by Texas Homesteader ~
I’m sharing an easy tip to keep broccoli fresh and crisp for several days during its storage in your refrigerator. It’s simple old-time wisdom I learned from my grandmother years ago.
If you’re wondering how to keep that fresh broccoli crisp for days, check out this Homestead Hack.
Cooking With Fresh Produce
First let’s go back several days ago earlier in the week when I’d invited my parents to our home for supper.
I’d decided I wanted to Roast Fresh Vegetables with a bit of flavored olive oil as a tasty side dish to go with our meal. It’s one of mom’s favorite side dishes.
Buying Package-Free Fresh Produce
So we were out shopping at our small-town grocery store. I was dismayed to see all the broccoli was being sold on a Styrofoam tray & entombed in plastic.
So I politely asked one of the cashiers if they packaged the fresh broccoli onsite or if it came to them already packaged.
When they told me they did the packaging themselves after the produce was received, I asked if there was any leftover unpackaged broccoli I might purchase.
They brought out the bulk produce box and allowed me to choose from the unpackaged broccoli.
By asking that simple question I was able to shop local, stand by my eco-beliefs and still bring home healthy produce.
I brought home only fresh produce – no plastic, no styrofoam! It never hurts to ask, y’all!
Storing Fresh Produce In The Refrigerator
Anyway the roasted veggies were delicious. After our meal the rest of the raw vegetables were stored in the refrigerator. We’ll enjoy them on another night.
Here’s my secret for keeping even very-perishable broccoli fresh: I cut a small slice from the main stem then placed the remaining broccoli stem-down into a wide-bottom bowl with a little water in it.
The water is drawn through the stem and keeps the broccoli hydrated, fresh and crisp.
It’s the same trick I often watched my grandmother use when I was a kid.
How did our grandmothers get so smart??!! So obviously this is not a new idea I made up on my own, but it’s highly effective.
Keeping Leftover Fresh Vegetables Crisp
Fast forward several days when we decided to host my sis & her family for the weekend. RancherMan planned to grill out since the weather was nice.
I’d planned to roast some of the leftover fresh veggies that I had in the fridge from when mom & dad joined us for supper a few nights ago.
So now here my sister and I are, staring at the leftover produce in the fridge from several days ago when I gained my sister’s admiration when watching me remove the fresh produce from the fridge.
My sister saw the broccoli stems submerged in water and exclaimed “That’s BRILLIANT!”
I guess I just never thought about it since it’s what I saw our grandmother do years ago when I was a child.
I do much the same thing with fresh celery, asparagus, carrots and cauliflower too. It keeps my produce crisp and wilt-free for several days.
As a matter of fact this homestead hack also helps me to easily Sneak More Vegetables into RancherMan’s diet.
The cut carrots stay crisp for a long time when placed in a glass jar with a little water in it. Then to get RancherMan to eat more vegetables I just use the power of suggestion to do the rest.
~TxH~
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I rinse celery thoroughly, especially the inside, then I turn it upside down to dry. It lasts much longer. I`ve never thought of the broccoli idea!
Interesting Jan, I’ve never heard of turning rinsed-off celery upside down to dry to make it last longer. I absolutely love how we can all learn from each other on this blog – thanks for sharing your handy tip!! ~TxH~
I also do the same thing with asparagus. And for a science experiment with Kaleigh I’ve put celery in colored water.
Grandma always had a bunch of celery in a glass with a little water in it. She often had some sort of plastic bag covering the top of the celery. How oh how did our grandmothers get so smart without even the benefit of the internet or google?? ~TxH~