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 moderate pressure of your thumb will be a juicy, sweet, delicious experience. Follow these guidelines the next time you are at the supermarket.
Fruit should be heavy for it’s size.
Weight indicates how much water is in the fruit, or how juicy it is. For apples, oranges, peaches, and the like I gently toss and catch it in one hand. For melons, I 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 bend easily, they are not fresh and you should find something else to put in your basket. Likewise, chard, collards, and kale should be springy, not droopy or limp.
Fruit should be fragrant.
Close your eyes, put your nose right up to the fruit, and inhale. Fragrance is a very good indicator of flavor when choosing melons, tomatoes, peaches, and pineapple. If you can’t smell it, chances are the fruit will be lacking flavor.
Gently press to test for ripeness.
Press gently (do not bruise the produce) near the stem of an avocado or a melon or the belly of a peach or fig. When the fruit gives slightly under the pressure of your thumb, it is ripe and ready to enjoy! If it is too soft, it’s 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.
Buy fruits and vegetables that are in season and as locally grown as possible. Following this rule will almost always lead you to the least expensive and freshest produce in the market.
Next time you are at the supermarket, 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 that successfully promotes weight loss, health, and longevity so fine tune your skills and learn to choose the best.
