To pick the best fruits and vegetables possible, you must fully engage your senses. A peach that is heavy for it’s size, fragrant, has smooth skin, rich color, and gives under gentle pressure will be a juicy, sweet, divine experience.
Fruit should be heavy for it’s size.
Weight indicates how much water is in the fruit, or how juicy it is. When choosing apples, oranges, peaches, and the like gently toss and catch it in one hand. As for melons, use two hands to feel for weight.
Vegetables should be firm.
Always check that your broccoli, carrots, snap peas, snow peas, and green beans are rigid and not bendy. If they flex easily, they are not fresh and you should select something else to put in your basket. Likewise, chard, collards, and kale should be springy not droopy or limp.
Fruit should be fragrant.
Fragrance is a very good indicator of flavor when choosing melons, tomatoes, peaches, and pineapple. Close your eyes, put your nose right up to the fruit, and inhale. It should emit an aroma consistent with how you would expect it to taste. If you can’t smell it, chances are the fruit will be lacking flavor.
Gently press to test for ripeness.
Gently apply pressure near the stem of avocados and melons or on the side of peaches and figs. When the fruit gives slightly under the pressure of your thumb, it is ripe and ready to enjoy. If it is too soft, it may be over-ripe. If it is too firm, let the fruit sit out on your counter and test it again tomorrow or the next day.
Listen to the melons.
Hold a watermelon in one arm and thump it with the pads of your fingers (like a drum) to listen for crispness. The sound you are seeking is a higher pitched, clear “bap!”, not a dull thud or hollow sound. Melons such as honeydew, with seeds in the middle, will sometimes reveal a sloshing sound when you shake it near your ear. This indicates a very juicy melon that is ready eat.
Eat with the seasons.
Buying fruits and vegetables that are in season and locally grown will almost always lead you to the least expensive and freshest produce in the market.
Next time you are at the supermarket or farmer’s market, make it a complete sensory experience. With a little practice, you will become an expert at choosing the tastiest, freshest produce. Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of any diet which successfully promotes weight loss, health, and longevity so fine tune your skills and learn to choose the best.
