Q. Help! I love buying and cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables, but I sometimes find that if I don’t use them right away, they go a little soft or limp in my fridge. Any tips on how to revive my fresh produce?

A. That’s a great question. Don’t worry, there’s an easy way to bring your fresh produce back to life using water. Yes, a little bit of cold water can bring vegetables and fruits back to life and help you reduce food waste in your home kitchen.

To revive root vegetables such as beets, carrots, potatoes, and radishes, or limp celery, asparagus or broccoli, simply trim the ends and soak the veggies in a glass bowl or mason jar of ice cold water for a few hours or overnight and the veggies will rehydrate and be crisp again.

Bring wilted lettuce, kale and chard back to life by soaking in an ice bath for an hour before using in a salad or vegetable sauté.

Soak too-soft berries in sugar water for a few hours and they’ll be syrupy and perfect to top on cakes & ice cream.