Off-Hand Cooking Tips

Here are a few tips that I use regularly, and aren't common in most cooking lists.

1. Peel ginger with a spoon. It takes off less of the flesh than a peeler, and adapts better to the curves. Plus, it can be used to gouge out scabby bits.
2. Soak berries briefly in bleach water. To remove pesticides, a minute-to-5-minute soak in soapy warm water is regularly recommended. My innovation: add a teaspoonful of bleach. It won't affect the flavor in that short time, but will kill off surface molds. Blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries will keep a week, instead of 2-3 days, in your crisper. Don't forget to dry them off well before refrigerating!
3. Save no-longer-fresh produce you aren't quite ready to eat by parboiling, boiling, frying, or microwaving. Worried that your nice spinach will go off before you return from the weekend? Zap it in the microwave, and put it back in the fridge as pre-cooked greens.
4. Label! I keep white duct tape and sharpies around in my dining room area. If I am putting leftovers away, I try to label the container with a piece of white duct tape and a sharpie. Sharpies often won't write on the containers directly; either there's dew from the chilled contents, or water from the wash-off, or whatever.