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I am teaching salad classes this week, so I thought a great tip to keep lettuce fresh all week long, especially with summer around the corner, would be perfect. We’ve all been there. Wanting to be prepared for the week…. we chop and bag lettuce for salads. (If you have lettuce cleaned, chopped and ready to go… you will eat more salads. Am I right? You know I am. I love to be right! :)) But you find your lettuce has wilted and/or has browned edges after a day or two. How do you keep your lettuce crisp, fresh and keep the leaves from browning? Who wants to eat lettuce that is browning? I have heard and read many tips on how to keep your chopped lettuce fresh… but this my friends works and it is so simple!  I have been doing these steps for years with the perfect results!

Step 1:

You must cut the lettuce with a very sharp knife! If you use a dull knife, you will bruise the leaves when you cut them and they will brown quickly!

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Step 2:

You need a salad spinner. Getting all the extra moisture off the freshly cut leaves will keep the leaves nice and crisp. I love my OXO salad spinner

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Step 3:

I store my chopped lettuce in heavy duty freezer Zip Loc gallon size bags. In they go!

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Step 4:

Zip the top of the bag about 2/3 of the way shut. 

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Step 5:

Squeeze as much air as you can out of the bag with your hands. I press down on the top and upper sides of the bag. 

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Step 6:

 I then zip the bag all the way shut…. careful to not let any air in the bag. 

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And there you have it! How easy was that? No paper towels are involved. My lettuce will stay this fresh and crisp for a week using this quick and easy process. With not a hint of any brown edges.  Make sure to do steps 4-6 every time you open the bag to keep the lettuce fresh. Keeping air out of the bag is key. Here’s to salads and fresh, crisp lettuce ready at our fingertips! Is it summer yet?