One of my favorite healthy snacks is a handful of berries. Yet these juicy little gems are notorious for spoiling quickly after having been purchased and brought home from the store. Here's a little trick I learned recently that will prolong the freshness and edibility of not only berries but all your produce.
Make your own produce wash with two ingredients:
1. clean filtered water
2. distilled white (or any other) vinegar
The ratio is one part vinegar to ten parts water. Simply mix up the vinegar and water in a bowl and give your fruit a bath. I like to make enough to barely cover the fruit. Let it sit for about a minute before removing the fruit. At that point you can give it another rinse with water, but often I don't bother. Then let the fruit dry on a clean cloth or paper towel.
You can do this in a bowl, but I like to use my salad spinner, so I can easily lift out and rinse the berries after they have had their bath. Please do be careful with very tender fruits such as raspberries. Handle them very gently. You will be rewarded with a much longer shelf (or refrigerator) life for your produce... if they don't all get eaten immediately!
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