Blemished Vegetables

That's a great tip. I know when I go shopping I try to buy the beat up fruit and vegetables. There is no reason in paying extra for aesthetically appealing vegetables. The only thing I would watch out for is signs of rotting. That's probably the reason most people avoid the damaged vegetables. I think there should be a special section in the grocery store for damaged goods, and everything in it should be 50% off.

 

My store usually bags them up and has them already discounted and ready to go. I love when they have bananas this way, too. As soon as they start getting any sort of brown spots, they take them off the shelf, but I snatch them all up, let them set a few days longer, and turn them into banana bread and muffins. They're perfect for that and not "bad" at all yet.

 

We're really lucky here in my part of the city to have a large produce stand that sells blemished produce almost exclusively for a fraction of the price of grocery stores. And a lot of the time you can find stuff without blemishes or just really minor "dings." And, the funny thing is that we forget or never knew how produce really looks from a farm. I grew up on a mini farm, and I now get an organic produce box delivered every other week straight from an organic farm, and the vegetables and fruits are not perfect. You're getting perfect produce in grocery stores because it's commercially grown with lots of pesticides and very few varieties and the stores only buy the perfect specimens. People have been eating "blemished" produce for centuries because that's the way it usually is when it's harvested. Anyone with a garden knows this - bugs get at it no matter what you do. In fact, I don't think I'd trust produce without a few blemishes here and there because that just tells me that it had tons of pesticides poured on it.

 

That is a very helpful tip, thank you. Also, if their skins are blemished it could mean that they are not genetically modified? It is usually the GM crops that look 'perfect', where their more organic brothers and sisters...do not perhaps look as good, but even taste better. I was just thinking that now really. I will keep an eye out...thank you.

 

At one time, I would not touch blemished fruit and vegetables. However, watching the 'madres' shop in the street markets here, they never seem to bother with the pristine specimens. That's because they reckon the best tasting vegetables are those with lumps and bumps on them, because they haven't been treated with chemicals, or propagated in the attempt to achieve a perfect example of the species. I'm now a definite convert to the cause. Apart from saving money, the stuff tastes better, so it's a win-win situation.

 

You are right. I buy blemished vegetables for cooking. The price is amazing. I buy blemished fruits, too. Bananas are sweeter when they are a little bit old. It's perfect for milk shakes, cakes. Same with strawberries. I love cherries and darker and older cherries are, again, sweeter and they have more juice in them so they are perfect for cherry juice! Love it!

 

There are some good points here. I have bought the old bananas before to make breads and muffins. I think I will start looking for the other blemished fruits and veggies from now on. Most of them you should be able to freeze as well. This is also a sure way of avoiding the genetically altered produce.

 

Blemished tomatoes - or those that have gone over the top and are a bit too soft for salads - are ideal for making soups and sauces. In Spain, we make tomato salsa, which does duty as a spread for bread and toast, and a thickening agent for soups and salsas. Just grate tomatoes into a bowl, add a touch of black pepper and olive oil, and some tomato puree for a thicker salsa. You can store it in the fridge for a week, or freeze it in portions for future use.

 

Thanks for the great tip, I usually only get the older bananas to use to make bread or muffins. I had not thought about the tomatoes or other fruit. If I plan to use it the same day I purchase the fruit I will also get bruised peaches.

 

That's a really good idea! Unfortunately, we don't cook veggies (unless I make stir fry). 99% of the time, we eat them raw.

 

My local markets used to package up older or bruised fruits and veggies and sell them that way, but they stopped doing it. I used to always buy them, but can't find any anymore. I suppose it's an image thing. They only want shiny, waxed and polished produce gracing their shelves.

You can often find the same type of deals on meat too, especially deli ends. These are the chunks left that are too small to slice on the machines. You can get enough turkey or ham to dice up for salads or omelets for cheap.

 

All through out the years I was growing up, my mom always pumped in to my head that buying bruised and beat up fruits and vegetables was a bad thing to do. She thinks that beat up fruits are somehow "filthier" than non beat up ones. But through my experience, I actually quite like the taste of beat up fruits, pears and peaches to be exact. I like setting them out for a while until their soft and gushy enough for me to a get a fork and eat straight from the fruit. Soooo yummy.

 

I prefer blemished fruit and vegetables. I don't like shiny, waxed and perfect looking fruit. It drives me a bit nuts. I like my fruit and vegetables to be in their natural state.

 

Our local farmer's market has a "scratch and dent" section where the ugly fruit is discounted and I definitely buy from that section when I'm there. Once the fruit is in your juice machine or baked into a pie, you can't tell what it looked like before.

 

Stores usually mark down the stuff I would buy anyway lol. When it comes to fruit, the riper the better.. and that's usually when grocery stores mark them down to get rid of them; when they're at their peak and ready to eat! When they're at their best to digest! LOL I just made that up, go me
Mother nature makes perfect food.. it doesn't make it magazine ready or sweeter than refined sugar. Tis why I try my best to stay local and grown as close to natural as possible. Grocery stores don't have a clue.

 

The grocery store I shop at has a shelf where they put bagged up "past their prime" fruits and vegetables. Most of the time there is nothing wrong with the produce there other than being a little less than perfect. There is also a Seventh Day Adventist grocery store here that has a section near the back with marked down produce. I can get things I normally would not be able to afford there. My family does not know the difference once they are cooked.

 

I buy vegetables that look fresh and have a natural amount of blemishes. I am also always happy when I find grubs, snails and other insects on my selection of vegetables, as it tells me that if they like it, it has to be good and grown naturally.

 

Wow, reading from the replies from this thread, I've come to learn a lot about blemished tomatoes. I never liked them. But I'm now starting to appreciate them. They are cheap and that means they'll save you money in the long run. They're are also most likely grown naturally.

 

We have a blemished fruit and vegetable section at the grocery store I frequent and I try to look there before buying them at the regular price. Last week I bought a bundle of spotted bananas for very cheap and was able to go home and make banana bread with the right away as opposed to buying the under ripe kind and having to sit there and wait for them to be bread ready. If the blemished beauties are going into a dish, no need for them to be perfect.