Organics
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Broccoli
Broccoli grows like a tree with a thick, edible trunk that sprouts leaves, or branches and clusters of small, tight flower heads that turn bright green when cooked. Once fully mature or bolting, the flower buds will sprout golden yellow edible flowers. Broccoli grows in two common forms: broccoli calabrese (sprouting broccoli) and heading broccoli, which is also known as cauliflower broccoli, as its shape resembles the same dense curd shape as cauliflower. Broccoli has been widely known to be a valuable source of carotenoids that have antioxidant properties capable of preventing and reducing risks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Beets
Red beets are made up of both an edible root and edible leaves, 10-12 inch red and green leafy stems ascend from red beet’s ruby red, smooth, bulbous root. Small or medium beets are generally more tender than larger ones. As beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable, their flavor is typically sweet. The Red beet, Beta vulgaris, is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family. The color of the Red beetroot is due to a variety of betalain pigments. In the 1800s, George Washington the first president of the United States experimented with cross-pollinating different varieties of beets, chard, and mangels at Mount Vernon.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Cabbage
Green cabbage has tightly enveloped superimposed pale green leaves, with variations of pea-green colorings. They’re thick, broad, deeply veined and waxy in their finish. The flavor of green cabbage is grassy, sweet and cruciferous, a trademark characteristic of cabbage. Green cabbage can reach six to seven inches in diameter and weigh up to 10 pounds.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is made up of tightly bound clusters of florets that form a dense head, similar to that of broccoli. Resembling a classic tree in shape the clusters sprout from stems that are attached to a singular central white trunk. The stems and trunk are firm and tender and the florets have a dense yet soft and crumbly texture. Its flavor is mild with subtle cruciferous and nutty sweet nuances, a taste that is amplified when roasted. The entire cauliflower, its leaves, trunk, stems, and florets are all edible.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Celery
Celery can grow to optimal heights from 18″ to 24″. It has wide parsley-like green leaves and thick, juicy, ribbed stalks that join at a common base above the root. Celery, at its best, has a juicy and crunchy flesh with a mild salty flavor. Although celery is most often used for its stalks, its leaves are edible as well and have a concentrated celery-flavor.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Romaine Lettuce
Romaine lettuce is medium to large in size with an elongated shape and stiff, upright leaves. The thick heads are loosely connected to a central blanched base and the leaves, averaging 10-15 centimeters in length, are broad with many folds and creases. The outer leaves are dark green with a prominent white central rib, and as the leaves grow smaller in the center, they become paler in color almost fading to white. Romaine lettuce is crisp, succulent, and crunchy with a mild, slightly bitter taste.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Cilantro
Cilantro is also known as Chinese parsley or coriander, and is virtually used in every cuisine around the world. The leaves of cilantro have small serrated edges that extend off a single stem. Cilantro’s flavor can be described as a combination of parsley and citrus-like notes.
Availability: Year-Round from USA&Mexico
Carrots
Carrots, depending on the variety, can range in size from small to large and typically average 10-25 centimeters in length. The roots have an elongated, slender shape that can be conical, cylindrical, or slightly irregular depending on growing conditions and the individual cultivar. The skin is smooth, firm, covered in tiny root hairs, and ranges in color from shades of orange, yellow, purple, black, red, to white. Underneath the surface, the flesh generally matches the skin color and is dense, crisp, and slightly aqueous with a snap-like quality. Carrots are crunchy when raw with a sweet or bitter, earthy flavor, and the leaves are also edible with an herbaceous, parsley-like taste.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Asparagus
Asparagus’ deep pistachio-green stalks are tender at the tip and slightly woody and thick towards the end, and a slight purple blush often occurs around the stalk and throughout the conical tip. Standard asparagus’ mildly grassy and sweet flavor matches that of its larger and smaller counterparts. Asparagus contains more glutathione than any other fruit or vegetable. This antioxidant plays an important role in the prevention of certain cancers and diseases, nutrient metabolism and regulating DNA and protein synthesis.
Availability: January through May, October to December from Chile/Peru/USA
Artichoke
Globe artichokes range in size from 7 to 13 centimeters in diameter and were traditionally cultivated as a perennial. Each artichoke can weigh up to 3 pounds. Globe artichokes have densely packed leaves that form a compact floret with pistachio and lime green tones throughout. Each leaf contains a needle-like thorn on its tip and is usually cut off during preparation. Globe artichokes can be eaten raw when they are younger and more tender. When cooked, globe artichokes develop flavors of toasted nuts, dry grass, and caramel.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
Green Beans
Green beans, also known as French beans. French beans are harvested anywhere from three to four inches in length when their texture and flavor is at its peak. French beans have a thin, cylindrical shape with plump indentations along their contour, outlining the peas inside, which are shelled tightly within the bean flesh. The peas, which are essentially the bean’s seeds, are vibrant lime green in color, semi starchy in texture with a mild taste of the beans sweet and grassy flavors.
Availability: USA & Mexico Year-Round
Kale
The standard Kale variety we usually find in the grocery store is a curled green variety. It is hardy and fibrous when fully mature, yet tender enough to be used as a raw salad green when young. The pale green stems are tough and should be removed, while the tightly curled leaves are chewy yet succulent. Kale has an earthy flavor with a nutty sweetness that is accentuated when cooked.
Availability: Year-Round from USA
White Dragon Fruit (Pitaya)
Dragon fruit grows on climbing cacti with stems that reach up to 6 meters long. The fruits are oval to oblong in shape, weighing about 8-12 ounces and averaging 10-15 centimeters in length. They have a pink or magenta peel with green scale-like leaves and white flesh that is dotted with tiny edible black seeds, similar to a kiwi. The juicy, spongy yet dense pulp offers a subtly sweet flavor with notes of berry, pear, kiwi, and watermelon, sometimes with just a hint of sourness.
Availability: Year-Round from Vietnam & Ecuador
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Red Dragon Fruit
Red dragon fruits grow on long, thin, vining cactuses that are often seen growing up trees, fences or walls. On the outside, Red dragon fruits look almost identical to the white-fleshed variety. The brightly colored oblong fruits are about 10 centimeters in length and can weigh up to a pound. They have pink to magenta-colored skin that has the appearance of succulent, fleshy scales overlapping, leaving small, green-tipped protrusions along its length. The skin is thin, with an average thickness of only 3 millimeters, so the flesh to rind ratio is high. The bright magenta flesh of the Red dragon fruit is the result of a compound called betacyanin, which is the same pigment present in beets and prickly pear fruit. The pulp has the texture of kiwi fruit, with small, black edible seeds throughout. Red dragon fruit is sweet, though not as sweet as the white-fleshed variety, and has a mild acidity.
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Yellow Dragon Fruit
YYellow dragon fruit has an oblong shape and is slightly smaller in size than the more common red varieties. The fruits measure approximately 10 centimeters long and 7 centimeters wide. Their size depends on climatic conditions and is often categorized into three different size groups. Their thick yellow skin is covered in small knobby protrusions, which when immature displays small spines that will naturally fall off as the fruit matures. Beneath the skin is a dense white flesh containing numerous petite, edible black seeds. Yellow dragon fruit has a crisp, juicy texture and very sweet, tropical flavor with floral hints and no acidity.
Availability: Year-Round from Thailand&Vietnam
Lychee
Lychees are oval-round and petite, roughly the size of a walnut, and their leathery skin is covered with tiny spikes. Young lychee fruits start out green, and as they mature, they become blushed with pink and eventually turn a bright red. The pearly-white pulp is covered in juice and houses a dark-brown seed at its center, which can vary in size from 1/2 inch to 1 inch in length, depending on the variety. The firm yet gelatinous pulp is chewy and juicy with a sweet, fruity flavor, like a cross of strawberry and watermelon with a touch of pineapple-like acidity. Lychees are also fragrant with a tropical scent and a hint of roses.
Availability: May through October from China/Mexico/Israel & Taiwan
Longan
Ranging in size from an olive to a small plum and spherical to ovoid in shape, Longans have a thin rough-to-prickly brown easy to remove shell called a pericarp covering its grayish-white translucent pulp. In the center of the juicy flesh is a large smooth jet-black seed with a white ovoid characteristic mark. Having a flesh reminiscent of a peeled grape, the flavor is wonderfully sweet and often described as a mysterious tasting blend of musk, spruce, and gardenia.
Availability: Year-Round from Vietnam
Rambutan
Rambutans are closely related to the lychee, the tropical Rambutan, pronounced ram-BYU-tn, varies in type and quality. The fruit may be greenish-yellow, orange or crimson, are oval-shaped and usually 1 – 2 inches long. The soft, flexible exterior shell is covered in stiff, hair-like bristles. While the exterior makes it seem larger than the lychee, the inner fruit is actually smaller. Rambutan flesh is juicy, milky- white, translucent in color, with a grape-like, gelatinous texture surrounding a central seed with an almond-like taste. The flavor of a Rambutan is more acidic than the lychee, sweet and very aromatic.
Availability: Year-Round from Thailand. June through November from China. July through November from Vietnam
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Broccoli
1. Wrap your broccoli in damp paper towels. Fill a clean, empty spray bottle (one that hasn’t previously been filled with bleach or other caustic cleaning products) with cold water, then gently mist your broccoli’s heads. Loosely wrap the heads with a paper towel so that the towel absorbs some of the moisture. Keep the broccoli in the fridge. It should remain fresh for about three days.
2. Keep your broccoli in a ventilated bag. Simply seal your broccoli in the bag, then poke numerous holes in the bag near the broccoli’s head to ensure good airflow. Keep the broccoli refrigerated. The broccoli should stay fresh for at least a few days with this method.
Beets
1. Trim the leave and stem before you store in the fridge. Since leaves draw moisture from the root, removing them immediately will help to keep your beets fresh longer. So before storing your beets, you should trim them, leaving about 1 to 2 in (3 to 5 cm) of stem at the top of the root. Don’t trim the tail.
2. Rub the dirt off the roots. Beets grow in the ground, and when they’re harvested they’re covered in dirt. They need to be cleaned, but not by washing, which makes them rot faster. Instead, gently rub the dirt off the root.
3. Place the beets in the crisper drawer. The crisper in the refrigerator is the best place to keep beets fresh, along with your other vegetables. But if they won’t fit in the crisper, a shelf in the fridge will work.
Cabbage
1. Keep your cabbage whole until you plan to use it. When you cut cabbage in half, it begins to lose its vitamin C. If you absolutely must store half of a cabbage, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to two days.
2. Store the cabbage in the crisper of your fridge. Keeping your cabbage cold will help it retain its nutrients and crisp texture. Place inside a plastic bag first. It should stay in prime condition for up to two weeks.
Cauliflower
Keep cauliflower loosely wrapped in plastic in the fridge. Fresh from the market heads will last up to 2 weeks. You can cut cauliflower into florets and stored them, sealed, in a plastic bag in the fridge. They will last up to a week in a well-regulated refrigerator.
Celery
1. Place the celery in aluminum foil. Many people have aluminum foil in their kitchens. Storing celery in it will keep the celery crisp, even for weeks. Simply wrap the celery in the aluminum foil either cut or intact, and do so tightly. You may want to place the celery on a slightly damp paper towel before you wrap it in the foil. Place the wrapped celery in the refrigerator. The foil will enable a hormone called ethylene to get out. It’s a ripening hormone, meaning its release will keep the celery fresh. You can reuse the foil for several bunches of celery. Plastic bags don’t work as well because the ethylene gas can’t get out, making it more likely the celery will rot. Put the wrapped celery in the typical crisper drawer in your refrigerator.
2. If you do not have aluminum foil, you can use a paper towel. Dampen the paper towel, wrap the celery inside the towel and place it into a Ziplock bag and place it into the fridge.
Romaine Lettuce
1. Remove the core from crisp lettuce heads. Cut out the core with a knife, or pound the stem against a cutting board firmly, then twist the stem to remove the core by hand. Wrap the lettuce in paper towels. Sandwich the head of lettuce — or loose leaves in single layers — between two soft, absorbent paper towels. These will absorb excess water but keep the lettuce in the moist conditions it prefers.
2. Store in a plastic container. This can be a zip-locked bag, hard plastic container, or even a salad spinner. If using a bag, press out some of the air before sealing, without bruising the leaves. If using a hard container, fill it at least halfway with leaves. The more air in the container, the faster you’ll get brown edges.
3. Place in the crisper drawer. This is the coldest part of your fridge, which is ideal for leafy greens. Most grocery store lettuce should last 3-7 days here, depending on freshness, while iceberg may last up to two weeks. Fresh lettuce from your garden or a farm stand may last longer.
Cilantro
1. Trim the stems. Use a sharp pair of kitchen scissors to trim no more than 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the bottom stem of each sprig of cilantro. By trimming off the bottom of each stem, you are exposing the fresh, “live” portion of the herb still capable of taking in water. After a stem end is exposed to the air for an hour or so, it will die, making the plant’s ability to take in water severely limited.
2. Do not wash the cilantro until you are ready to use it. Fill a jar with water, put the cilantro into the jar and place a clean plastic baggie over the leave and the mouth of the jar, place it into the fridge.
Carrots
1. Remove the greens from your carrot. Greens deplete the carrot of both moisture and nutrients. Use a cutting board and sharp knife to cut the greens from the carrot.
2. Roll up the carrots up in a sheet of bubble wrap. Use the bubble wrap with the small textured bubbles. The bubble wrap will enable the perfect amount of moisture to stay close to the carrots, but the texture of the bubble wrap will prevent that moisture from gathering right on the surface of the carrots. The bubble wrap will add up to two extra weeks of freshness to your carrots. Plastic bags lead to rotting.
3. Place your wrapped carrots in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. It is best to use carrots within one to two weeks, as this will provide you with the best nutrients and taste value.
Asparagus
1. Fill a bag or jar with an inch of water. A glass mason jar is usually just the right size for a bunch of asparagus. An empty jelly jar or pickle jar also works well. If you’re trying to save space in your refrigerator, go with a sturdy plastic storage bag. Fill your storage container with an inch or so of water, enough to submerge the ends of the asparagus.
2. Store the asparagus upright in the container. Storing the asparagus upright allows it to soak up the water from the container, keeping the stalks fresh and firm. If you’re using a storage bag, rubber band the top of the bag around the asparagus so you can store it upright on the refrigerator door without spilling water.
3. Cover with a plastic bag. Use a loose plastic bag (the type used for produce at the grocery store) and drape it over the asparagus tips and jar. This will keep the asparagus tasting fresh; without the bag, the stalks will take on the flavor of whatever else you’re keeping in your refrigerator.
Artichoke
1. Leave the artichokes unwashed. While it may seem like a good idea to wash your artichokes before storing them, it can actually cause them to spoil faster. That’s because the peel can break down if there’s too much moisture, which can lead to infection.
2. Sprinkle the stems with water. While you don’t want to wash artichokes before you store them, it’s important to ensure that the stems are somewhat moist when you refrigerate them. Sprinkle a few drops of water over the stems to keep them from becoming dehydrated.
3. Place the artichokes in a plastic bag and refrigerate them. Once you’ve sprinkled the artichoke stems with water, set the artichokes inside a perforated plastic bag. Put the bag in the refrigerator — if possible, place them in the coldest part of your fridge, such as the crisper drawer, so they’ll stay fresher longer.
Green Bean
1. Do not wash the beans. Washing the beans can leave moisture on them, which can cause them to mold. Use your hand to wipe off any dirt or debris on the beans, if any.
2. Do not wash the beans. Washing the beans can leave moisture on them, which can cause them to mold. Use your hand to wipe off any dirt or debris on the beans, if any.
3. Put the green beans in the bag. Make sure the green beans sit flat in the bag. Push as much air as you can out of the bag before you seal it. Keep the beans in the vegetable crisper drawer in your refrigerator so they stay fresh. It can last up to 1 week.
Kale
1. Place the kale in an airtight plastic bag. Pack the kale into a resealable plastic bag for easy access, but do not seal the bag yet. If you’re working with a larger batch of kale, place the kale into an airtight plastic container. Keep the leaves relatively loose and don’t pack the container too full since doing so could bruise or otherwise damage the kale.
2. Surround the kale with paper towels then seal the bag tight. Place a clean, dry paper towel into the bag with the kale. Squeeze out as much air from the bag as possible before sealing it. The paper towel should be able to absorb any excess moisture and prevent the kale from spoiling faster.
3. Place the kale in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator and use it within 5 to 7 days. If you don’t have a crisper drawer, keep the kale in the door compartment or on a standard refrigerator shelf with the stems facing toward the back of the refrigerator.
Dragon Fruit (Pitaya)
1. Don’t peel or cut the dragon fruit before storing it. Peeling or cutting a dragon fruit before you store it will shorten its life significantly. Take it straight from your grocery bag to the storage spot to ensure it stays fresh.
2. Leave your dragon fruit on the counter for 2-3 days. If you’re going to be eating the dragon fruit in the next few days, place it on the counter. Dragon fruit will last a couple of days simply sitting out, but make sure you don’t cut into or peel it beforehand.
3. Keep dragon fruit for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Putting dragon fruit into the refrigerator will slow down the ripening process. Be sure to put the dragon fruit in a sealed container or bag first. It should last for 2 weeks or more in the fridge.
4. Place sliced dragon fruit in a sealed container in the refrigerator. If you’ve already cut up your dragon fruit and want to save it, remove the flesh from the peel. Put the dragon fruit into a sealed container or plastic bag. Remove as much air as possible from the bag or container to keep it fresh.
Lychee
1. Fresh lychee, with the skin still intact, should be wrapped in a paper towel, placed in a perforated plastic bag, and stored in the refrigerator until use.
2. Lychee ferments as they age, so use them quickly and do not let them sit in the fridge for more than one week.
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