Your organic fruit and veg needs a little extra TLC to keep it fresh
in the warmer months. Here’s a few cool tips to keep them tip top.
How to store summer's treats
Berries, currants
and rhubarb too
Keep these in the fridge. They also freezebeautifully. Put them on a tray with space
between them (chop your rhubarb first).
Freeze. Tip into a container or freezer bag
and put them back in the freezer. Perfect
for baking, jamming or compoting.
Bananas
Keep these guys away from the fridge.
However, if they’re ripe, they’re perfect
for freezing, just peel then freeze whole
or in pieces. Put a banana in a paper
bag with any unripe fruit to ripen it up
(they release a gas called ethylene that
speeds up the ripening process).
Stone fruit
Wait till they (peaches, plums, nectarines,apricots, cherries, mangoes) ripen, then
refrigerate. To freeze, cut into segments
and toss in lemon juice to stop them
discolouring. Once defrosted, use in
crumbles, pies or compote. Frozen mango
tastes like sorbet. Cut into strips, freeze
and eat on a hot day.
Apples
and Pears
These kids are happy in a fruit bowl
and in the fridge. To freeze, dice
or slice and toss with lemon
juice, or compote first.
Summer
beans
Keep your beans in thefridge. They freeze well,
simply blanch briefly before
putting in the freezer.
Tomatoes
Keep tomatoes in the
fridge, especially in warm weather.
But warm to room temperature before
eating. They’ll taste much better. To
freeze, pop them in a lidded tub. Ex-frozen
tomatoes are great in stews and sauces.
Aubergine,
courgettes
and red peppers
Keep all of these in the fridge. To freeze
aubergines turn them into a dip like baba
ganoush first. Raw courgettes freeze well
if grated first. Use them in baking,
like our Little Italian Courgette
Cakes online.
Lettuces and leaves
Keep these guys in the fridge. Separate the
leaves. Wash, dry and keep in a lidded tub.
Don’t freeze (unless they’ve been cooked
into a quiche or something similar).
Spinach is the only exception. Wilt it down,
squeeze out excess water and freeze in an
ice cube tray. When defrosted, it’s perfect
for pizza toppings or quiche.
Broccoli
Best kept in the salad drawer in yourfridge. If it’s wilted, stand it in a glass of
water to perk up. Or blitz it up and use in
salads like you would couscous.
Potatoes
Leave the skin on your summery new
spuds. Jersey Royals only need 10 mins
to boil. Gently rub away and flaky skin
and splash (carefully) into boiling water.
Finish with butter, a crumble of sea salt
and pepper.
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