Washing greens (how to DRY THEM?)

[Mousie29]

Please, how do you all get your greens dry after washing? It takes me forever blotting them off with paper towels.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

[kwormann]

I dont have a greens spinner, but feel I should get one...I hear they are helpful. I just blot with papertowels....

[DmOrtega]

Spin dry works the best.

[KathrynY]

I agree - salad spinner. I got mine for less than $10 at a local housewares store. Well worth the money.

[Mousie29]

It is already sounding like the spinner is very useful, not a wasted gadget......I spend sooooo much time regularly blotting greens dry, I figured the spinner must be a winner. I'm sure lots of you also dry greens a lot.

[KValley]

Spinner all the way. Can't imagine how I lived without one. If I am doing a large amount, I fill the sink with cold water and rinse them very well. Then tear into pieces and spin dry.

I am also one of those heathens who buy the packages of romaine and cabbage for salads. My greens intake has increased dramatically since breaking down and buying the pre-torn and washed greens. Can't be Martha Stewart all of the time (or EVER if I can help it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif)

[Mousie29]

KValley,
I'm with you....if that's what it takes to get good fruits/veggies in my body, then I have to go with it.

Do you wash the bagged greens?

[JHolcomb]

I totally buy the bagged stuff and my greens intake has gone through the roof-I never made salads before because I hated going through the trouble. Now we have one about every night. Sooooo worth it. And we don't wash the bagged stuff, by the way.

[KValley]

Me 'neither (washing the bagged stuff) We must go through 4-5 bags a week. I know, I know- they are expensive, but I don't have cable tv, okay http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Vanessa]

A salad spinner works best for salad greens, when washing basil for pesto etc.

[cchhbb]

I dry my greens after washing by using a salad spinner. They don't cost too much money and don't take up too much room in the cabinet.

I also have turned to the bagged salad and eat much more of it. When I'm tired of eating bagged salad, I will breakdown and purchase greens, wash a whole bunch of them, tear into bit sized pieces, dry them and wrap in a kitchen towel and put in a plastic air tight container. They seem to keep pretty well.

[goldilocks]

If anyone is in the market for a salad spinner because of this discussion, I can recommend the OXO spinner. It is the best spinner I have ever owned. What I normally do is wash the lettuce leaves in a big bowl of water, all the grit falls to the bottom. then i tear the leaves and put them in my OXO spinner. I spin dry and store in a ziploc bag with a paper towel in there. From my experience, the lettuce will last a couple of days in there.

It's a toss up for me buying the bagged lettuces. I really do enjoy the convenience and don't mind paying for it. But the lettuce never seems that fresh to me for some reason. For me, each week I buy the best value, either the bagged or fresh, whichever is on ad that week (this is more than you needed to know).

[gertdog]

I occasionally buy bagged salad, but I always wash it. Not because of the bacteria (although I should be more concerned about that, I guess), but because I think it helps remove the "bagged" taste.

I love my salad spinner and find that it's worth the storage space. My SO hates washing it, though! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[JHolcomb]

Emily, the modern apartment thing is exactly why I buy the bagged greens-not enough room for a salad spinner (I already have a Kitchen Aid mixer, blender, coffee maker and grinder, dish drainer, etc etc to fit in an already too small kitchen). Oh, and washing greens in my sink is a pain-it's only a one-basin sink and it's really small and usually filled with dishes since we don't have a dishwasher. Sorry, don't mean to turn this into a rant about how much I hate my apartment. Maybe there will be enough room in our new place for a spinner. I hope so-I like fresh better than bagged, too.

[doggerham]

I HAD to reply to this one:

My SIL puts the washed, torn lettuce in a clean bath towel, lays it around the circumference of the washing machine and puts the machine on spin. The lettuce stays put - held in place by the same principle that the whirligig ride at a carnival uses.

I've never had the guts to try this at home. But I'm going to her house over Mem Day and will ask her to show me. Also, her laundry room is right off the kitchen, and mine is downstairs...

[Anne]

I dry my salad greens in a large towel, place greens in center of towel, and roll it up around greens starting with long edge of towel, grab each end of the towel, go out on the deck, swing towel up and down vigorously several times - do not let go of ends. This works great for large amounts of greens. Kind of a non-mechanised version of doggerham's SIL.

[Luiza]

Salad spinner. It was the first kitcken gadget I bought (despite having no storage space), after I discovered why the salads of a friend took so little time to make and tasted so good. It takes just a couple of minutes to get the greens dry enough for the dressing to cling properly, and the salad doesn't get soggy as fast.

My SO washes the spinner and says it's very easy. Most of the time it just needs a bit of rinsing. Maybe it depends on the brand?

The salad spinner is also very handy for drying herbs before freezing.

[BarbaraL]

I keep debating whether to buy a salad spinner, but they're so big! Storage space is a real problem in my kitchen. I usually wash greens in a bowl of water, then rinse in running water (I read that the running water forces more stuff off the leaves). Then I shake the excess water off the leaves and dry in clean kitchen towels (I make alot of salads -- would use alot of paper towels). Not to scare anyone, but I saw a report on the news a few weeks ago about a little girl who almost died from eating strawberries that hadn't been washed well enough. The report mentioned bacteria being found even in "triple washed" bagged greens -- and recommended washing ALL vegetables, including bagged salads.

[kwormann]

I personally dont like the taste of bagged greens. I usually buy a large bunch ir romaine , wash it, chop it, then use it during the week. It doesnt feel like its taking THAT much time because I do it on Sunday when I am making breakfasts and lunches for the first few days of the week.

[Norma]

Put them in a clean pillow case and whirl it around.

[emilycat]

Kim, I'm with you -- I really don't like the bagged stuff, either. Typically I buy arugula, watercress and spinach for salads -- I really prefer the tender, flat leaves of bunch spinach to the pre-packaged kind, and nothing compares to a fresh bunch of arugula http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

If it makes you eat more veggies, though, that's much more important -- I'd probably buy the bagged kind, too, if I had less time on my hands for cooking.

Oh, and for drying, I do the paper towel/deal with the water droplets on my salad plate thing http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif I don't really have room right now in my kitchen for my bread machine -- modern tiny apartment kitchens are so obnoxious.

[funnybone]

After almost 15 years, my salad spinner has been put to rest, BUT, it is being replaced. It is the ONLY way to wash and dry your greens. I would never do without. I used to have a cheap, no name bright orange version, but I just ordered one from Tupperware. Their version comes with a lid for storage as well. That was the reason I chose it as well as past experience from Tupperware. Does anyone else have this one? I am supposed to receive it in a day or two.

[funnybone]

Originally posted by doggerham:
I HAD to reply to this one:

My SIL puts the washed, torn lettuce in a clean bath towel, lays it around the circumference of the washing machine and puts the machine on spin. The lettuce stays put - held in place by the same principle that the whirligig ride at a carnival uses.

I've never had the guts to try this at home. But I'm going to her house over Mem Day and will ask her to show me. Also, her laundry room is right off the kitchen, and mine is downstairs...

LOL - my washing machine is a front loader. If I did this, the greens would really go on a ride!!!

[kwormann]

OK....I got the BEST tip from Weekend Today. A retired couple has written a book about camper cooking, because they bought a motorhome and travelthe country. SHe doesnt have room for many gadgets, so she drys greens like this:

Put a paper towel in your plastice grocery sack. Add the wet greens and spin around (like winding up for a pitch). It WORKS! I tried it today! It was great! I used up one towel and the nest one I put in only got partially damp.

Kim http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif