We're not talking about a crisp cucumber in the summer's heat. Nope, this is about revitalizing limp, tired veggies that were formerly destined to the compost heap (or your
veggie broth scrap bag)! It doesn't happen as often now that we cook so much from scratch, but perhaps you understand my occasional celery bunch that's discovered wilting in the very back of the bottom shelf, or those floppy carrots you discover under a bag of potatoes in the crisper. I've read before that dunking these sad little veggies in ice water can perk them right up, but I didn't believe it.
Then during a recent round of pantry cleaning, it was perk up those veggies or eat a soggy veggie stir-fry, so I went for it. I was pleasantly suprised to find out that it worked just fine! I don't know if there are any nutritional drawbacks, obviously veggies are best eaten fresh, but it certainly works on the texture. So far I've just tried carrots, and celery. With celery, I just stick them in the fridge in a container of cold water. (Remember the experiments in elementary school with food coloring that left you with blue celery leaves?) These pictures were taken after an overnight in the refrigerator, but even after 30 minutes they've perked quite a bit. (No doctoring was done to these photos, it just works!) I hope this saves the next droopy veggie in your crisper.
We're not talking about a crisp cucumber in the summer's heat. Nope, this is about revitalizing limp, tired veggies that were formerly destined to the compost heap (or your veggie broth scrap bag)! It doesn't happen as often now that we cook so much from scratch, but perhaps you understand my occasional celery bunch that's discovered wilting in the very back of the bottom shelf, or those floppy carrots you discover under a bag of potatoes in the crisper. I've read before that dunking these sad little veggies in ice water can perk them right up, but I didn't believe it. 
Then during a recent round of pantry cleaning, it was perk up those veggies or eat a soggy veggie stir-fry, so I went for it. I was pleasantly suprised to find out that it worked just fine! I don't know if there are any nutritional drawbacks, obviously veggies are best eaten fresh, but it certainly works on the texture. So far I've just tried carrots, and celery. With celery, I just stick them in the fridge in a container of cold water. (Remember the experiments in elementary school with food coloring that left you with blue celery leaves?) These pictures were taken after an overnight in the refrigerator, but even after 30 minutes they've perked quite a bit. (No doctoring was done to these photos, it just works!) I hope this saves the next droopy veggie in your crisper.
6 comments:
Gotta love Phloem. Good tip!
And thank YOU (and wikipedia) for the botany lesson in a sentence!
This trick also works remarkably well with wilted lettuce!
I left you a note on the WW veggie board (I'm bendystrawz), but I wasn't sure if you got it - I just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog, and how much you've inspired me. I actually made my first loaves of homemade whole wheat bread last night! Reading your blog has made me realize how much stuff I waste, either by buying prepared foods or just forgetting about the foods in the back of the fridge, and I'm determined to turn those habits around. So thank you!
Yes, I've had good luck with greens now that you mention it--spinach in particular!
Thank you SO much for your kind words! This is a learning journey for me and I'm very happy to be traveling it with others. :)
That's crazy! I'm definitely going to try that, I always find poor, sad veggies in my crisper and feel terrible as I'm putting them in the compost bag.
I don't think I've ever left a comment before but I've been reading your blog for a while when I was doing a Whole Foods Market-related search. You have definitely inspired me, keep up the good work!
Thanks so much, Jen!
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