Bacteria likes it when water beads.

What humidity a vegetable prefers depends on the veggie. Things that get wiggly but should be firm have dried out too much (which will inevitably hapoen to most things if they hang out for way too long. Examples: Leafy veggies, stemmy things (cilantro, green onions).

Things that get slimy have stayed too moist. Examples: Also leafy veggies. Root vegetables.

Things that develop tiny mold spots have condensation issues. Example: Mushrooms*, leafy veggies again.

A good common setup fsornthings that like humidity is to put things in plastic bags and put paper towel in the bag. The pastic traps humitidy while the paper towel catches condensation.

2. Temperature: A few veggies are weird about temperature. Bananas hate fridges. Whole tomatoes lose flavor in the fridge as their sugars turn to starches. People will fight me on this,.but I prefer.to store.onions in the fridge

3 Separation: Do not store apples with other things. They emit a gas that promotes rot. A number of fruits do this, but I don't have a list. Berries are fine.

Random tips: Root veggies like cool, dry places. Basements can be good for this if you can store it in a spot vermin won't go after it. Otherwise, crisper drawrr set to dry. I always open my bags of carrots if they're in the frdige.. Slime will get them sooner than drying out either can happen. If carrots get wiggly, you probably needed to use them sooner

I keep cut onions in tightly wrapped aluminum foil. I don't know why this works best, but it beats wax, paper, or airtight containers.

Mushrooms can either go in a paper bag, or stores in their contaianers with paper towels above and below. Mushrooms go slimy and get mold spots. Note that fuzzy white mold near the base ofnthe srtem is normal and expected on shrooms. That's mycellium, a healthy mold that promotes soil health. Don't trust me. Google this and verify so you're sure what safe looks like.

Ginger goes in wax paper in the fridge. So do cut lemons. Uncut lemons can just be left whole and fridged. Wax paper seals moisture but slowly absorbs moisture over time as breaks in the water-seal eventually give in.

Some things with stems can go right into water, or stored in plasting with a wet paper towel around the base (I do this with green onions which are otherwise really finicky to store). Asparagus can be kept In a cup of water. If you're really being thorough, score a plasting bag and put it over the top of the sparagus. They're literally just cut flowers.

Generally wiggly is safter to eat than slimy and slimy is safer thatn moldy if youre careful to cut and wash the bad parts.

Do not try to cut mold off unless you're in dire straits or tolerate risk well. If you do, cut an inch or two past where you think it needs to be cut because mold sends out tendrils in ways you cant see. So if you cut off well beyond, hopefullt you'll save the fresh portion for prep.

Where I live salad leaves/baby spinach and stuff often come in plastic packaging. I find that putting a lil paper towel in the bag and sealing it up with a clip or whatever stops it from getting that damp/soggy texture way longer.

I try to just buy veggies that I know I’ll be cooking that night or within a day or two. I’m luckily in a situation that I live near a supermarket though.

I always try to have a couple of cans of chickpeas, canned tomato, some dried lentils, some garlic and onion and ginger. Obviously stay fresh for a very long time, so if some day I’m too tired or lazy to pick up fresh veggies I can easily make a quick curry or pasta or whatever.

Frozen veg is also handy! It’s never as good as fresh in terms of texture, but it’s good to have around if, again, I’ve been lazy. I just make some rice or noodles, steam the frozen veg and fry up some tofu. Unopened tofu lasts an extremely long time in the fridge.

So I guess my advice boils down to “shop more often, with specific meals in mind, and have some less perishable but still healthy stuff for days when you cbf going shopping”. Helps prevent those expensive (and usually unhealthy) food delivery orders on a lazy day or when tired after work.

Cooking veggies preserves them and some can be frozen depending on the purpose. If you have meal plans for them make sure to get them within the correct freshness timeframe. Otherwise I think @dessa has good tips

frozen veggies are just as good for you as fresh veggies. so get frozen where you can.

Nowadays I only buy for the present day before going home. A strategy I had before was to only buy things I know when I was gonna be able to cook and how. You can either think on the spot or lookup recipees before going out. Plan for a couple of days or the whole week

Don't overthink every meal. Most of the time I just select a couple of vegetables and pan cook them with some tofu

If I’m not eating some of it every day it goes in the freezer and is now for soups and smoothies.

What kind of veggies are you getting? I've learned for myself I am not reliable enough for things like spring lettuce. So I mostly eat more forgiving things.

Meal planning and prepping the week's meals on the weekend helps a lot: I'm buying what I need and using it right away. Even if I don't feel like cooking the whole thing, I'll still process it (cutting it up or roasting, etc) so it's ready to be cooked. I'm mucj more likely to eat what i planned if I don't have to cook everyday. That being said, if I'm planning to have something later in the week that's more delicate, i sometimes wait to get it.

Greens i try to process right away. Rinse, pull off stem (for kale) and spin in a salad spinner. Then store with something absorbant (paper towel, small rag). Cabbage doesn't really need the spinner, but once I cut it up, I store it the same way.

Celery and herbs i store in water. Herbs upright in water and celery either the same way or cut up and submerged in water. You can do the same thing for carrots, but I usually cook my carrots anyway so it doesnt bother me if they go a little limp.

Then if stuff starts to go off, there's options. Peppers starting to go squishy? Roast em. Tomatoes looking sad? Also, roast them. Pretty much everything can be salvaged by roasting or putting in a stew or soup as long as it's not actually rotting.

If I'm really not going to use something for awile, I'll freeze it. Most things should be blanched and then frozen. To avoid them freezing in a big ol chunk, freeze them flat on a baking tray first, then store in a bag.

And then I'll also designate things for stock. Too much celery? Stock. Carrot lookong pathetic? Stock. Herbs going limp and slimy? Stock. I have a bag in my freezer as the designated stock bag. Once it's full, it's stock time.

I'm not personally a big pickler or canner, but I've dabbled and that's kind of fun too.

I take veggies out of their plastic bags so they don't get mildew, and likewise separate leaves in bunches, like kale.

For boxes of lettuce, I'll stick a paper towel inside to soak up excess water to keep it off the lettuce