by Brian Lamacraft

Created on: November 16, 2009

There are several things you have to keep in mind when buying lettuce at the store. You will find many different brands that will make wonderful additions to your next salad or other meal.

Buying Lettuce

First you need to make sure your lettuce is fresh so look for leaves that are crisp looking without spots on them r ones that look lifeless. Take the time to go through the heads and find a good one. Poor heads of lettuce you buy in the store will quickly rot at home before you can use it all. Try some different brands too besides boring old iceberg lettuce which has little flavor. A good head of dark green lettuce is full of nutrition and has more flavor. Try romaine and other dark green lettuce types for more variety with your meals. A great place to look for the freshest lettuce is at a farmers market if you have one in your area when lettuce is in season. Lettuce often goes on sale at the supermarket and that is a good time to buy it. Only buy what you need because it does not keep long in the refrigerator.

Storing Lettuce

You can extend the shelf life of your lettuce by storing it properly. When you bring it home you should cut off the hard end and separate the leaves. Place them in cool water in your sink and rinse them off. This will remove dirt, pesticides and insects if they are present. Don't just shove your lettuce into the refrigerator because that is a good way to have a ruined head of lettuce in a very short time. Lettuce is very perishable and fragile. Once it is washed used a salad spinner to dry it. You can find a cheap salad spinner at places such as Wal-Mart and a dollar store may even have one. You need to dry the lettuce in the spinner because the excess water on your produce will quickly rot the lettuce leaves. Once the leaves are dried take a plastic salad container and line the bottom with paper towel. Place a few leaves in it and put some more paper towel over the lettuce. Keep up this process until the container is full and you are out of lettuce. The paper towel will soak up even more water and help to keep your lettuce crisp longer. You can still use lettuce that has a few brown spots on it just remove them.

Conclusion

Purchasing lettuce at the store is an easy process if you know what to look for. Avoid lettuce that has spots on it or look limp and lifeless. Be sure to clean your lettuce once you get it home in water. Use a salad spinner to dry it and store it in a tight sealed container in your refrigerator.

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