Best Way to Store Lettuce

While crisp lettuce is the perfect foundation to a good salad, wilted leaves will spoil any vegetable medley. With care and a few simple steps, you can stave off the inevitable wilting with most varieties of picked lettuce from the backyard or the corner market and keep your leaves fresh for a week. Salads are packed full of nutrients, especially those that use dark leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, which has been shown to be cancer-fighting. Many raw vegetables in salads also are rich in antioxidants and fiber.

Things You'll Need

• Salad spinner
• Resealable plastic bag or container
• Cloth or paper towel

Instructions

Keeping Your Lettuce Crisp

1. Remove wilted or blemished leaves from the head of lettuce. This would include leaves that have dark spots, a slimy coating or discolored edges. This step is important and prevents the adverse conditions from spreading to other leaves.

2. Wash the lettuce head under cold water for several minutes. Continue the step until the leaves no longer have a gritty feel to them, as it ensures they are free of dirt and other particles.

3. Separate the leaves and again rinse them under cold water for about one minute.

4. Dry the leaves to ensure they will not be affected by moisture. The leaves can be dried off with a cloth or paper towel. A device known as a salad spinner also can be used to accomplish this task. Salad spinners are plastic bowls that feature a strainer that removes excess water from leaves and relocates it to the bottom of the bowl.

5. Place the leaves on top of one another, separating each one with paper towel. Once the stacking has been completed, place the leaves inside a sealed plastic bag or container and place it inside a refrigerator. Common varieties--including iceberg and romaine--can last for about a week. However, varieties such as arugula and watercress last a shorter time.

Tips & Warnings

• For best results, store lettuce leaves in the crisper section of the refrigerator. If a plastic bag is used to store the leaves, remove as much air as possible.

• Keep lettuce leaves away from produce that could turn the leaves brown. This would include such fruits as bananas, apples and pears.

Resources

• Better Homes and Gardens' official Web site offers helpful information on all types of produce.