Washing + Storing Greens

Taking a few minutes to wash and store your greens will help them stay crisp all week and makes express salad prep a breeze.

Directions

1. Fill a large bowl, pot, or sink with clean cold water

2. Place leaves into water

   • For bagged leaves, empty straight from the bag into water

   • For produce heads (frisee, head lettuce, escarole, etc.) separate by cutting off the bottom of the bulb and peeling leaves apart before placing in water

   • For head you want to eat whole (e.g. bok choy, endive), remove bottom of stem and place in water as-is

3. Agitate leaves in water for 30-60 seconds (we just use our hands to do this!)

4. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow sediment to drop

5. If any soil remains, repeat steps 3 and 4 once or twice more

6. Gently remove leaves (try not to stir up the water in order to keep sediment still) and dry

   • We use a salad spinner to speed up this step

   • You can also pat them dry, or let them air dry on towels for a few minutes before storing

7. Store leaves in crisper drawer of the refrigerator set to high humidity (that’s what the little slider above your drawer does — adjusts humidity level to accommodate different types of produce)

   • Using produce storage bags can help extend the life of veggies by more carefully controlling moisture content; a few of our favorite options are listed at the top of the page

   • For a quick DIY option, use cotton cloth bags (often made of muslin)