The most amusing thing that I discovered since I started eating salad at lunch is that my cat loves lettuce. The little fur ball comes running whenever he hears the salad spinner whirling as it separates water from the leafy vegetable. See, here he is below, eating lettuce. I swear he can't seem to get enough.
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| My kitty loves lettuce! |
Same goes for me. In 2012, I processed at least 104 heads of lettuce in my salad spinner. That's a minimum of two per week that I buy, wash and dry. Typically I pick up green leaf lettuce or red leaf lettuce. I also buy a package of romaine hearts as a back up (it seems to keep fairly well) for those times that I run out of lettuce. If I had a bigger kitchen, I'd seriously consider buying this salad spinner; from the amazon product reviews, it is primarily used by farmers.
When I began eating salad at lunch, I bought the pre-washed lettuce in a bag or box. After a few months, I noticed that I spent too much time separating the good from the spoiled lettuce. It was such a waste of time and money. I notice that pre-washed lettuce isn't really convenient. So at that point I decided to wash, spin and store my own lettuce.
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| The replacement salad spinner - wow, I need to moisturize! |
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| Ready to eat lettuce in rubbermaid produce saver container |
The picture above is the salad spinner that replaced my first salad spinner that I melted the week before Christmas. The whole melting of the salad spinner was a deja vu moment. Days before the incident, I was asked myself what I would do if something happened to this faithful kitchen gadget. Next thing I know its got a big rounded dent in it.
In any case, the next time I melt or otherwise break my salad spinner, I'll limit the replacement search to a couple of days instead of a couple of weeks. I just can't go on without one!
How about you? Do you use a salad spinner or do you dry your lettuce some other way or do you buy pre-washed lettuce? Have you broken a favorite kitchen gadget lately?
I also used to buy those boxes of pre-mixed salads, and it would be days later that I'd be separating it out. I now buy the romaine that comes in a bag, 3 heads to a bag, and chop them up.
ReplyDeleteI don't use a salad spinner, but I do have one, it's packed,somewhere...
We (my mother, myself, son in grad school) have come to the exact same conclusion about the bagged lettuce. Goes bad way too fast as soon as it is opened, always picking out iffy pieces.
ReplyDeleteStill do not know what I am missing with spinner concept. I do not dry lettuce. I give it a flick in the sink after washing and then add it to whatever I am eating. I do not wash in advance. My mother washes in advance and puts a folded paper towel in bottom of container in refrigerator.
ReplyDeleteI made my Lemon Chicken Kale soup Sunday night which involves two huge bunches of Kale. My husband was assigned that task and was not a fan. I wash both sides of each large piece of kale by hand. I do not dry.
I buy triple washed spinach and then just pretend that it is very clean. Don't tell me otherwise . . .
I have dropped chia seeds from my oatmeal and using ground flax and protein powder.
http://baby-steps-v.blogspot.com/2013/01/breakfast-changes.html?m=1
If you have tried the chia and it isn't doing what you want, try ground flax, or even try both mixed in your oatmeal.
DeleteI think your husband would like a salad spinner! I never liked drying lettuce with paper towels either!
DeleteI prepare all my lettuce all at once. I'll break the leaves off and toss them in the spinner. I'll fill the spinner with water and let the lettuce soak for a few minutes. Then, I dump the water out and spin off the excess water (usually in three shots dumping the water out of the bowl between spins).
Sometimes I wash produce other than lettuce in the spinner, its nice to soak/wash stuff and let it drain and the bowl catches the water so the counter doesn't get all wet!