Sometimes my salad greens which I buy in plastic bags from the supermarket go mushy after just a couple of days even though the use by date has not been passed. Any suggestions to keep them fresh?
lythande1,
Dec 27, 5:30pm
Because they have already been picked apart. Buy a lettuce. Cheaper anyway.
cookessentials,
Dec 27, 5:44pm
I use a salad bag which keeps them dry and fresh for days.
uli,
Dec 27, 8:04pm
They go "mushy" because they have been packed under gas. The moment you open the bag - the contents will start to show its age - which most likely would be about 2 weeks by the time you open the bag.
So all you need to do is buy real food - in the case of "salad greens" - real lettuce, spinach, rocket etc. And not hydroponic stuff - but green things that grew in soil (never mind the slugs, snails, bugs etc that you might encounter).
Anything else has no nutritional value - force fed hydroponics etc.
Good luck in adjusting your values.
fruitluva2,
Dec 27, 8:29pm
Great looking bags for salads Cooks, where can we find those do you know?
vintagekitty,
Dec 27, 9:00pm
Thats strange, they last really well for me. I just pop a peg on the end to seal them
ann7,
Dec 27, 9:15pm
Mmm.... I doubt that hydroponics have no food value at all. However if it is true that they have been in the bag already for two weeks packed under gas that could affect the nutritional value. i will have to do more research. Re the microfibre bag, I wonder if i could make one out of microfibre towelling, should be the same thing. You can get a microfibre headwrap from the $2 shop.
vintagekitty,
Dec 27, 9:16pm
lol adjust your values please everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!
gilligee,
Dec 27, 9:22pm
I put all my washed salad greens in an ice cream container with a paper towel in the base and they last at least a week.
buzzy110,
Dec 27, 9:34pm
Adding on to what uli said, may I suggest that you could grow your own. I know this sounds odd, but baby salad leaves are the easiest things in the world to grow. I set up a planter box for my elderly neighbour and planted a few seedlings in it. Since then she has picked and replaced seedlings for over a year and they have both had lovely fresh leaves to eat all year round.
Obviously a small planter box may not suit a larger family, but a small patch dug in the lawn or flower patch and regularly watered and, maybe weeded, and you will be rewarded with an abundance of leaves. I usually just get several packets of seeds, mix small amounts together, sow over my patch of ground and cover with potting mix. I then water in and in about 2-3 weeks I am munching away merrily on all sorts of weird, wonderful and very tasty leaves.
To add to that I grow basil, coriander, Italian parsley, chives and cherry tomatoes which all go into my salads. All you need to do then is buy cucumber and capsicum. Though I have found that cucumber grow like weeds as well. Two plants, planted a month apart and I am overrun with them later in the season.
ann7,
Dec 27, 11:20pm
Buzzy, thank you for your kind advice re growing my own, and also to gilligee for the icecream container with paper towel idea, i think that is the one I will try first.
ant_sonja,
Dec 28, 1:34am
I find that even the whole lettuce heads wilt in just a day or so once brought home from the supermarket, especially the 'fancy' lettuce types. When I buy my salad greens from the local organic fruit & veg shop, they last for ages (even bags of picked leaves) and they don't go mushy & slimy. Growing your own is definitely best if you are that way inclined and have a green thumb :-) otherwise find a good local organic supplier, I think you'll be surprised at the difference.
geldof,
Dec 28, 2:14am
ann7 wrote:
Re the microfibre bag, I wonder if i could make one out of microfibre towelling, should be the same thing. You can get a microfibre headwrap from the $2 shop.[/quote
Enterprising. What a great idea.Could you let us know how you get on, or I'll check your listings to see if you have some for sale.lol
rainrain1,
Dec 28, 4:10am
or into a clean plastic bag and fold the top over, and they last very jolly well
cookessentials,
Dec 28, 5:47am
Possibly. They used to be brought in to NZ but the company that bought them in is no longer. I have enquired as to whether anyone does bring them in. I must have been foolish in thinkibng the recipe board had finally become a pleasant place, oh well, one can hope I guess LOL.
uli,
Dec 28, 6:01am
I fully agree - salad greens in plastic bags from the supermarket which go mushy after just a couple of days are terribly unpleasant. Maybe you could post a couple of recipes on how to "use them up"?
rainrain1,
Dec 28, 6:07am
Cook for many?Gets used up quick that way
rainrain1,
Dec 28, 6:08am
Fresh from your own garden....last longer that way
greerg,
Dec 28, 6:10am
Put it down to seasonal indigestion Cookessentials - lots of the recipe threads have been snipe-free lately - and hopefully will return to being so asap!I like the look of those bags and wouldn't mind having one to store home-grown greens as well as bought ones. They don't look quite like the microfibre wraps and cloths though although its hard to tell even with the photo blown up.
rainrain1,
Dec 28, 6:10am
Stop being a smart a***e....feel better cooking that way
cookessentials,
Dec 28, 6:31am
They are definately microfibre. I shall await an answer from the USA. We have a garden full of beautiful spray free vegeables, including various varieties of lettuce and they store beautifull in the bag. I have no problem eating salad greens from a bag if and when required,although, obviously I prefer my home grown,however I would not rubbish anyone that did eat store bought greens in a bag either. You could try a good quality microfibre material and make it into a drawstring bag.
nfh1,
Dec 20, 11:14am
Even an old cynic like me thought the Christmas spirit would last a little bit longer!
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