Keep Salad Greens Fresh!

No more salad-in-a-bag! You can prepare your own fresh, crispy Salad greens days in advance and have healthy Salad right at your fingertips. Here are just a few tips:

• Hand clean store-bought Salad greens (lettuce) thoroughly before storing them in the refrigerator. Remove (and compost) any wilted leaves and tips. Rusty stalks should also be trimmed and patted dry before storing.

• Store Salad greens separately from fruit if possible. 

• No Knives= No Rust. Prepped Salad greens stay fresher and rust-free longer when they are torn, not cut.

• When prepping Salad greens, start by rinsing the whole leaf first, then rinse the torn pieces. (Even bagged Salad greens should be well rinsed before eating. They'll taste much fresher, too.)

• For Romaine and bib-type lettuce, peel off and use the outer lettuce leaves first. For Iceberg-type lettuce, just tear off a chunk. 

• Never store Salad greens with pre-cut vegetables. Shredded carrots are an exception. ;-) Tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, etc should be cut within hours of serving and not too far in advance. 

• Dry the Salad greens with a salad spinner or shake vigorously in a good old-fashioned colander and pat dry with a paper towel.

Storing freshly prepped Salad greens is simple, too. Here are a couple of tested/true methods that I use at home:

• Vented plastic Berry containers works really well for smaller amounts of Salad greens. Simply line the bottom of the container with a lightly moistened paper towel, put the fresh greens in and line the top with another moistened paper towel. Snap the lid down and refrigerate. (Just keep an eye on the paper towel to make sure it doesn't dry out. Dampen as needed.) This is the perfect way to take pre-made Salad on your next camping trip, too. 

• The dish towel method is great if you eat a lot of salad and have room in your refrigerator. Layer the torn and rinsed greens on a clean dish towel (one that isn't loaded with fabric softener;-) Roll the towel up and put rubber bands on each end. When you're ready for fresh salad, take what you want and roll the rest back up again. 

This instructable is just one simple step to literally help keep you living and eating GREEN! ;-)