Tips to Make Your Salad Greens Keep Longer

With the price of salad greens costing as much as meat, you don't want to waste any. That's why it's important to care for your salad greens as you would gold. You want to select fresh greens, rinse and drain them, and make certain they're free from moisture before storage. Excess moisture can cause rot or brown spotting. Learn how to select the freshest salad greens and how to make your salad greens keep longer.

Look for spotless produce. When purchasing your salad greens you want to select salad greens with no brown spots, brown stems, or wilted leaves. If you purchase your greens in a premixed bag, you might want to shake the bag up a bit first. Sometimes there's lettuce rot in the bag. You'll be able to see any rotten leaves this way, because they stick to the interior of the bag. Don't buy a bag in this condition. You'll be fortunate to get only a couple of days before the having to toss the rest out.

Consider organics in the plastic tub. Many people find that premixed bags of salad greens wilt faster. For that reason, and because I like the spring mix, I prefer buying my salad greens in the large plastic tubs at my local grocery store. Plus, the spring mix I buy is also organic. When I think about how susceptible a mere lettuce leaf is to what's sprayed on it or put into the soil, I prefer organics or to grow my own. On my back patio, I grow leaf lettuce and kale for additional salad greens.

Wash your salad greens. Some salad greens may feel sandy to the touch. Also, if purchased open to the air, any number of folks may have coughed or sneezed on the produce. To wash your salad greens, you simply immerse leaves in cool water, swish, and drain.

Remove excess moisture before storage. Excess moisture can hasten rot. There are several ways to dry your salad greens before refrigerating them. One amusing way to dry salad greens requires a pillow case. This is an old-fashioned way of spinning salad greens dry. You pile wet leaves into a pillowcase and swing the pillow case over your head. Centrifugal force draws the water off the leaves and into the pillow case fabric.

Consider the paper towel and bag method. A less comical ways of drawing off the moisture requires paper toweling. Simply drain the leaves and wrap gently in paper toweling. Enclose the salad greens in a plastic bag with a few air holes poked in it, and store your salad greens in the refrigerator. Another similar way to store salad greens is to fold paper toweling into the bottom of a plastic container. You then add the salad greens, and the toweling absorbs excess moisture.

Consider foodsaver canisters or green bags. Although I don't own a foodsaver canister, I've read that it's an effective means of keeping expensive salad greens fresh for better than a week. A foodsaver canister sucks the air out, leaving the produce in a sort of vacuum. The canisters may work for some people, but my personal choice is the Debbie Meyer Green Bags. I've been able to extend the refrigerator-life of most vegetables using the bags. And after use, I simply rinse and hang the bags dry for reuse. I find that when the Debbie Meyer bags begin to lose their green color, they generally begin to lose their effectiveness too. That's when I purchase new ones.

With the high cost of vegetables, especially during off-season, you want to select the freshest salad greens you can. You also want to refrigerate those salad greens so they keep days longer than if you were to just toss them into your vegetable crisper in the plastic bag you brought them home in. You can make your salad greens keep longer by using the tips presented here.