The problem is, we never eat all the lettuce in one sitting. We always have some left over. I personally like to have left overs so I can pack them for lunch the next day. What I don't like so much about left over salad is that I don't really know how to keep the lettuce fresh. Crispy, not too dry or wet. And definitely not limp. Oh, and the brown edges aren't to appetizing either. I know it won't last forever, but it would be nice to have fresh lettuce for a couple of days.
I have tried buying it in the bags already pre cut and washed. I have tried buying it in heads and cutting and washing it myself. I have tried paper towels, zip-locs, rubbermaid, paper towels and rubbermaid, zip-locs without actually zipping the loc, . . .I can't figure it out.
Help!
Save my salad sanity!
What are your tips?
7 comments:
I'd love some of your salad recipes! I'm pretty much stuck on two.
I usually use baby spinach, and it lasts for several days.
Ripping with your hands instead of cutting lettuce helps not turn the edges brown.
And I have a friend who swears by Tupperware's lettuce keeper thing.
The Tupperware lettuce container gets my vote too!
But I learned this trick from a friends mom who used to work in a resturaunt. The key is that was soon as you bring the lettuce head home to completly rinse the head of lettuce and shake it well to remove as much water as possible then remove the core of the lettuce.
Now like waht was mentioned before, if you use a knife to cut it out, the edge will turn brown. So the trick is to turn the lettuce head with the core at the bottom. Then slam the lettuce hard onto your counter, striking the core. This make take a couple of time to break the core away from the leaves, but then you can pull the core out.
Then store in a airtight container. This helps my lettuce last at least a week.
I am the last person who needs to be giving tips. I pretty much live my life on tips from others. Sorry I can't be of more help!
do you have a salad spinner? if not, they are a reasonable investment....(i think mine is oxo)....just rinse well, break up your lettuce and then drop in and spin....it moves all the water out from the leaves. then you can drain out the water from the bowl and the lettuce stays pretty well.
you can also use the spinner to store watermelon in the summer - keeps the fruit from getting icky sitting in its own juices.
Sorry, I have no idea. Just soaking up the tips from everyone else!
All of the above ideas are great, I would add one thing, as you are putting the lettuce into the airtight containers, add a DRY papertowel. It will collect any moisture that may come off of your lettuce and will help you keep your lettuce for as long as 2 weeks! I know this for fact, promise! :)
We love salad too - I puposely make a big one and we eat it the next few days, for lunch or whatever. If the lettuce is dry when you make the salad (use a salad spinner), you shouldn't have any problems. If there are lots of veggies, particularly mushrooms, cut tomatoes, or onions, the salad does not keep.
On a related note, I found that if I wash and tear the lettuce a few hours before dinner and wrap it in a kitchen towel and put it in the fridge, it is crisp and dry by dinnertime. Since I can do that during my toddler's nap, it saves me time during supper prep.
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