Keeping salad fresh....

Magentasue

Following on from purpleivy, if the whole point is healthy eating, chopping immediately before serving is best.

whatatwit

Onions will be fine.
Sliced cucumber may go a bit dry and bowl shaped.
Tomatoes should be fine next day.
Lettuce shold be torn, it will go brown if you chop it.

Maybe on first day, do enough for the following day.

I wouldn't want to be using it much after 2 days.

Hard boiled eggs keep ok for a few days in the shell.

redmel1621

Ah right I was a bit unsure.

I did wonder if it lost it's nutrients once cut....

Mel x

Steve-o

purpleivy wrote: »

I seem to remember via the enzyme activity that is caused by the cut, it's what makes lettuce go brown at the cut.

Magentasue wrote: »

Following on from purpleivy, if the whole point is healthy eating, chopping immediately before serving is best.

whatatwit wrote: »

Lettuce shold be torn, it will go brown if you chop it.

That pretty much sums up lettuce. Tearing will damage less of the cells, and the natural enzyme activity of damaged cells is kept to a minimum. Cutting of fruit and veg should be done as near to the time of eating as possible, for the same reason.

If you're prepping the salad to use later, try not to cut things too small - they will lose their 'freshness' faster, due to the enzyme activity and drying out of the damaged cells.

Quick and easy explanation of plant cells and enzymes: plants are made from huge amount of tiny cells packed together. An easy way of thinking about it is to imagine you have a sheet of bubble wrap, with all of the little bubbles filled with water instead of air. If you cut across the bubble wrap you'll cut come of the bubbles, and the water will leak out. In plants that 'water' contains enzymes that try to dissolve the cell if it becomes damaged, so that it can be replaced by a new undamaged cell. Did that make any sense?

Pink.

Hi redmel,

As others have said salad really is best eaten fresh although I sometimes save leftover salad in the fridge and apart from the cucumber which dries out very quickly it looks ok the next day.

There's an earlier thread on keeping salad fresh so I've added your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

jinny

What could you grow on a window sill instead of salads leaves in winter?

serena

jinny,

I grow the following in polystyrene fishboxes (with small holes punched in the bottom for drainage, filled with multipurpose compost) in an unheated greenhouse overwinter:

Corn salad
American or land cress
Leaf beet
Salad bowl lettuce (a loose leaf variety, in red or green)
Winter purslaine, also known as claytonia

I find I can pick individual leaves to add into a lettuce salad, or put them in sandwiches, but not enough to make a salad on their own.

Alternatively, you could do sprouting seeds, or micro greens - these are like the punnets of mustard and cress that you can buy and a doddle to grow.

You could try any of those, or you could try any of the orinetal leaves in a tub in a sheltered spot oudoors eg Giant red mustard, mizuna, mibuna, komatsuna. Leaf beet also good throughout the winter.

You can get seeds from most garden centres or mail order (Try Kings, Marshalls or Tuckers). More information will be on the RHS website, Garden Organic, or Gardeners' World.

MrsE_2

I'm looking for the salad box with the grid, but I can't find it:o

Can anyone post a link or tell me the full name

jenster

Hello all

what im asking is how can u prepare salad stuffs ie lettace ect with out it going off so quick

whats the best way to do this any tips ?

floyd

I think I posted elsewhere but can't remember where. I buy whole heads of romaine or cos lettuce, wash them thoroughly as soon as I get home, shake dry and store in a very large Lock and Lock box with a draining grid at the bottom, its very like this one http://www.lakeland.co.uk/9-litre-lock-AND-lock-bread-box/F/Brand/Lock+ANDamp;+Lock/product/5441

Although it takes up alot of space in the fridge, I never throw lettuce away anymore as it lasts at least 10 days. I haven't tried any of the softer 'round' lettuce as I don't like them so they may not last as long.

Cucumber and toms also get stored in Lock and Lock boxes and they last for ages if they aren't eaten first