Salad

All manner of greens and lettuces have been showing up in our subscription boxes recently. Here’s how we like to store them to extend their life and keep them crisp:

First, fill up your sink or a clean basin with enough water so that when your greens go in, they don’t touch the bottom. Add a little white vinegar (this does wonders for any greens have already been sitting a couple days). Remove the root from your greens (I just hack it off with a sharp knife) and submerge in the water. Swish them around gently, then just leave them for a few minutes. The dirt will sink to the bottom while the lettuce stays in top.

If you have a salad spinner, use it to remove as much water as you can, then roll the greens up gently, in a single layer, in paper towels or a very clean tea towel.

Put that roll into a ziploc bag, but don’t zip it. Stash that in your fridge, and enjoy as you like. We just ate tender salad greens we had stashed that way a week and a half ago and they still crunched! This works very well with any greens- kale, chard, romaine, mesclun, spinach, etc.

Here’s one of my favorite summer salad recipes:

Southern Peach Salad
Salad greens
Diced, cooked bacon
Diced peaches
Candied pecans

Peanut Butter Vinaigrette
1 Tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk dressing ingredients together, drizzle to serve over tossed salad