Vinaigrette - a dish of vegetables, which is highly valued for its taste, as well as the availability of the ingredients included in it, and ease of preparation. The classic recipe of this salad includes carrots boiled in a uniform, beets and potatoes, fresh onions, pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut. A mixture of vegetables filled with 3-6% vinegar and vegetable oil. Due to the main ingredients, the vinaigrette contains a lot of nutrients. The only disadvantage of the salad is that it spoils quickly. If you store it incorrectly and do not know the expiration dates, you can harm yourself.
Storage period for vinaigrette
As mentioned above, the vinaigrette is a perishable product. For this reason, it is recommended to eat it in a freshly prepared form, that is, within a few hours after preparation. If you decide to cook a large portion of salad, then its shelf life in a refrigerator at a temperature of +2 to +4 degrees should not exceed 48 hours. At room temperature, its maximum storage time is 5-6 hours. It is better to refuse freezing in the freezer, since this way of storing the salad will only spoil its taste and structure. It is worth noting that the shelf life of the salad is affected by what kind of dressings and ingredients it contains, and when they are added.
- A vinaigrette consisting only of fresh, stewed, baked or boiled vegetables, that is, not containing either a dressing or pickles, can be stored for a day.
- When adding a dressing (sauce, vegetable oil, vinegar, lemon juice, etc.) and pickled cucumbers with sauerkraut, the shelf life of the salad decreases to 12 hours.
- If components such as boiled meat, fish or poultry are present in the salad, it will remain fresh for 12 hours.
Recommendations for storage of vinaigrette
- The vinaigrette will stay fresh longer if it is cooked in deep dishes made of materials such as: porcelain, glass and ceramics. Enamelled, plastic, aluminum and stainless steel containers should be discarded - the processes of oxidation of products are accelerated in them.
- It is best to add dressing, salted foods and salt just before using the dish when cooking the salad. In other words, store boiled vegetables and onions in one container, and salted ones in another. Moreover, pickled pickles, that is, pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut, it is desirable to store in different bowls and pour them with brine.
- If you do not like the characteristic onion flavor in the vinaigrette, it is recommended, like pickles, to be added to the table before serving.
Cooking tips for vinaigrette
- The vinaigrette that has just been prepared is considered the most delicious and healthy. Therefore, in order to always have a fresh, freshly chopped salad, it is better to boil the vegetables in advance, let them cool, and then place them directly in the peel in plastic bags. Out of the bags, you must release the air and tie them tight. In this form, boiled vegetables can be stored for about 5-7 days. During this period, you can always cut the required portion of the salad and use it fresh. Also well preserved vegetables that are baked in the oven or grill without the use of butter.
- If it is not recommended to freeze the vinaigrette itself, then its components tolerate freezing well. To prepare the "semi-finished product" for freezing, do the following: potatoes, carrots and beets are washed, peeled and cut into cubes. Then the vegetables are dried at room temperature for about 2-3 hours. To prevent the potatoes from becoming dark, sprinkle them with a small amount of lemon juice. Then the cubes of vegetables spread in hermetically sealed bags, and always in small portions, and sent to the freezer. In the first days, frozen cubes should be shaken thoroughly several times so that they do not turn into a lump. When you want to cook a salad, you just have to boil the frozen vegetable cubes, add the rest of the ingredients and dressing. But keep in mind that such a salad will be less rich in vitamins, since many useful substances are destroyed during freezing.
- When stored, the vinaigrette becomes unpresentable. To avoid this, you must separately introduce not only pickles, but also beets. It will not wind when sprinkled with a little vegetable oil.
- Never overdo with salad dressing. It is necessary to add as much as vegetables can absorb without residue.
- When refilling a vinaigrette, it is better to give preference to unrefined oil. It has two advantages - it is much more useful than refined, plus it also has preservative properties.
At the slightest doubt as a vinaigrette, immediately dispose of the product so as not to put your health at excessive risk.
