For the love of produce

It's always a good idea to have fresh produce on hand, but a challenging idea in its execution. Particularly if you shop once every two weeks and are averse to working with spoiled fruits and vegetables. Well, at least I've found a few ways around this. I never know how much you all know about given topic, so forgive me if I morph into Captain Obvious every now and then.

The other day, my mom mentioned an idea to me that I've since tested out and have discovered is awesome (but then, so is my mom). We both happen to be married to men who only like onions if they are finely chopped, so we both make copious use of food processors. Mom recommended that the next time I chop up an onion, I should do several at a time and freeze the excess in approximate single-onion servings. I did, and I have to say, I much prefer it to hauling out the food processor multiple times just to hack up one onion. I ended up doing the same thing the last time I bought green onions, keeping them in one bigger container, and shaking out however many I needed for what I was making (i.e. tuna melt, omelet).

Another way to keep produce fresh is to chop it up, but instead of freezing it, you store it in the fridge in a covered contained filled with water. I do this with celery, and sometimes carrots. The idea actually came from my husband (who despises celery), who worked at a group home a few years ago where this was the practice. I find that when I don't chop up celery right away, it gets relegated to the back of my fridge and goes bad before I can use it.

Finally, because fresh produce doesn't keep forever, it's a good idea to branch out and buy canned or frozen fruits and veggies as well. My personal faves are canned mandarins, canned beans (I know, I know, it's cheaper to buy dry and soak them, but I find it too time-consuming and inefficient for the amount we use), and frozen corn, peas and berries. We throw frozen corn and peas into lots of things, like casseroles, soups, macaroni and cheese, etc. And I just cobbled together a recipe for a compote made from frozen berries, which goes a little something like this:

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together:
2 cups frozen berries
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (to thicken it up)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Bring to a boil and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and cool in the fridge before serving.

I've made this three times in as many weeks, with different berry combos (raspberries, strawberries on their own, or with cranberries, and a frozen mix that included berries of the straw, rasp, blue and black varieties). I've had the compote with scones, pavlova/meringues, cheesecake, and (tomorrow) ice cream. It would probably be just fine on its own as well.

Anyway, I encourage you all to eat tons of fruits and vegetables as they come into season! This is the easiest and most delicious time of the year to get 5-10 servings per day.