The trick to keeping lettuce fresh and crisp for 3 weeks
With the arrival of the summer season, no more heavy and bulky meals. We aspire to eat fresh and light things. It’s the perfect time to stock up on vitamins, vegetables and gourmet, but low-calorie salads. In summer, lettuce, crunchy and satiating, is king. Iceberg, arugula, frisée, watercress, romaine… There’s no shortage of choices to vary your meals! As a bonus, seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and a little vinegar, it goes perfectly well with an infinity of foods to offer you tasty mixed salads. Its only problem: it tends to brown and spoil quickly. How to prevent it from wilting before its time in order to keep its freshness and crispy texture longer? Here is the trick you were missing.
You have to understand that not all vegetables are equal when it comes to preservation. It would be a mistake to put them all in the same batch: indeed, some are perfectly resistant to cold, while others can deteriorate more quickly in a very cold environment. In other words, the refrigerator should not be considered a catch-all. Which vegetables are best able to tolerate cold temperatures? We find in particular lettuce and its derivatives, but also cabbage, spinach, eggplant, chard, turnips, radishes, broccoli, green beans or cucumbers. Now let’s see how to properly store lettuce so that it stays fresh for at least three weeks.
A fresh lettuce – Source: spm
Once you have bought your beautiful lettuce from the vegetable store, it is important to follow a few basic rules to keep it well at home. Be careful, casually, this big green salad is a very favorable ground for various pathogens, such as fungi, molds and bacteria (salmonella and E. Coli). To avoid food poisoning, it is imperative to thoroughly rinse your lettuce.
One of the most effective tips for keeping lettuce in good condition for longer is to keep the leaves whole. However, it is very important to take care of certain details: cut the lettuce leaf by leaf, wash them carefully and store them well in the refrigerator in an airtight container to prolong their life. In this way, you will achieve greater hygiene and therefore better conservation.
The extra thing: to wash your salad well, immerse all the leaves in a large bowl filled with cold water and pour half a glass of white vinegar which will remove all impurities. After 10 minutes, wring the leaves and store them in the airtight box before putting them in the fridge.
The tip for keeping lettuce fresh, step by step
The viral trick to keeping lettuce fresh for 3 weeks is to place it in a glass container with an airtight seal and cover it with paper towels. You will be amazed by its long-lasting freshness!
Here are the steps to follow:
- Chop the lettuce leaf by leaf
- Rinse the leaves thoroughly under the tap
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Then place them in the glass container with an airtight seal.
- Wipe the container well
- Close it and flip it
By placing the container in this position in the refrigerator, the paper towel will absorb moisture from lettuce leaves to keep them in pristine condition for longer. In this way, you can enjoy it for several weeks and consume it as soon as you want. You will notice that the leaves stay fresh and crisp. The advantage is that your lettuce will already be washed and cut! It will be enough to take a few leaves to prepare delicious salads.
Other simple tips for storing lettuce
A salad with lettuce – Source: spm
You don’t you might not know, but there are over a hundred varieties of lettuce on the market, such as iceberg, romaine, lettuce hearts, etc. This healthy and balanced vegetable is characterized by its thin, green leaves. But, generally, its shelf life is quite short. Indeed, between the action of humidity and air, it risks browning and withering more quickly than we would have liked. Therefore, to optimize its preservation and extend its shelf life, there are certain precautions to take.
Here are some tips that will help you best preserve its freshness:
- When buying already, consider choose very good quality lettuces, both green and fresh, especially not wilted. The greener the leaves, the better.
- Have you just put your iceberg lettuce in the fridge? Make sure that its leaves do not touch the walls. To avoid the slightest inconvenience, it is best to place it inside a bag and in one of the drawers intended for vegetables.
- Are you used to tearing off the leaves as you need them? We advise you not to use scissors or any other utensil. Always cut the sheets by hand so that they do not deteriorate or rust too quickly.
- Avoid soaking the leaves too long. It is best to wash and dry them before eating them, unless they are already somewhat wilted. In this case, you can leave them in the water for a few minutes so that they regain some of their freshness and consistency thanks to hydration.
- In the fridge, never place your lettuce near foods that give off ethylene gas, such as bananas, tomatoes, apples or pears. This is the best way to accelerate its deterioration!
- Finally, never freeze green lettuce, as the leaves can crack, lose their texture and flavor.
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