10 tips to make cooking with fruits and vegetables easier

Check out these handy kitchen hacks that will make it easier to bring more fruit and vegetables to your table.

1. Revive wilted vegetables by soaking them for an hour in 475 millilitres (two cups) of water mixed with 15 millilitres (one tablespoon) of apple cider vinegar. Pat dry and prepare as usual. Alternatively, plunge limp veggies into hot water, remove, and then plunge them into a bowl of ice water mixed with a little cider vinegar.

2. Here's a recipe that may fool even the most die-hard carnivore. Replace the meat in a lasagna recipe with a mixture of diced zucchini, lentils and ground walnuts — a combination that closely resembles ground beef. Then just follow the recipe and enjoy a high-protein lasagna that tastes much like the classic meat version.

3. Cut baking time in half (without microwave help!) by choosing smaller potatoes and standing them up in the cups of a muffin tin before putting them in the oven. To reduce baking time for a full-size spud by 15 minutes, insert a long, clean nail into the flesh. This will distribute the heat throughout the potato more speedily.

4. Stuffed green peppers sometimes lean to one side while cooking in the oven. Give them firm footing by setting each pepper in the cup of a muffin tin sprayed with a little non-stick cooking spray to ensure easy removal.

5. Instead of wasting plastic wrap, try this method of storing a half grapefruit or cantaloupe in the fridge. Simply set the fruit cut-side down on a clean plastic coffee can lid or small plate.

6. To ease the work of caramelizing onions, you need only three ingredients: two or three sweet Vidalia onions, steak sauce and cola. Slice the onions about 8 centimetres (3/4 inches) thick and set in a microwavable dish. Pour cola over the onions to cover. Stir in 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) steak sauce and microwave at 50 per cent power for 30 minutes. No trouble, great taste!

7. Beet greens? Fennel fronds? Carrot tops? Don't throw them out! Cut them away from their respective vegetables, wash and dry them well, chop them, and sauté them in a bit of olive oil with garlic to taste for a healthy side dish. Or mince them fine and mix them together with scrambled eggs, salad greens, or leftover pasta.

8. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush to clean mushrooms and other sensitive vegetables before cooking. A medium- or hard-bristled brush is more suitable for potatoes.

9. Have you ever tried to cut dried fruit into small bits only to have your knife stick on the fruit? Simply squeeze a lemon section over the fruit you're about to cut or sprinkle the fruit with a few drops from pre-squeezed lemon juice. Your knife will slice through with ease.

10. Store your lemons in a sealed jar of water and when it's time to squeeze them, you'll get twice as much juice. Another trick is to prick the skin once or twice with a sharp knife and then microwave it on medium power for 15 seconds before slicing and squeezing.

These easy little tricks will get you out of the kitchen and to the table quicker to enjoy your meals with family and friends.

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