Getting carried away in the produce aisle

As I've mentioned before, I sometimes get carried away when shopping for produce. Something looks good or is on sale, and I grab it without really considering what I'll do with it. That would be fine if it were canned tomatoes or even fresh meat, which can be frozen, but usually it's produce.

I'm always reminded of an ancient Zippy the Pinhead cartoon that I kept on my fridge until it disintegrated, titled "The Perils of Fresh Food." The punchline: "Quick! Eat this before it rots!"

The current surplus I have to figure out how to use up before it rots includes a lot of watercress and a huge bunch of garlic chives. I could chop them up and freeze them, and I expect I'll do that with some of the chives but I'd like to use some of it fresh.

Ideas?

These are good problems to have! What about a watercress chive pesto?

Toss them into your salad. Watercress soup with scallops and a chive garnish.

If you place the stem end of the cress into a glass of water, it will root and not rot. I place mine into the stream of my pond and can harvest fresh. And the Koi love it too!

annak wrote:These are good problems to have! What about a watercress chive pesto?

Actually, I already did that -- with arugula, spinach and parsley, too. It's what I bought the cress and chives for. But watercress was $1 bunch so I bought a lot, and the chives came in a huge bunch and I only needed a couple tablespoonsful for the pesto. I'll probably make some more for the freezer, but it won't use all these leaves by any means.

LAZ wrote:

annak wrote:These are good problems to have! What about a watercress chive pesto?

Actually, I already did that -- with arugula, spinach and parsley, too. It's what I bought the cress and chives for. But watercress was $1 bunch so I bought a lot, and the chives came in a huge bunch and I only needed a couple tablespoonsful for the pesto. I'll probably make some more for the freezer, but it won't use all these leaves by any means.

I love watercress soup...potato, onion, watercress, chicken broth and a bit of milk...and freezes very well. You could throw chives in there too for that matter--just use less onion. Delicious!

I Purchase what looks very good or is very good and on sale.
I then figure out my meals when I get home.
There is always some spoilage from fresh ingrediants but tye alternatives, frozen or canned, usually are not too good.-Dick

I'm embarrased by how much produce we waste. There is just 2 of us though sometimes I make something to share with my single sister. I go to the store with great ideas and ambition but then things get forgotten and 3 weeks pass before I discover rotting items. Part of my problem is that I have MS and sometimes I buy things when I feel good but when it gets to making them... that day my hands don't work so I can't chop or I just don't have any energy.

There's one fresh produce item I have few qualms about disposing: cilantro.
I seldom use a whole bunch, and after a short time, it's slime.

I could make a chutney...but I don't use much of that. There aren't a lot of good ways to preserve it either. It's one of those tastes of freshness that just doesn't work except fresh.

So I use whatever I use, and the next time I shop, I get some more, and hopefully remember to throw out the previous one.

JoelF wrote:There's one fresh produce item I have few qualms about disposing: cilantro.
I seldom use a whole bunch, and after a short time, it's slime.

I could make a chutney...but I don't use much of that. There aren't a lot of good ways to preserve it either.

Cilantro freezes OK. Whirl with a little water in the blender or food processor, then put in ice cube trays. The cubes are good for cooking with or stirring in at the end of cooking, but won't substitute for fresh leaves in a salad or sandwich.

The one trick I've learned about keeping cilantro is that you can't treat it the same as other herbs. Bring it home, make sure the leaves are dry, trim the stems and then put the bunch stems down in a covered container (like a quart jar). Do not add any water. Put the lid on and refrigerate. This will keep the leaves from sliming much longer than just chucking them in their produce bag into the fridge. Transferring into a heavy sealed zipper bag will also help, but not as much as the jar. The cilantro tends to lose its oomph after a while anyway, but it stays in useable shape longer this way.

LAZ wrote:
Ideas?

If you enjoy oriental scallion pancakes, substitute the chives for most/all of the scallions. What you don't fry up right away can be frozen.

Just an idea...

Ron

First, I started to purchase "Miracle Bags". Roma tomatoes that USED to last 3-4 days now last 10 days +.

Second, understand the produce. Cucumbers last better outside of plastic bags.

Third, there are several dishes - chili, stews, etc, that are ideal for using items like celery, onions, and cilantro that need to be used up.

Basically you can freeze stuff as was mentioned or make it into soup or a vegetable broth. When I have too many vegetables I just throw them into a big pot with water and cook them then strain and freeze the broth and use it in soups. Will not work with stuff like cilantro though. I found a little package of frozen cubes of cilantro I bought and put it into the freezer so any time I need it its there. Not a big fan of it but its essential in some recipes.

jlawrence01 wrote:First, I started to purchase "Miracle Bags". Roma tomatoes that USED to last 3-4 days now last 10 days +.

I swear by those green bags, but it's hard to find them in the stores so I have to order them. I just leave tomatoes out on the counter.

pairs4life wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:First, I started to purchase "Miracle Bags". Roma tomatoes that USED to last 3-4 days now last 10 days +.

I swear by those green bags, but it's hard to find them in the stores so I have to order them. I just leave tomatoes out on the counter.

We get them at ... MENARDS.

jlawrence01 wrote:

pairs4life wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:First, I started to purchase "Miracle Bags". Roma tomatoes that USED to last 3-4 days now last 10 days +.

I swear by those green bags, but it's hard to find them in the stores so I have to order them. I just leave tomatoes out on the counter.

We get them at ... MENARDS.

I love Menards. Will look for them there. Thank you.

To be honest, if I have produce of most kinds that is surplus, I wash, dry, chop up into little pieces, and wok. Then freeze for later use.
Otherwise, if it is something that can be used in a soup at a later date, put into the vitamix, and freeze into cubes. Worst come to worse, which is not often, I have a commercial dehydrator.

Oh - I have a couple of the older "fruit" coolers that have a solid state cooling unit with a fan that circulates air over the produce.
This dissipates the gasses and keeps things cool.

The cost is the power consumption.

I get the "produce mania" when I go to Jerry's in Niles! I can't control myself there! Part of it is the atmosphere of the place with people filling their carts left and right. But I manage to use it all up 99% of the time with some planning. One of my favorite uses for watercress is with some miso soup and tofu. Good and fast...and sometimes with Chinese bbq pork for xtra flavor!

Lately when I have excess green herbs, I turn to my Georgian or Persian cookbooks. Many of the Georgian recipes call for, say, "2 cups of finely chopped mixed herbs - dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, etc." Very handy for those huge bunches of cilantro.