Rescuing wilting vegetables

Before tossing away tired-looking or wilting greens sitting in your fridge, let's see if we can rescue them.

<Ingredients>

Greens
Warm water (45-50 C/110-120 F; water from hot-water faucet is fine)


<Directions>
1.

Put warm water in a large mixing bowl, and soak greens for 1-5 minutes.
If water temperature is lower or the vegetable is bulkier (like celery), it takes a little longer.

2.

Discard leaves that look semi-cooked.

3.

Voila!
My 99-cents-a-bag bargain spinach has come alive.

<Notes>

• The warm water can be used for washing vegetables while they soak.
• This is also good for fresh-looking vegetables. Instead of soaking salad greens in cold water, soaking in warm water quickly makes them crispy.
• Why warm water? Water molecules become active around 50 C/120 F, and the temperature difference from the cooler vegetables gives them a "shock," opening their breathing pores (closed to prevent moisture evaporation). This helps the fiber, carbohydrates and protein in vegetables to quickly absorb water. 
• This method is also said to be effective with mushrooms.
  

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