How to Use a Salad Spinner to Keep Your Lettuce Crisp
Salads and fresh leafy greens are an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, but even for die-hard vegetarians, these can be hard to enjoy when they become limp and soggy after washing. Lettuce forms the base of most salads, but can be highly unappetising when it is limp and wilted. Since washing vegetables before you use them is essential, this can hardly be avoided unless you dry each individual lettuce leaf with a kitchen towel – however, a salad spinner can help in keeping your lettuce clean, crisp, dry, and fresh.
Things Required:
– A salad spinner
– Fresh lettuce
Instructions
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1
First, purchase a good quality salad spinner. Also known as a salad tosser, this is a device manufactured for use in the kitchen, for the exclusive purpose of washing and then removing the excess water from salad greens. In addition to cleaning them, a salad spinner will help the leaves stay fresh and retain their natural shape. The removal of excess water also helps salad dressings and oils stick to the leaves better.
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2
Then, start by preparing your lettuce. Any vegetables that go into the salad spinner need to be chopped up, so start by cutting off the thick stem from the head of lettuce, and then proceed to separate the individual leaves.
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3
Take the strainer out of the salad spinner, and toss all your lettuce leaves in. Hold the strainer filled with lettuce over a kitchen sink, and run it under cold water for a while, until all the leaves are thoroughly washed.
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4
Place this strainer filled with washed lettuce leaves back into the spinner, and cover it tightly with the lid. Proceed to turn the salad spinner on, and leave the lettuce leaves in to spin for around 10 to 15 seconds.
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5
Once this is done, turn the spinner, off, and take out the lettuce leaves. They should now be washed, completely dried, and still retain their fresh and crisp texture. Use them as you wish – toss them up in a salad with tomatoes, croutons, and a dressing, and enjoy.
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