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Green vegetables are extremely healthy and have spectacular nutritional properties. These vegetables also have a special earthy flavour that can be used to make a lot of dishes. But the only downside about using these vegetables during the winter season is that they get bad quickly. The colour of these leafy vegetables might fade away within a couple of days of buying them from the market because of the dryness present in the air during winters. Once these vegetables turn pale and yellowish, they are not fit for consumption anymore. In this article, we have compiled together some genius hacks that will help you keep the greenness of your green vegetables alive and keep them fresh for a longer time.
* Blanch Vegetable
Blanching vegetables is very important in helping them retain their natural colour for a long time. Blanched vegetables are always better than raw vegetables. This is because, during the process of blanching, the air pockets present in raw vegetables that mask the colour after being kept idle vanish. This helps in keeping the colour of vegetables brighter and your leafy greens won't turn peel very soon.
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* Use Vinegar
Boiling vegetables in water mixed with vinegar or even lime juice is another great idea to keep your vegetables green and fresh for a long time. All you have to do is simply add a few droplets of either vinegar or lime juice to the water and let it boil. Now after your water is boiled completely, add your green vegetables to the water. As soon as the vegetables start to wilt, take them out of the pot and keep them instantly in icy cold water to stop the process of heating instantly.
* Reduce Cooking Time
You must also cut down on your time for cooking, boiling, steaming, or whatever process you're following to cook your green vegetables. Make sure that you do not heat your green vegetables for a long time as it leads to loss of nutrients from your vegetables. If you want to store your green vegetables for a long time, make sure that the cooking process followed to make it edible is not too exaggerated. 5 to 6 minutes of cooking is enough to make green vegetables edible and it will also help in keeping these vegetables fresh for a long time.
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* Add Baking Soda
Adding baking soda to your green vegetables before consuming them or using them to cook a dish is also a great trick to maintain the texture and colour of your green vegetables. Baking soda helps reduce the acidity due to the boiling of water and also slows down the process of discolouration of vegetables. Also adding a pinch of baking soda to your food can help in avoiding bitterness in your green vegetables.
* Avoid Pre-Washing
Never wash your green vegetables over and over again. You can save the process of pre- washing just before you are about to use the vegetable for cooking something. If the process involves boiling the green vegetable then you can also avoid the pre-washing step. This is because washing vegetables again and again may lead to excess humidity that can make the vegetables rot more quickly.
* Maintain Temperature In Refrigerator
Always maintain proper temperature in the refrigerator to keep your vegetables fresh for as long as possible. The temperature of your fridge plays a very important role in determining the health of your vegetables. Most of the green vegetables can be best kept at temperatures between 1 to 4°C. Setting the temperature too low may lead to a reduction of water content in vegetables. It can further lead to drying of vegetables before time and bacterial growth.
* Maintain A separate compartment For Vegetables
Always maintain a separate compartment for vegetables and never keep everything in the same place. Vegetables with higher water content must be kept separately from the ones that have lower water content. This is because the food kept in proximity to one vegetable may affect its texture and colour. It may also lead to rotting of vegetables quickly. This is why effective and mindful storage of vegetables in the refrigerator is very important.
These are some of the most important factors that you must keep in mind while storing your green vegetables. Storing these vegetables and keeping them healthy is a series of precise steps that have to be followed to avoid any kind of unnecessary problems.
