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Is there 'really' a way to keep salad fresh in the fridge?...


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Have you tried those green produce bags? I've had pretty good luck with them.

 

I think the bagged salads are almost too dry. I have even better luck when I rinse and spin them in a salad spinner and then store them, probably because it gives the greens a "drink". Maybe try dampening a paper towel and tossing it in the bag? After rinsing and spinning salad, I layer it while still barely damp with paper towels in the green bags (or tupperware bowls), and that has always produced my very best results. Just enough moisture to keep the greens hydrated, with something to absorb any excess dampness.

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We eat a lot of salad. Those bagged lettuces don't last long for me no matter what I do. So, I buy cello packs of romaine - either the huge ones at Sam's or a 3 pack. I chop up the romaine and add all kinds of chopped veggies. I store it in a huge pottery mixing bowl. With just saran wrap on top. The pottery breathes somehow and it lasts for 4-5 days - stays very fresh. If I made the same exact salad and stored in it a large rubbermaid container it rots almost immediately.

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I've had tremendously bad luck with bagged salads, no matter what I do with them. And they're expensive. So we switched to just buying the lettuce and spinach whole, running them through the salad spinner and then keeping them in there. The unwashed greens stay fresh for quite a while in the regular produce bags in the vegetable drawer of the fridge, and the washed greens in the salad spinner stay fresh for at least 3-5 days themselves... and as they run out in the spinner, we replenish from the vegetable drawer. I've managed to get more than a week out of them this way and at easily half the price.

 

Honestly when we switched back to whole heads of lettuce (usually leaf lettuce, sometimes romaine -- not iceberg) and spinach, I was shocked at how crunchy they were. I really hadn't realized how wilty the bagged lettuces were even the day we bought them! I don't know if it's something in how they're processed or if they've sat around longer than we know.... but I'm completely off bagged salad now.

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Tupperware has a wonderful product called FridgeSmart for keeping produce fresh and good. Their fridgesmart keeps romaine lettuce good about two weeks for me. If I don't get around to putting it in the container right away and it gets a bit wilted, I can put it in the container and it will crisp right back up as good as new.

 

They have a couple different sizes of rectanular ones. I use the largest for romaine.

 

They also have a round one that's good for iceburg.

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I eat the one with more leafy greens.....like the Spring Mix...that has Romaine, Tango, Radicchio greens. I like spinach in my salad too.

 

For me, the secret is tucking one or two dry paper towels between the greens and the plastic bag. I change them every day or two. The lettuce respires and moisture builds up, condenses, leads to rot.

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We eat a lot of salad. Those bagged lettuces don't last long for me no matter what I do. So, I buy cello packs of romaine - either the huge ones at Sam's or a 3 pack. I chop up the romaine and add all kinds of chopped veggies. I store it in a huge pottery mixing bowl. With just saran wrap on top. The pottery breathes somehow and it lasts for 4-5 days - stays very fresh. If I made the same exact salad and stored in it a large rubbermaid container it rots almost immediately.

 

:iagree: Except I just use a zipper bag for the chopped up lettuce. Premade bagged salads don't taste as good or last as long.

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Tupperware has a wonderful product called FridgeSmart for keeping produce fresh and good. Their fridgesmart keeps romaine lettuce good about two weeks for me. If I don't get around to putting it in the container right away and it gets a bit wilted, I can put it in the container and it will crisp right back up as good as new.

 

They have a couple different sizes of rectanular ones. I use the largest for romaine.

 

They also have a round one that's good for iceburg.

 

I agree that FridgeSmart containers are wonderful. I just can't get over how long my spinach and lettuce stays crisp in those things!

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I love Romaine. I get the pack of 3 Romaine hearts and wash just one at a time, wrapping the washed leaves in a paper towel and storing them in a baggie. It stays fresh and crisp for several days.

 

The bagged salad, IMHO, is not worth the expense. I find it rots within a couple of days. :P

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I love Romaine. I get the pack of 3 Romaine hearts and wash just one at a time, wrapping the washed leaves in a paper towel and storing them in a baggie. It stays fresh and crisp for several days.

 

The bagged salad, IMHO, is not worth the expense. I find it rots within a couple of days. :P

 

This is what we get. I don't wash it when we get it; just just store it in the bag it comes in, rip off as much as we need for a meal and wash it then. Stays fresh for several days.

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Tupperware has a wonderful product called FridgeSmart for keeping produce fresh and good. Their fridgesmart keeps romaine lettuce good about two weeks for me. If I don't get around to putting it in the container right away and it gets a bit wilted, I can put it in the container and it will crisp right back up as good as new.

 

They have a couple different sizes of rectanular ones. I use the largest for romaine.

 

They also have a round one that's good for iceburg.

:iagree:

 

I've been using the Tupperware FridgeSmart containers for about 7 years and I absolutely love them. We've had limp celery crisp back up after being stored in the FridgeSmart containers.

 

The one thing to make sure of is to not pack lettuce or other greens in it very tightly.

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The best "thing" to do is to unwrap your lettuce from any plastic wrap. Once this is done, do not wash until you are ready to use the leaves - then tear off ONLY the portions you want to use. Wrap the remaining lettuce in paper towels.

 

Now, the MOST important "thing" to do, is to learn how to control the humidity controls in your veggie drawers. You will have instant success keeping lettuce and other veggies/fruits once you get this figured out. It is the reason they were invented - and people don't usually take the time to learn how to work the controls.

 

Good luck!

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:iagree: We got a lot of lettuce every week from our CSA and sometimes couldn't consume it all before getting more. Fridge Smart saved us and often keeps it fresh for a couple WEEKS!

 

My parents use bagged salads sometimes and they borrow my Fridge smart for this. Just dry it a bit first and put it in. Lasts much longer for them now.

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