How to Store Leafy Greens
Leafy greens can be a tricky ingredient. One day they're bright and fresh and the next they're wilted and sad. In this post, I'll give you my top tips for making your favorite greens last longer.
What are leafy greens?
Leafy greens include a wide range of vegetables and herbs that are *ahem* green and leafy. Kale, romaine, cabbage, endives, microgreens, collard greens, bok choy, watercress, arugula, swiss chard, turnip greens, spinach, mustard greens, herbs and more all fall under the umbrella of leafy greens.
Why do greens go bad?
The shelf-life of greens mostly depends on two factors: moisture and airflow. If your greens have too much moisture and too little airflow, this will encourage bacteria growth. However, if your greens have too little moisture and too much airflow, they can become wilted very quickly. To keep your leafies fresh, you need to find the right balance between moisture and airflow.
How should you store leafy greens?
Remove any bad leaves
Compost any leaves that are brown, damaged or slimy. Removing gross leaves will not only make your life easier later, but it can help extend the life of the other leaves in the bunch.
Skip the wash OR wash and thoroughly dry
If your greens are in “head” form (think: cabbage, endives, iceberg lettuce…), save the bath for later and move on to step four. If you're working with loose greens that aren’t connected at their base, things are a bit more complicated…
Some argue that you should wash loose greens before storing them because a little extra moisture can help keep them crisp. Others say that washing right away can add too much moisture, promote nasty bacteria growth and make greens go bad faster. Both of these arguments are valid. Although washing loose leaves can help them stay crisp, it can also make them go bad more quickly if you dry them too much or too little.
If you don't want to take the time to wash and dry your loose greens now, you can move on to step three. If you want to wash and dry now, dunk your greens in a cold bowl of water and swish them around uber gently, repeating until all leaves are clean. Then, thoroughly dry your greens by spinning them in a salad spinner or laying them out on a towel and patting them dry. When the leaves are almost completely dry, move on to step three.
Wrap them in a tea towel
Next, lay a dry tea towel on a flat surface. Arrange your greens in a single layer on the towel and loosely wrap them up like a burrito (or a tea ring dough if that's more your style). If you bought your greens unpackaged (yay you!), simply store them in the towel - no need to grab a container or bag.
If your greens came in a plastic bag, place wrapped leaves back in the bag and loosely seal it. If your greens came in a clamshell, place the wrapped greens back in the clamshell and very loosely seal. Loosely sealing will help promote a bit of airflow to keep the leaves crisp.
Place them in the crisper drawer
This step has a major caveat: if you never look in the dang crisper drawer, then don't put your greens in there. You'll be less likely to use your greens before they go bad if they’re sitting in a drawer that you never open. However, if you're an old pro with the crisper drawer, then place your greens in there until ready to use. The crisper drawer is designed to hold moisture so your leaves will stay fresh without drying out.
Wash before eating
Leafy greens are particularly susceptible to bacteria growth, so wash those puppies thoroughly before eating. To wash, fill up a bowl about halfway with cold water. Then, dunk the leaves in the water and gently swish them around. Pour out the dirty water and repeat until all leaves are clean. Eat em’ up!