Any tips on keeping salad fresh

  • I am really trying to be organized this week and make one BIG shopping trip. My question is, I usually buy the bagged salad but I know it doesn't stay for a week. If I make up my own salad for an entire week, does anyone know of any tips to keep it fresh. Is there tupperware or another storage tool to keep it the freshest?

    Thank you!
  • Not for a week...
    Hi Hood!

    I have two houserabbits who, as you may imagine, eat a lot of salad!

    Here are the things I have learned:
    • Salad that has NOT been washed keeps longer than salad that has.
    • Salad keeps much longer in the crisper drawer
    • Salad lasts longer if you ensure it gets some air by leaving the plastic storage bag open a bit
    • Buy special salad bags (in the produce dept.) or get Ziploc/Glad bags made specially for veggies...these help, but won't get you through a whole week.
    • Buy two bagged salads, and open one partway through the week. It will be a little bit wilted, but still edible.

    My mother swears by washing romaine leaves, spinning dry in a salad spinner, then wrapping them up in a flour sack towel. She puts the rolled up towel in a ziploc, and says it keeps for days. I have had no luck with this method, personally, though. But Mom's always right!

    Hope this helps!

    Laurie
  • And according to the movie, "Mother", you can keep it in the freezer.
  • Tupperware has some great storage bins that have vents...you leave the vents open or closed according to the guide they give you for fruits and vegetables. I have been able to keep vegetables for 2 weeks -sometimes 3 in them.

    I also use a big Tupperware brand bowl to keep my salad in the fridge - it usually lasts a week.

    Not sure how much the bins are though...I got them a few years back but I know they still sell them.
  • I buy enough tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum and stuff for the week but find the lettuce gets a bit yuk after 3-4 day so I pick up a bag of leaves or whole lettuce mid week. You could have italian salads (cooked whole garlic cloves, capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, mushroom, red onion) served hot for dinner or cold for lunch with basmati vinegar, or a greek salad (tomato, cucumber, capsicum, red onion, feta cheese) if you don't have time to buy new salad greens.
  • This is my biggest problem too. I'm the only one that eats veggies in this house so that means I'm usually throwing food away. It's such a waste & annoys me.

    I tried to buy hardy veggies that usually last. Cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, peppers. I'lll usually cut them up as soon as I get home from the store. I find I'm more inclined to nosh on them because I can pick right away.
  • Yeah -- send DH on a salad run every three days! Seriously, he works next dor to a Costco and is a shop-a-holic!
  • Fresh salad
    Well, I don't know that this is South Beach friendly, but to keep lettuce and salad stuff fresh after you have made a huge salad.... Use a big container and fill with water, sprinkle about a Tbs. of sugar in it and stir it to dissolve the sugar. Submerge your salad stuff in the water and refridgerate. Don't put tomatoes in the salad (I add them later). This will keep in the fridge for a good week or more. Just take out the salad you want. I haven't done it because I'm afraid that the sugar will wake up the sugar monster
  • My mom and I invested in food savers. She went out and purchased the canisters, which she puts her salad into. Salads last up to almost 2 weeks in those things. My mom does not recommend putting tomatoes in them though, lol cause apparently the pressure from sucking the air out was to much.

    but it is an excellent tool for keeping veggies fresh and I use it for packaging my meats to individual portions and then throwing them in the freezer, it stays fresher and I have not had a problem with freezer burn.
  • Great ideas, guys! My mom also uses Tupperware. I think I may have to invest in the celery saver. Mine does not fit in the crisper drawer and is getting wilted in the fridge! I know they also have a lettuce one, but the one she had was very old and did not work too well.

    One thing I learned from Cooking Light is that Tomatoes do not belong in the fridge! Being so cold makes them mealy and yucky! Keep them in the fruit bowl (which is currently my lemon and lime bowl, since I'm still on Phase 1!) and you will enjoy them much more! Mine keep at least a week that way.

    Am I the only one who is having trouble finding room in the fridge for everything? I usually have lots of room, but last night trying to squish all the groceries in was like doing one of those pranks in college...how many people can you fit in a VW?
  • Yep, it is bad enough that the vegie bin is full, all those tubs of yogurts, made up sugar free jelly/jello, selection of cheeses and deli meats for lunch make it hard to squeeze in water bottles and any food for the rest of the family.