Wilted, brown, and mushy. This describe your lettuce in a few days? Well here's a tip to keep your lettuce fresh and crispy for a long while (in lettuce-years anyway).
Do this as soon as you come home from the market with that great head of lettuce. (Right. How about just soon.)
But you gotta have a salad spinner!!!
1. Put your salad spinner in the sink and take off the top, but leave in the basket. Start filling the spinner's bowl with cold water. Cut off the bottom of the lettuce and place separated leaves into the spinner bowl. Don't overcrowd the bowl.
2. When the bowl fills with water, swish around the lettuce leaves a bit making sure they all are getting washed. Remove the basket with the leaves still in it.
3. Dump the water. Repeat these first steps until the water is clear and your lettuce is clean.
Then spin that baby. Rearrange the leaves and spin again.
4. Now, take out the lettuce leaves and spread them out on 3-4 paper towels (don't separate the towels). Do this with all the cleaned leaves.
5. Roll the towels tightly without smashing the lettuce. Put the roll into a large plastic bag, push out the air and fold to seal the bag. You can also wrap a large rubber band around the bag to keep it closed. If you have a very large amount of lettuce repeat from step four with another bag and more paper towels.
Your lettuce will stay fresh for a long time.
Shopping List
OXO Large Salad Spinner
Gotta a favorite kitchen tip? Tell us.
– J. Michael Wheeler
