Good Intentions. I’m full of them! There are so many tips, tricks and recipes that I’ve been meaning to share with you. So many photos that have been sitting patiently on my hard drive, waiting to be paired with recipes, with stories, or at the very least a few words of explanation. So many recipes that have been written, tested, and tasted that are just waiting for that perfect photo.
I never write what I plan on writing when I plan on writing it. It just doesn’t work that way. I don’t work that way. I can tell myself that I want to share my mom’s Potato Leek Soup recipe, I can take photos of it, I can even begin to write about it. But it just won’t be posted until it’s ready to be posted! I really can’t even explain how my process works. Some days I just feel like writing about certain things.
But when I have ideas, I try to at least put them down on paper (you should see the piles of notepads that are scattered throughout my house!) so that someday, when I’m good and ready, I’ll get around to it.
Well, back in June, I decided that I had to talk to you about lettuce. There are a few things that I think everyone needs to know about how to wash, dry, and store lettuce. I thought it was so important that I actually took a series of photos so that I could show you exactly what to do with your lettuce. But, instead of sharing my tips about lettuce, I ended up writing about the lime and mint salad dressing I made that same day. And then I just sort of moved on and the lettuce photos have been sitting and waiting ever since.
So now it’s October and the food blogs are soon to be filled to the brim with pumpkin cheesecakes and apple pies but here in Sicily, summer is still hanging on. And today, finally, I’m going to talk about lettuce. So you can file this away until next summer or you can keep eating salads all year long. Either way, I hope it’s helpful!
The Problem: Not Enough Salads Eaten at Home
How often do you eat green salads at home? Is it a rare occasion? Do you buy lettuce at the store with the intention of making salads, forget about it, and then find a wilted mess in your veggie bin a week later? Do you try to solve the problem by buying the expensive pre-washed, bagged lettuce? Are you disappointed with the quality of that lettuce?
Ok, that’s a lot of questions. But I know that many people like to eat green salads with dinner but don’t. There could be many reasons for this but it’s usually related to time (or the lack of it). “Who has the time to wash and dry lettuce,” you might say, “and why bother? It wilts before I have chance to use it anyway!” You might have solved the problem by buying the pre-washed stuff and realized that not only is it expensive but the quality isn’t always that great. So, increasingly, it seems that dinner salads are more of something to be enjoyed at restaurants.
Not at my house!
Washing and drying lettuce doesn’t have to be that difficult and if you do it correctly, it can stay fresh and ready to be used for up to two weeks! That means that if you’re willing to give up maybe 20 minutes, once a week or every two weeks, you can have a ready supply of crisp, fresh lettuce that is ready to throw in a bowl at a moment’s notice.
The Secret Weapon Against Wet Lettuce
I have a lot of kitchen gadgets, some get used, some just take up space. Most are convenient but not essential. But the one thing in my kitchen that I really don’t want to live without is my salad spinner
I can’t stress this enough. If you don’t own a salad spinner and you enjoy eating salads, you need to buy one. That’s it. I don’t say things like this very often but I feel like it’s worth the money. There are different brands and different types, I don’t care which one you get. Watch out though because some of them are designed so that the water drains out the bottom and can only be used inside the sink. I prefer one that can be used wherever I want to use it.
I’ve had the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner
So, after you go out and pick up the greatest kitchen gadget ever invented, you will need only two more things to keep your lettuce fresh and extend it’s life longer than you could ever imagine: gallon-size plastic bags (preferably zippered) and paper towels. That’s it!
How to Wash, Dry, and Store Lettuce
So this is how I wash, dry and store my lettuce so that it is fresh and ready for salad whenever I need it! I use this method for all types of lettuce (except iceberg, see the end of this post for information about cleaning and storing iceberg lettuce) and it also works for other types of greens and hearty herbs such as parsley.
1. Fill a sink with cold water, separate all the leaves of lettuce, place them in the water and swirl them around. If the lettuce is a bit limp, let it soak in the water for 30 minutes and it will miraculously come back to life.
2. Drain the water, turn on the faucet, and briefly rinse each piece of lettuce as you remove it from sink and place in the basket of your salad spinner. If you use organic lettuce, just give each piece a quick once-over to check for clinging bugs and dirt. As you put the lettuce in the spinner, you can tear the leaves in half if they are large (such as full-size romaine).
3. When the spinner is full but not tightly packed, spin the lettuce until dry.
4. Spread two paper towels (still connected) on the counter and pile the dry lettuce in the middle. Wrap the paper towels around the lettuce and slide into a gallon-size zippered plastic bag. Squeeze the air out and close the bag.
5. The lettuce can now be stored in the fridge and should stay fresh for at least a couple of weeks. You can take out what you need whenever you want to make a salad or sandwich and then just reseal the bag. The plastic bags can also be reused!
A Word about Iceberg Lettuce
Notice I said that the above method works for all types of lettuce besides iceberg? That’s because I don’t separate and wash the leaves of my iceberg lettuce. They are so tightly wrapped that the dirt doesn’t have a chance to get all the way inside.
For iceberg lettuce, remove and discard the outside layer of leaves, rinse the whole head of lettuce well under running water, shake it dry (water can work it’s way inside when you rinse it) and wipe excess water off with a towel. Wrap the entire head in a paper towel, place in a plastic bag, and store in the fridge. Pull off leaves or cut off chunks of lettuce as you need them, rewrap remaining lettuce in paper towel and return to plastic bag. Iceberg will keep fresh for a very long time if you store it correctly!
Make Some Salad!
Now that you have this nifty new way of storing lettuce, what should you do with it? Make salads, of course! I usually buy two or three types of lettuce at once to add a little variety to my salads. If you wash and dry the lettuce as soon as you get home from the store, you’ll find that it’s simple to throw together a side salad to go with dinner anytime you want.
Salads don’t have to be fancy to be good. Just by using a couple different varieties of lettuce (even just a mixture of green leaf and iceberg), you’ve already got a good start towards an interesting salad. My standard dinner salad is lettuce, shredded carrot and cucumber. How hard is that? From there I might add a little red cabbage, corn, chopped apple, raisins, and/or sunflower seeds. Sometimes I throw in some cherry tomatoes. It just depends. Once you have the lettuce ready to go, the hard part is over. Have fun and be creative!
Here are some ideas for green salad additions:
- shredded cabbage (I love adding a touch of red cabbage for color!)
- carrots (chopped or shredded)
- radishes
- mushrooms
- cherry tomatoes
- red onion
- cucumber
- zucchini
- fresh broccoli or cauliflower
- jicama
- corn (defrosted frozen kernels or drained, rinsed canned corn)
- avocado
- olives
- fresh herbs
- chopped apple
- strawberries
- orange pieces
- raisins
- cranberries
- chopped dried apricot
- drained and rinsed canned beans (black beans, garbanzos, kidney beans)
- sunflower seeds
- pecans
- walnuts
- pine nuts
- sliced almonds
- crumbled blue cheese
- crumbled feta
- goat cheese
- shredded sharp cheddar
- crumbled bacon
- chopped ham
- shredded or chopped cooked chicken or turkey
- tuna
These are just a few of the many, many possibilities. It only takes a few ingredients to make a great salad but you can add as many as you want. The only rule I try to stick to is the more color, the better!
Dress for Success
Just like the salad, dressings can be as simple or as complicated as you want them to be. Sometimes all a salad needs is a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper.
If your salads of the past have been little more than a vehicle to get more ranch dressing in your mouth, try putting together a salad that has flavors of it’s own and you’ll be less likely to want to drown it. Ranch dressing is great, but save it for a once-in-a-while treat (try making it from scratch when you do eat it). There are plenty of tasty and healthy options!
Experiment with different vinegars and use good olive oil, soon you won’t miss the bottled stuff from the store. But if you do have a particular bottled brand you like (I love Girard’s Champagne dressing), by all means use that!
Just eat more salad!
- Cilantro Caesar Salad
- Orange Cranberry Salad with Walnuts and Blue Cheese
- Lime and Mint Dressing
- Creamy Feta Dressing
Around the Web:
- How to Make Salad Dressing –from A Veggie Venture
- Restaurant Quality Salad at Home –from Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Peanut Sesame Dressing –from 101 Cookbooks
- My Father’s Vinaigrette –from Chocolate and Zucchini
- The Infinite Vinaigrette –from CookThink
- Roasted Garlic Ranch Dressing –from TastingMenu
- Guacamole Goddess Dressing –from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen
- On Loving Lettuce –from Farmgirl Fare
Nicole, a great salad recap and yes, we eat leafy greens all winter (ditch the tomatoes). The salad spinner should be a mainstay of every kitchen…I have the OXO with the “brake” to stop it from spinning!
11:05 am Oct 1st, 2007This is exactly the way I store my lettuce, too. Another trick for refreshing lettuce that you haven’t stored this way is to separate the leaves and stand them up in a bowl of water (the same way you’d store freshly cut herbs, or flowers). Water is absorbed through the cut end, and after a short time the leaves perk right up!
11:07 am Oct 1st, 2007My mom just got me to do this a couple of years ago, however I was just washing it, spinning it, and then storing it. I didn’t know about soaking the lettucs in water for 30 mins if it’s limp. That’s handy! I also have the OXO spinner with the brake and my kids love to help me wash lettuce.
Also, I didn’t know to store iceberg in the manner you described. It gets such a bad rap but sometimes I just really love an iceberg wedge salad. Thanks for this post! It has a lot of helpful info.
11:14 am Oct 1st, 2007Peter: Mine has the brake too!
Lydia: That’s a good idea to stand it up in the water…I’ve always just thrown it all in the sink to let it soak and sometimes the ends won’t stay under water!
Evie: It was my grandmother that first taught us to store lettuce this way. It really makes a huge difference! I know iceberg lettuce gets a bad rap but I think it’s mostly because for a long time, that was the only type of lettuce many Americans ate. I’ve always loved the crunch and flavor of it on sandwiches (it does have flavor even though some try to say it doesn’t!) and sometimes an iceberg salad with ranch or creamy blue cheese is the only thing that will do!
11:21 am Oct 1st, 2007I have been meaning to get a salad spinner forever, but haven’t yet. I think you’ve just persuaded me!! I am a huge believer in cleaning and cutting veggies when I get them home from the market. If I don’t, I become too lazy when I actually need them, and they go to waste because they weren’t clean and ready to use in a pinch. What an informative post!!
2:18 pm Oct 1st, 2007Hey, thanks for these tips. I eat salad with dinner every day, but on the days we end up going out to eat, we usually need to throw out the days lettuce. I have a salad spinner, but never thought to use it except for immediately before I prepared the salad, so this is great news!
3:00 pm Oct 1st, 2007Deborah: You really should get one. Really!
Clumsy: I would go crazy if I had to wash and spin lettuce every day! It’s so much easier to do it once a week
4:06 pm Oct 1st, 2007I’ve been mulling over it but you have convinced me that I need a salad spinner. Will go looking in the shops this weekend. I like storing washed leaves in a Lock & Lock box, it has a “freshness tray” that I find very useful.
4:11 pm Oct 1st, 2007I totally understand about an awkward, interesting writing process. No idea how to explain mine either:). The worst is when I starting, mentally, writing posts in the middle of the night or sitting on the sidelines of a soccer game. Hello, uh, brain? Could you focus on the task at hand and more importantly: remember this in the morning?
The great part is that the writing keeps coming: and yours is great!
Cheers!
4:55 pm Oct 1st, 2007Yeah, I saw this episode of Good Eats also. However, your details are much better then a 22 minute episode.
5:00 pm Oct 1st, 2007This is the same salad spinner i have and I love it. I also store my lettuce this way! I also have the smaller version of the salad spinner, which is perfect for herbs. At least one of my salad spinners gets used nearly every day.
Thanks for the reminder about that creamy feta dressing, which I’ve been meaning to try.
5:29 pm Oct 1st, 2007Hey Nicole
6:26 pm Oct 1st, 2007You have posted this on right time:), I always get confused type of lettuce to buy n what goes with it n finally I go to costco n end up buying mixed greens n store bought dressing….
I know couple of simple dressings, you have posted really good ones. Thanks a lot.
I’m going to try these.
We’ve had that salad spiiner for 20 years - but we keep it full of lettuce, right in the fridge… all summer long and have salads either for or with dinner most nights.
7:20 pm Oct 1st, 2007I totally understand about the little notes all over the house…every few months I round them all up and organize them…don’t act on them, just organize them….
What an inspiring post, Nicole — words, photos, the whole salad, so to speak!
7:49 pm Oct 1st, 2007Tommy: I’ve never heard of a Lock & Lock Box, I’ll have to google it
Have fun shopping for your salad spinner!
Janelle: That happens to you, too?! It drives me crazy sometimes when blog posts start writing themselves in my head when I need to be concentrating on something else (like sleeping)! I’m glad I’m not the only one!
Jason: Unfortunately I never get to watch Good Eats but I’m sure it was a good episode
Kalyn: I know that you’re also a big proponent of the salad spinner
I haven’t tried the feta dressing for a long time. I remember Peter at Kalofagas tried it and made some adjustments. Check it out.
Padmaja: I didn’t mention it in this post but one of my favorite types of lettuce for salads is butter lettuce (or Boston or Bibb lettuce). There are lots of good store bought dressings out there but it’s fun to experiment with homemade ones
Katiez: Good idea keeping the lettuce in the salad spinner except it’s so big, I don’t have room for it in my fridge all the time! I like the plastic bags because they are compact enough to fit in my veggie drawer along with other produce!
8:00 pm Oct 1st, 2007Thanks Alanna!!
8:01 pm Oct 1st, 2007Great tip Nicole. I always get lazy and just leave the lettuce in the salad spinner, but it ends up taking up half the fridge. I’ll give the bagging a try . . . thanks!
8:02 pm Oct 1st, 2007The salad additions remind me of the line up at Sweet Tomato’s! I know cause I just visited there on Sunday. Great info, thanks!
2:37 am Oct 2nd, 2007LOVE YOU for posting this. Thank you so much! It will change my whole eating life.
Would you believe years ago I threw out a salad spinner? Hmm.
8:58 am Oct 2nd, 2007Lia: Seems like lots of you keep the lettuce in the spinner! I just don’t have room in my fridge and it’s nice to be able to wash and dry more than one head at a time!
Ruby: Hahaha…I hadn’t even thought about that
I totally missed some good salad additions like pear. I love green salad with pear and walnuts and blue cheese! Mmmmmm….
VegeYum: Your comment totally made my day! I was beginning to think that everyone already knew all this stuff
10:21 am Oct 2nd, 2007Nicole, great info. I too have a tested and tried Oxo salad spinner and you’re right, everyone should get one.
Here’s what I do, after washing and spinning all the lettuce, in the salad spinner, I layer the bottom of the spinner with double sheets paper towel, then one set of lettuce and continue this until the spinner is filled (with layers of paper towels and lettuce). Then I cover (not wtih the spin top cover) the spinner and store it at the bottom of my fridge and the lettuce remains very crisp for up to 2 weeks and sometimes a little more.
11:00 am Oct 2nd, 2007there’s nothing worse than a soggy Lettuce
1:41 pm Oct 2nd, 2007Everyone in the world that enjoys Caesar Salad ‘must’ have this recipe to truly understand what it means when people say, “a little taste of heaven”. Here goes;
Tools:
A mortar and pestle - preferably wood
Wire Whisk
Medium size Glass Bowl
Ingredients:
2-3 cloves Garlic
2-3 good Anchovy fillets (best packed in glass jar)
1 tsp Fleur de Sel or Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 ‘large’ egg yok
1/3 cup really good extra virgin Olive Oil (it’s worth it)
2 1/2 ounces shaved Parmesan Reggiano (use a potato peeler)
2 ten ounce heads Romaine Lettuce (washed as above)
Place Garlic, Anchovy Fillets, and Salt in Mortar and Pestle and grind to a smooth paste without any lumps
10:31 pm Oct 2nd, 2007With Spatula place paste in glass bowl
Using the whisk, whisk in pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and egg yolk to combine all ingredients really well.
Finally, whisk in slowly the olive oil until creamy.
Place dressing on bottom of preferably wooden salad bowl, add lettuce leaves broken only in half and mix gently.
Add Parmesan to top of mixed salad and serve -
Taste: A little taste of heaven - I guarantee it
I kept a salad spinner for a long time but last year I traded its space in cupboard in favour of getting a rice cooker! We use that 2x/week (not just for rice, either) but I still need to dry lettuce FAST, at least 2x/month.
So this is what I do now and because it’s so “interesting-looking”, a few of my neighbours have learned and adopted the technique:
1 - Place washed, rinsed greens on a large, clean, dry towel on the counter.
2 - Gather up the towel corners etc. so that you end up with a sack of greens.
3 - Hold SECURELY CLOSED with your hand(s) and fling the whole thing in a little arc into your sink, or your bathtub/shower, or (like me) outside or anywhere you feel comfortable with the water ending up.
4 - It’s important not to let the towel (and consequently your greens) go as you do this! It’s the small, easy tip that makes all the difference. :-]
You’ll see the water forced out through the sack by the centrifugal force, same thing that makes the salad spinner work. Open up the towel on your counter and use or store the greens as usual. Hope this helps anybody who can’t or won’t spare the cupboard space for a salad spinner — There is still no reason not to have wonderful fresh lettuce available always.
11:53 pm Oct 2nd, 2007You’re exactly right - a salad spinner is a vital piece of kitchen equipment. It’s cheap and worth every penny. I wash and dry my leaves, wrap in paper towel and then store in normal plastic bags - using a ziplock bag is a great idea.
Years ago, while studying I worked in an organic food shop. We very quickly learnt about refreshing greens in cold weather. Works particularly well for mint too. It’s a useful tip, especially during steamy summer weather.
11:57 pm Oct 2nd, 2007I have an old salad spinner - looks like an egg beater except where an egg beater has blades that mesh together the salad spinner has a metal bowl with small holes. I hold it by the red handle, turn the crank and the bowl spins around shedding the water. Makes me smile everytime I use it. However, a few years ago a friend taught me her trick which is especially good if washing a large amount of lettuce for a big party or the next two weeks. She puts her lettuce in a clean pillowcase, puts the pillowcase in her washer and sets it on spin for a little bit. Every leaf comes out dry and pristine ready to be dressed.
1:29 am Oct 3rd, 2007Cynthia: Another great way to store the lettuce, thanks!
TomC: You’re right
DrBehavior: Oooooh…great recipe! Have you ever tried mixing the dressing inside the wooden salad bowl? I haven’t made a caesar salad that way but I’ve made other types of dressing by mashing the garlic and salt together with a fork on the inside of a wooden bowl to make a smooth paste and then adding the rest of the ingredients and then salad on top. Seems like it might work with this if you don’t have a mortar and pestle.
Roseanne: Thanks so much for sharing your tip! I know that lots of people really don’t have much space and a salad spinner is not very compact! I’ve tried a version of your technique before when I’ve had to dry lettuce without a spinner but it’s seems like a few pieces of lettuce always manage to jump free
Maybe my towel wasn’t big enough?
Kathryn: Of course regular plastic bags work too! I just like ziplock because it’s easier for me to squeeze the air out. Once I get all the air out, the bags are so much easier to store!
Maureen: I wish I could see what your salad spinner looks like, I’ve never seen an old one! And honestly I have never thought about using the washing machine as a giant salad spinner, but why not?? It works exactly the same way! I think I might actually try that sometime
5:24 am Oct 3rd, 2007[...] this out - a post by Pinch my Salt that has increased the shelf life of my salad greens by 200%! She describes how to soak, wash and [...]
11:58 pm Oct 12th, 2007Thanks for this great tip. I’d read in a cooking magazine that the best way to keep lettuce was to store it in the salad spinner. It may be good for the lettuce, but who has room for a salad spinner in the already crammed refrigerator? I like your method. I think that one of the most wasted foods in my kitchen is lettuce because of the tendency it has to turn to slime. You have given me hope! thanks.
7:36 am Jun 24th, 2009