Washing Your Lettuce

A long while ago I washed my lettuce and then soaked it in a water-vinegar solution ahead of time before a party and put it in our fridge. When I took it out a couple of hours later, the lettuce had all wilted so I didn't do that again.

I checked the Food and Drug Administration website and found this:

1. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce.
2. If damage or bruising occurs before eating or handling, cut away the damaged or bruised areas before preparing or eating.
3. Rinse produce BEFORE you peel it, so dirt and bacteria aren’t transferred from the knife onto the fruit or vegetable.
4. Gently rub produce while holding under plain running water. There’s no need to use soap or a produce wash.
5. Use a clean vegetable brush to scrub firm produce, such as melons and cucumbers.
6. Dry produce with a clean cloth or paper towel to further reduce bacteria that may be present.
7. Remove the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage.

So how to clean your lettuce.

Hmmmmm...

Here's what I do. 

We like the green or red leaf lettuce though the green leaf lettuce seems to hardier. 

I snap the lettuce leaves apart toward the stem and quickly rinse off any dirt before placing them in a bowl of water.

I soak the leaves in water for about half an hour to allow additional debris to fall off. It's amazing how even wilted looking leaves will perk up beautifully.

I then lightly spray the leaves with water before placing them in the salad spinner to get as much of the water off the lettuce.

Once dry, I put the lettuce in a plastic container after placing a dry paper towel at the bottom to soak up any left over moisture.

It has worked out quite well for us. I've had lettuce last 3 days with this method. 

I don't know if it's correct, but it's the best I can do.

I was talking to my grandson about vegetables and he told me he HATES lettuce. 🙄  Ahhh well...

(I did try to come up with an April Fool's post but came out empty. Sorry about that.)