Hints from Heloise

Dear Readers: Here are a few hints to help you get your money’s worth when buying fresh produce:

“ Broccoli with little yellow flowers trying to poke through the green heads is older than broccoli that has no flowers. The same goes for asparagus, so skip these.

“ You can usually guess how long vegetables with cut ends have been in the store by looking at the cut end. Is it a fresh cut, or is it brown and dry?

“ When you see delicate leaves on the ends of carrots or radishes, you know they didn’t just fall off the vegetable truck yesterday … they are sprouting and, therefore, older.

“ Pick the best quality that you can afford, but avoid overpriced, out-of-season produce most of the time.

“ As a courtesy, don’t press your thumb into produce. Bruising causes a lot of waste and spoilage that the consumer ends up paying for. – Heloise