There many vegetables to
choose from, and they choose from in their best nutritious form. Here below are
the steps:
1) Write your shopping
list out covering what you need - few things can annoy as much as getting home
after your shopping to find you have forgotten a key ingredient.
2) Find a suitable vegetable store. Places selling vegetables vary and
some are likely to be more concerned about the quality of their vegetables than
other places. For example, a place specializing in vegetables such as a fruit
and vegetable store is more likely to be choosy and about the freshness and
quality of their fruit and vegetables than a 24/7 store which sells all sorts
of things for all prices.
Places to look include:
- Fruit and
vegetable stores
- Local supermarket
- Farmer's markets
- Delicatessens
(sometimes)
- Roadside stalls
(often great, fresh bargains to be found)
- Night markets
- Wholesalers
3) Choose suitable vegetables. There are several considerations
when buying vegetables, depending on what concerns you and your recipe.
4) On selecting your vegetables and
fruits here are some things to try, some will look a little funny, but you'll
find real experienced shoppers doing this anyway:
- Smell the produce, this is best with fruit and melons,
it should smell worth eating with a rich but fresh perfume. If it smells too
strong, or odd in anyway, it may have been damaged or is old even if it looks
OK.
- Examine the color, this one is pretty straightforward
(such as brown bananas etc), but some fruit such as pineapple display their
ripeness by their changing from green to gold.
- Examine it for lumps, bumps and bruises and insect
damage. Do the store a favor and discretely hand in any damaged or old produce
on their display as it #removes the risk of contamination spreading and makes
their display look better.
- Originally it was recommended to test by squeezing
fruit near the stem (such as mangoes and avocados), but in reality this is a
bad habit to encourage as this is a sure way to end with bad fruit, even if you
take the fruit you tested. Just don't do it.
- Talk to the people who work in that section - they
know if a particularly choice range of new season produce has just come in, or
some rare produce worth trying. Compliment them (regardless of the size of the
store) if they have something good as it's always worthwhile to encourage this.
- Leafy greens, broccoli, carrots etc. should be crisp
and firm, any sign of wilt or discolouring and its past its prime.
- Particularly with tomatoes and soft fruits - buy &
use good ripe ones for today and select slightly under-ripe ones to ripen at
home for the next use. Don't buy all ripe food, unless you intend to eat it
today as it could go bad before you needed it. If this sounds like it may be
too complicated, shop when you need to.
- Avoid anything that has sprouted when it shouldn't
(such as potato, sweet potato, onion, garlic, ginger etc.).
- The common white mushroom should be closed (look at
them stem pointing up - the mushroom should still be closed to the stem). When
they open and reveal the brown underside, they age quicker. If they are open so
the top curls up, they could be over-ripe which can make you very ill. Some
varieties are OK like this, some aren't.
- Eggplants are usually light purple when they are fresh
and darken more as they ripen. Near black eggplants have little time left.
- Ginger should be smooth with the smaller bulbs
pinkish.
- The "Bargain" rack should be explored
carefully - occasionally you might find a win of surplus stock to make pickles
and chutneys, but sometimes it’s only suitable for the compost bin. Save your
money and buy fresh.
5) Here are some more things to consider as well when
choosing vegetables:
·
In season:
Vegetables are best in season and at their most affordable
·
Local: For some
people, supporting local industry and not having vegetables travel too far is
an important consideration.
·
Allergies: Obviously, if someone in your family has an allergy to certain vegetables, either don't purchase it or don't feed that vegetable to them. Even more obviously, this does not mean a "dislike" of vegetables!
·
Variety: The best
advice is to "eat your colors". Make sure to choose various vegetable
colors to meet your nutritional needs. It isn't supposed to be hard, just
obvious.
6) Know how to store and prepare your vegetables
- Done by Lexus -
