Do you pre-prep your veg?

TastyReuben

TastyReuben

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What I mean by that is, when you first bring your veg home from the grocer or farmer’s market (or get it delivered), do you chuck it straight in the fridge and do all your prep work on the day you’re going to use it, or do you do some/all right then?

Most veg I buy, I already know what I’m going to use it for, so I could slice/dice/cube, but I don’t. I limit my initial prep to washing and drying, then setting it up to store properly, so it stays as fresh as possible until I’m ready to use it.

Lettuce gets pulled apart, bad leaves toss, the rest washed and dried, wrapped in paper towel, and into a plastic bag. Similar thing with parsley, and carrots get topped and the ends put into water and covered with a bag, etc. I also wash and dry fresh fruit.

I used to not do that at all, but I found that just washing things was a big timesaver on the day of cooking.

What about you? Do you leave your fresh veg (and fruit) in its natural state, or do you do some prep work with it as soon as you get it home?
 
I leave it as is. Generally, vegetables will last longer if not prepped I think. One exception is spinach which I microwave 'in the bag' then drain and put in a plastic box to store in the fridge. That way it lasts at least a week. But that is not so much pre-prepping as actually cooking it. Of course, if I wanted whole spinach leaves stirred into a dish I wouldn't pre-cook it.
 
TastyReuben said:
What I mean by that is, when you first bring your veg home from the grocer or farmer’s market (or get it delivered), do you chuck it straight in the fridge and do all your prep work on the day you’re going to use it, or do you do some/all right then?

Most veg I buy, I already know what I’m going to use it for, so I could slice/dice/cube, but I don’t. I limit my initial prep to washing and drying, then setting it up to store properly, so it stays as fresh as possible until I’m ready to use it.

Lettuce gets pulled apart, bad leaves toss, the rest washed and dried, wrapped in paper towel, and into a plastic bag. Similar thing with parsley, and carrots get topped and the ends put into water and covered with a bag, etc. I also wash and dry fresh fruit.

I used to not do that at all, but I found that just washing things was a big timesaver on the day of cooking.

What about you? Do you leave your fresh veg (and fruit) in its natural state, or do you do some prep work with it as soon as you get it home?
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I wash all produce (and disinfect shelf stable foods and other items before putting them away). My experience working as a merchandiser for food companies allowed access to backrooms of stores. Occasionally there was evidence of rodents and insects in storage areas. I'm not putting stuff away in my house without cleaning it first.

I generally do minimal prep on veggies and fruit upon purchase other than washing.
 
Chuck it in the fridge and prepped when used. Certain fresh herbs (cilantro, parsely) get roots trimmed, placed in a glass (jar) with water to cover roots and covered with the plastic bag they came in before going in the fridge.
 
CraigC said:
Chuck it in the fridge and prepped when used. Certain fresh herbs (cilantro, parsely) get roots trimmed, placed in a glass (jar) with water to cover roots and covered with the plastic bag they came in before going in the fridge.
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:wave: - good to see you!
 
I just jam mine in the crispers. That’s
probably why I break the drawers in every fridge I ever owned .
I believe that vegetables start to decompose the minute they are picked so cleaning and cutting them up them down only speeds ip that process.
 
Rocklobster said:
I just jam mine in the crispers. That’s
probably why I break the drawers in every fridge I ever owned .
I believe that vegetables start to decompose the minute they are picked so cleaning and cutting them up them down only speeds ip that process.
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Yeah, I definitely am not cutting them up, but nothing stays in my refrigerator long enough to decompose usually.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Yeah, I definitely am not cutting them up, but nothing stays in my refrigerator long enough to decompose usually.
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I can usually find a heel or two of something that needs to be thrown out. I just keep piling fresh stuff on top of it. :laugh:
 
I might trim some of the bad leaves; cut the green parts off the leeks; pick the spinach leaves off their stalks; trim off the beetroot leaves. Other than that, I prep when I need them.
 
I mostly leave them as-is.

I do prep round lettuces, like iceberg, for storage. I remove limp or brown leaves, and remove the core with a paring knife. That core is often the first part to turn color and go bad, and removing it makes the lettuce last longer. I can often get a couple of weeks out of a head of iceberg lettuce if I remove the core, and keep it in a plastic bag with a spritz of water inside.

CD
 
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