1 week Ago By [email protected] (Michael Serrur)
Bagged lettuce is a staple in many refrigerators for a number of reasons: It's low in calories, relatively inexpensive, nutritious, refreshing, and an easy-to-use foundation for any salad imaginable. But there's a downside to bagged greens: They have an unfortunately short shelf life. Although those sacks of lettuce look fresh and vibrant sitting neatly atop misty supermarket shelves, once they get back to your home fridge, the deterioration process seems to accelerate almost instantaneously.
This is due to the fact that bagged lettuce is a temperamental ingredient, surprisingly sensitive to minute changes in temperature, humidity, and moisture. As a result, most only last a couple of days before they start to rot — even when stored in the fridge. This is a bummer on multiple fronts; not only is your food going into the trash, but to make matters worse, organic waste, like rotting lettuce, releases methane — a powerful greenhouse gas — as it decomposes.
But you don't have to let your leafy greens suffer a sad and slimy fate. Fluffing or shaking your lettuce in its bag or container as soon as you get back to your kitchen is a quick way to help extend its longevity and quality beyond just a couple of days. A little movement goes a long way in preserving leafy greens Whenever you buy a bag of pre-washed lettuce, the first thing you should do once you get it home and into your kitchen is open it and give it a fluff or shake.
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