I’ve learned so many things out of necessity. I’m convinced it’s the best teacher because it gives us constraints while forcing us to think out of the box and that’s when we’re most creative.
One of the issues I often have on the job is working with wilted lettuce and greens. Whether you purchase them fresh from a farm or the produce section of your local grocer, by the time you are ready to use them, they’ve often turned into a limp pile.
Here’s an easy way to not only revive them for use that same day but to increase their storage life by up to 3 times. Let me make a note here that I do recommend the use of Debbie Meyer’s Green Bags. I use these myself and they do increase storage time in the refrigerator. It’s not a gimmick.
I’ve found this to work for any salad greens whether purchased or home grown. It also works on fresh herbs to a point. Thyme and some woodier herbs are difficult to rehydrate once they’re reached a certain point of dryness. You’ll just have to experiment with them. You cannot rehydrate greens that are dark and slimy. They’re as good as gone – chicken feed if you will. It works especially well on green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, spring mix, kale, chard, and cool weather greens.
1) Remove greens from its packaging or bring it in from the garden.
2) Fill your sink or a sink-sized tub with 2/3 cold water and 1/3 ice. Allow the ice to chill the water for a few minutes.
3) If you are able to, trim the bottom edges or stems of the greens. This will allow the leaves to drink in the water. {Some leaves are tedious to trim such as Spring Mix. That’s okay, even if they’re not trimmed it will still help considerably.}
4) Add greens to the water loosely. Gently swirl around keeping the stem ends under water as much as possible.
5) Allow to soak for 20-30 minutes. I’ve kept them in the water for up to 2 hours depending on the sturdiness of the greens. Use your judgment.
6) Remove gently from the water making sure to not bruise the leaves and place them into a salad spinner one small batch at a time.
7) Spin to remove excess water and store in a plastic bag or green bag with plenty of air. Do not remove the air and crush the leaves.
8) Repeat step 6 and 7 until all the greens are dried.
9) Store in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
There you have it! Simple, quick and inexpensive way to extend the life in your crisper drawer.