For vegans, vegetarians, and everyone else!
The 2024 Dirty Dozen™
Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides:
- strawberries
- spinach
- kale, collard, and mustard greens
- grapes
- peaches
- pears
- nectarines
- apples
- bell and hot peppers
- cherries
- blueberries
- green beans
The 2024 Clean Fifteen™
These 15 items had the lowest amounts of pesticide residues, according to EWG’s analysis of the most recent USDA data. (more)
How To Make My Broccoli Tots
For a batch of roughly 22 tots, you’ll need:
- 1 head broccoli, tough stalk trimmed and discarded, then cut into large florets
- 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated low-moisture mozzarella
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 large eggs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Milk or water, as needed
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the broccoli florets in a pan fit with a steamer basket. Add water just until it reaches the bottom of the steamer insert. Cover the pan and set over medium-high heat. Once the water reaches a boil, cook the broccoli for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until bright green and fork tender. Remove from the heat, drain the water, and let cool slightly.
When the broccoli is cool enough to handle, chop the florets into small pieces, about the size of a pea. Transfer the chopped broccoli to a large mixing bowl and add the bread crumbs, cheeses, and eggs. Season with salt and pepper, then use a rubber spatula to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
Test the mixture; you should be able to squeeze a small portion and see that it holds together strongly. If this is not the case, add a little water or milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture holds together when squeezed.
Using a spring-loaded 1 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, dish the broccoli mixture onto the prepared sheet pan. It should make about 22 tots. With wet hands, pick up each portion and form it into a tot shape, pressing the mixture firmly so it holds together.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp on the bottom, then flip over and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
How to cut an onion without crying
The National Onion Association recommends chilling your onions for thirty minutes before cutting them to reduce the effects. You can also keep whole, peeled onions in the refrigerator all the time so they’ll last longer, but in general, you should keep whole, unpeeled onions in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place. (more)
EWG’s 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™
Nearly 75 percent of non-organic fresh produce sold in the U.S. contains residues of potentially harmful pesticides, EWG’s 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ finds. In this year’s guide, blueberries and green beans join our Dirty Dozen™ list of the 12 fruits and vegetables sampled that have the highest traces of pesticides.
THE 2023 DIRTY DOZEN
Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale, collard, and mustard greens
- Peaches
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Bell and hot peppers
- Cherries
- Blueberries
- Green beans
- All of the produce on the Dirty Dozen had at least one sample with at least 13 different pesticides — and some had as many as many as 23.
- Kale, collard, and mustard greens, as well as hot peppers and bell peppers, had the most pesticides detected of any crop — 103 and 101 pesticides in total, respectively.
Sweet Potato Fries by Mark Bittman
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Heat the oven to 400.
- Cut the sweet potatoes into sticks ¼ to ½ inch wide and 3 inches long, and toss them with the oil.
- Mix the spices, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and toss them with the sweet potatoes. Spread them out on 2 rimmed baking sheets.
- Bake until brown and crisp on the bottom, about 15 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is crisp, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.
The Best Way to Store Lettuce to Keep It Fresh and Crisp
There are two things salad greens need to stay crisp: moisture and air. Many people think that the best way to keep lettuce crisp is to seal it up in a bag with all the air squeezed out, even to the point of inserting a straw into the bag to suck out every last molecule of air before sealing it shut. But removing the air is exactly the opposite of what lettuce needs.