If you’re forever having to throw out inedible bags of salad, this is for you. Wendyl Nissen shares her tried and tested hack for a crisper salad greens.
Not everyone grows their salad in the garden, and so we rely on bagged salad. When I’m in Auckland, away from my garden, I buy my greens at the supermarket.
The bags are filled with gas to keep the salad fresh until you open it, and then you’ve got about a day to eat it before it wilts and is inedible. Personally, if I can find a real lettuce I will buy that over a bag of salad, but sometimes they’re not available.
So I open the bag and soak the salad in a large bowl of fresh, cold water for as long as I can. All day, if I think of it. The salad will be cleaned of anything that may have been thriving in the bag – there have been recalls for salad in the past due to listeria.
It also revives the leaves and they are nice and crisp. After it’s had a good soak I lay it all out on a tea towel, roll it up gently and put it in the fridge – it stays fresh and edible for days.