1. Seeing Red
If your grocer isn't stocking the blood red tomatoes that we associate with ripeness, don't despair. Vine-ripened tomatoes aren't necessarily the holy grail of everyone's favorite salad garnish, as the sugars and acids that give a tomato its characteristic flavor decrease if a tomato stays on the vine until red. Bring home a bag of tomatoes just turning from orange to red, and ripen them on the counter until the red color fully develops. Keep them out of the refrigerator or you'll deaden the volatile compounds that contribute to flavor.
2. Hidden Treasure
One of summer's delights is fresh corn on the cob. Buy corn that exhibits brown dried silk outside the husk, but white silk lying against the kernels. Peel the husk back, and depress a kernel of corn on the third row from the silk. If the fluid appears milky, you'll have sweet eats on your table tonight. If the fluid is clear, pass on the corn today. Prepare corn on the day of purchase, for the sugars convert to starches with every passing hour.
3. Go For the Gold or Red
When you shop for bell peppers at the grocery store, do the yellow, orange and red bell peppers capture your attention? If so, you have a keen eye for ripeness in bell peppers. The best tasting bell peppers are the ones that growers leave on the plant until they lose their immature green color. Common bell peppers turn red, while other hybrids may achieve the rainbow coloration that gives your salad appeal. If you choose green bell peppers due to their lower cost, look for a hint of red that signals the loss of bitterness.
4. In a Pickle
You can pick the best cucumbers by estimating the size of the vegetable. Cucumbers for pickling are at their peak when they're approximately 4 inches long. At this stage, the cucumber's firm texture can hold up to the acid and heat of the canning process without falling apart. If you want a cucumber for slicing into salads, choose medium cucumbers about 6 inches long. In all cases, a dark to medium green color is desirable. If you see any hint of yellow, the cucumber has gotten seedy and mealy.
5. The Flower we Eat
Although there are some broccoli stem lovers out there, many people buy broccoli for the florets, which are the flowering parts of the plant. For the best tasting broccoli, choose flower heads that are compact and firmly closed. Bend a portion of the floret away from the stalk; it should snap crisply rather than bend like rubber. Extend the life of this vegetable by treating like a flower: immerse the stem in a cup of cold water in your refrigerator until you prepare it.
