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09 December 2005

Too embarrassing for my livejournal (HomeEcFilter): I just tried to make my first salad.

Stop laughing.→[More:]

I couldn't figure out which head of lettuce was "better" at the store, so I just grabbed one that looked like it needed love and consumption. I took it home, opened it up, and cut out the stem/root thing (that's good, right?). I peeled off the brown outer leaves (brown's bad, right?) and then took off several of the inner green ones, rinsed them (sorta) and ripped them to pieces. Then I put the head of lettuce back in the bag it came in and threw it in the crisper. Also, I shredded carrots onto the salad. Mmm, carrots.

So I guess my questions are: 1. What makes a 'good' head of lettuce at the store? 2. How do I wash the lettuce? I'm pretty sure I remember my mom washing it. Do I just get it wet, or do I need to scrub it or something? What am I washing off of it? 3. Do I need to pay any attention to how I cut the lettuce, or do I just need to avoid leaving anything brown in? Is it okay to just grab a hunk of it and tear it with your bare hands (seemed right; more primal) or should I use some sort of sharpened implement? 4. How do I store the lettuce (and for how long)? Do I need a fancy green tupperware thing like my mom had, with a plastic spike in the middle? Or is the bag ok? Or should I use a big ol' Ziploc bag? If I use a Ziploc bag, can I wash it and reuse it or is that a no-no?

Anyone who helps me can have a carrot. You bunnies like carrots, right?

post by: Eideteker at: 14:27 | 17 comments

P.S. - The carrots are delicious.

posted by Eideteker 09 December | 14:28

Use spinach. It tastes better & it's better for you. You can but it pre-washed, in which case you just rinse it. Or you can buy regular spinach & soak, then agitate it to get the sand out.

posted by dame 09 December | 14:34

i'm sure everyone is all ready to tell you exactly how you should tear lettuce and stuff about firm heads but this accidentally plays right into an accidental page discovery i wanted to mention about a charming little introduction to gay sex i was gonna put somewhere about things being charming in translation (page mentioned found on the scissor sister decoding, how i got to linked page is one of those odd serendity things)

posted by ethylene 09 December | 14:37

Oh, I love spinach! Thanks; I was in a hurry and didn't think about that.

posted by Eideteker 09 December | 14:37

There shouldn't have been any brown on it to begin with. That means it was old when you got it.
Washing it is to get off dirt, pestacides, maybe little bugs.

My mom had that green thing with the spike, too!

I'm more of a bagged lettuce kind of gal, though, since I go for the fancy blends.

posted by kellydamnit 09 December | 14:37

add a dippity doo dah
i got a headache and am horbgorbling (me word of the day

your teeth may feel fuzzy from spinach
oh, and apparently cooking it with soy sauce leeches out the iron

posted by ethylene 09 December | 14:40

Whenever I buy lettuce, I just give a good rinsing, wrap it in a few paper towels and toss it in a plastic grocery bag. Don't try the lettuce after you rinse it off so that the towels are kinda moist.

Now hopefully no one will tell me I've been doing it wrong all this time.

posted by puke & cry 09 December | 14:41

Don't ~~try~~ dry the lettuce

posted by puke & cry 09 December | 14:42

Of course, the question of whether the "brown" is bad or not really depends on what type of lettuce it was.

posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 09 December | 14:50

First of all, nothing's too embarassing for LJ because it's your own frickin' journal and you can let it all hang out.

1. One that isn't all brown.
2. Pesticides and other people's hand-germs from picking over the lettuce to get the perfect head. And my mom used to just rinse it in water, until some alarmist article lead her to start rinsing it in a citrus-juice combo. My mom is insane sometimes.
3. As long as your hands are clean, it's okay to tear with your hands. How else do you think I end up cutting broccoli heads?
4. Airtight container, don't need a spike in it. Bag's okay, as long as it's a fresh one or you know you washed it really good.

Man, this really sounds like a question for the FoodPorn LJ community...

posted by TrishaLynn 09 December | 15:12

Puke&Cry: I heard that dry lettuce is better than wet lettuce because the dressing'll stick to it better. Especially if it's Italian dressing.

posted by TrishaLynn 09 December | 15:13

How else do you think I end up cutting broccoli heads?

I really think it's easier to do this with a knife. Just cut right above where the florets branch off and ta-da, one cut is all you need.

posted by dame 09 December | 15:19

eh, it's usually pretty dry by the time I use it. Just a little damp. Still though, I suppose I could dry the lettuce first.

posted by puke & cry 09 December | 15:23

Try not to cut lettuce with a regular knife, as it will turn brown where it's cut (the exception is shredding lettuce for quick use in tacos or what-not). Believe it or not, there are funky-looking sharp (serrated) plastic knives available specifically for cutting lettuce, which are supposed to keep the lettuce from turning brown. Any MeChatters with even larger kitchen junk drawers than mine and who may have tried one of these doohickeys are welcome to give reports as to their efficacy.

posted by yhbc 09 December | 15:40

Dame: It's way more cathartic to rip 'em off. I feel like Dark Phoenix going all... well, Dark Phoenix on the broccoli people.

posted by TrishaLynn 09 December | 16:57

Wet lettuce won't allow your salad dressing to adhere properly. We use a salad spinner to get all that bland water off the leaves.

Ripping lettuce keeps it from browning because the ripping allows the cellular structure to come apart without pulling the cells themselves apart (why yes, I do watch a rather inordinate amount of Alton Brown's Good Eats, why?). He demonstrated with some bubble wrap, cut it and the bubbles pop, tear it and it tears along the seams between the bubbles making for tastier salad.

And spinach is way better anyway since lettuce is like 99.5% water.

posted by fenriq 09 December | 18:08

It also has a nicer crunch in your mouth if you rip it, since more juice stays in the leaf.

posted by tangerine 09 December | 23:15

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