by Sherry Horton Blake

Created on: February 09, 2010

When you bring your greens home from the farmers’ market, first remove any string, rubber-bands, wires, etc. that are holding them together.  Throw away any yellow or wilted-looking leaves.

To clean lettuce, take the head of lettuce firmly between your hands and hit it, core side down, against your countertop.  Twist the core, and it will easily come out.  Then you will be able to clean the lettuce head well.  First run water into the area where the core was located and rinse it out.  Soak the entire head in cool water for 10 to 15 minutes, and then rinse a couple of times under running water.  You can also pluck off each leaf and wash them individually if you prefer.  A colander may also be used to rinse the lettuce. 

It is important that the lettuce is completely dry before it is stored.  When the lettuce is clean, shake off the water or use a salad spinner.  Place the lettuce on paper towels to dry.  One way to store lettuce is to place each leaf in a paper towel, roll it up, and place it in a Ziploc bag, being careful to push all air out of the bag and to seal it well.  The bags should then be placed in the refrigerator. 

To clean Romaine lettuce, remove the outer leaves and cut off the tips as they usually taste somewhat bitter.  Soak, rinse and store as described above. 

When cleaning spinach, keep in mind that spinach is grown in sandy soil so you will have to take care to get all the gritty dirt off.  Soak the leaves in cool water, and swish the water around the leaves in order to rinse off any sand.  Remove the leaves, put in clean water, and repeat the process a couple of times.  Watercress should be cleaned in the same way.

When cleaning other leafy greens, remove the leaves from the stalk or stem.  Put the leaves in a sink full of cool water and let them soak for 10 to 15 minutes.  Swish them around to remove any dirt that may cling to them.  Then dry on paper towels.  When washing greens, the water should not be more than 10 degrees colder than the produce.  When washing refrigerated produce, wash in cold water.

When storing greens, keep them away from fruit as fruit gives off ethylene gas.  Greens are best when used right away.  However, if you must store them for a couple of days, wait to wash them until you are ready to use them as the extra moisture will cause them to spoil more quickly. 

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