Kitchen Idea: Storing Lettuce

Like lemons, limes and garlic, lettuce is one of those foods that I will always purchase, regard less of the season.  We eat salad almost every night with our dinner, and I can't imagine only doing so in the months that I have access to a local or Canadian variety.  

But buying lettuce in March also ensures that I can be paying close to $3 per head. In July the same leafy greens are usually $.69, which means that my winter salads are far pricier to make. And with all food prices on the rise these days - Loblaw Companies (and all the stores under their banner) will be raising their prices by 5% April 1 - I want to make sure I get the most bang for my buck.

This is why I store my lettuce for minimum waste, and make certain the leaves stay crispy and green for at least a week after purchase, meaning I can buy more than one head at a time, saving me mid-week trips to the market/store.  

Because you know those gases prices aren't too low these days, either.

Before washing your lettuce, remove the bottom stem.

Place the entire head in a colander, and rinse well with cold water.

Shake off the lettuce leaves but don't dry them.  Lay them flat on some paper kitchen towels.

Roll the towels up into a cylinder shape.  Don't cover the top and bottom of the tubes so the lettuce can breathe a little.

Place the tubes (one per head of lettuce) into an eco-friendly compost bag, close it up and store in the fridge. Pull out the tubes as needed for your salad.

Comments

[Stephanie]

Love your tip on keeping lettuce fresh! Just wanted to say that we have been enjoying Canada and even local greens this year.

I get Boston lettuce from a variety of places but Costco has the best price - two heads for $3 and it's delicious in salads and sandwiches. It's at least from Canada.

We are also part of a CSA that gets us lots of greens just a few hours from home all winter/spring. I'll twitter you the name of the farm when I find it! But CSA's are such good resources to finding the local stuff - even greens!

[Nadine]

Thanks for the tip. I will try this. I'm often buying the ready bags in winter because of this reason, but they're still more expensive than the whole head. And I agree, if we can avoid taking the car for just small things....:)

[Paula]

This does work!