How to keep lettuce leaves fresh in the refrigerator for a long time

Leaf lettuce, which is very popular among consumers, is used as an additive to many salads, and is also consumed in its pure form, well complementing the taste of meat and fish dishes, while saturating the body with vitamins and other beneficial substances. Such greens are consumed mainly fresh, which can be preserved for a long time if you know how to store lettuce leaves correctly. Experienced housewives use several basic methods for storing such a plant product, choosing the most suitable one for each specific case.

Storing Washed Leaves

Preparing fresh leaf lettuce for the winter is an almost impossible task, since none of the known methods can ensure such a long shelf life for this product. But it is quite possible to keep washed greens fresh at home for a month, for which you can use the following method:

each leaf of greenery must be washed separately, immediately removing yellowed and withered leaves from the general bunch;
the washed greens are placed in a colander and kept in it until all the water has drained from them;
For final drying, the greens are laid out on a paper napkin or towel;
the finally dried greens are carefully placed in a plastic container or enamel bowl, where they are covered with paper napkins or a plastic bag with holes;
Place the filled container in the refrigerator.

If you place a silver item in a storage container with the herbs, this will make it possible to keep them fresh for up to 30 days.

Under the film

You can preserve the pristine freshness of an unwashed product for up to a week using the following method:

Unwashed but sorted leaves are placed on a polystyrene foam pad, which is usually used for displaying food products in stores. The product should not be laid too tightly on such a substrate so that there is enough space between its leaves for air circulation.
The product placed on the substrate must be covered with cling film on top and the packaging must be placed on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator.

It is better to separate the required number of plant branches for daily use manually, without using metal scissors or a knife for this purpose.

This is explained by the fact that contact of the plant with metal surfaces, which is an unverified fact, negatively affects its taste characteristics.

Benefits of lettuce leaves

Greens are rich in vitamins B, E, PP, minerals, ascorbic acid. It contains magnesium, potassium, iron.
Leafy vegetables are low in calories.
Normalize blood cholesterol levels.

Thanks to their rich composition, their use has gone beyond cooking. The product is gaining great popularity in cosmetology - masks, tonics, and lotions are made based on extracts.

The main thing is to wash the salad thoroughly before eating. It is best to do this in a solution of salt and soda to avoid intestinal infections.

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In a bowl of water

Storing lettuce leaves in cool water, like freshly cut flowers, can extend the shelf life of lettuce leaves. To use this method, proceed as follows:

It is necessary to pour a little water into a bowl and put the plant bunches in it with the cuttings down, having previously cut off 2-3 mm of greenery from their lower part. Trimming the lower part of the cuttings of greenery is necessary so that the plant better absorbs moisture, which is a vital environment for it.
The upper part of the plant stored in water is covered with cling film or a plastic bag.

The plant should not be placed too tightly in a bowl of water so that a sufficient amount of air is retained between its leaves.

Preparing greens for storage

Before processing lettuce leaves for storage, they must be washed and dried thoroughly:

The leaves are sorted, removing roots and rotten parts with a plastic knife.
Place in a spacious container and fill with cool water.
Rinse thoroughly.
If necessary, change the water several times (greens usually have a lot of sand and earthen dust).

The second important point in the preparatory work is blanching the leaves (short-term temperature treatment):

Pour boiling water over the salad in a bowl.
After a minute, the water is drained.
The greens are poured with ice-cold clean water.

Blanching preserves the healthy vitamin and mineral complex in the salad, as well as its elegant bright green color.

Then the greens are placed in a colander or large sieve. When the water stops draining, the leaves are laid out on clean kitchen towels (cloth, paper). For good drying, the greens are not placed in a bunch, but each leaf separately.

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It is not recommended to cut or chop the salad using metal - an ordinary kitchen knife, blender or meat grinder. Upon contact with metal, an oxidation process occurs, which worsens the taste of the greens.

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Pickling

You can also eat pickled lettuce leaves; in this form they can be stored much longer than fresh greens, almost until the new gardening season. This plant is marinated in the following way:

At the bottom of the container, which can be an enamel pan or glass jar, place several peeled cloves of garlic and pieces of peeled and chopped celery stalk.
The leaves of the plant are washed and placed one at a time in layers straightened into a container.
After filling the container, sprigs of dill and celery are placed on the top layer of leaves.
To prepare the marinade, you need to boil a liter of water, add a tablespoon of salt, two tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon of citric acid.
Lettuce leaves placed in a container are poured with hot marinade and covered with oppression. After the marinade has cooled, the container with the herbs is placed in the refrigerator for storage.

Marinating with spices

Salad marinated according to this recipe acquires a richer taste and aroma. These qualities can be changed by choosing different seasonings.

In the classic version, for 500 g of leaves take:

30 g chopped garlic;
20 g each of dill and celery.

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The marinade is prepared from the following components:

1 liter of water;
2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
½ tbsp. salt;
6 peas of allspice;
⅓ tsp. citric acid;
3 bay leaves.

The indicated ingredients are placed alternately in an enamel pan - first lettuce leaves, then chopped celery and garlic, lettuce again, then dill, then lettuce on top. To prepare the marinade, bring the water to a boil, add all the ingredients, boil again and pour into a pan with herbs. Cover with a plate of slightly smaller diameter so that the leaves do not float. For short-term storage, the product is left in the pan. To preserve for the winter, transfer to a jar and seal. In both cases, store in the refrigerator.

Freezing

To prepare a food plant for the winter, it can be frozen in a household refrigerator. Having decided to preserve the freshness of greens in this way, you must keep in mind that lettuce leaves are not frozen entirely for the winter. This is explained by the fact that they contain a large amount of water, which, when frozen, turns whole leaves into a shapeless green mass. To freeze lettuce leaves, proceed as follows:

the leaves of the plant are doused with boiling water, after which they are cooled in cold water;
Having become softer and looser after the above-described processing, the lettuce leaves are crushed to a puree, which can be done manually using a meat grinder or blender;
The resulting green mass is laid out in molds, containers or bags and placed in the freezer of the refrigerator.

Chopped and frozen mass of lettuce, prepared in the manner described above, can be used to prepare sauces, add it to soups and main courses.

How to freeze lettuce leaves for the winter

In winter, there are very few fresh vegetables, so the body often experiences a deficiency of beneficial micronutrients. To solve this problem, you can use the method of storing greens in the freezer.

Lettuce leaves can be frozen in the following ways:

immerse the product in boiling water for 2 minutes;
pour cold water over it, which helps preserve its taste, aroma and color;
dry on a towel;
packaged in bags or wrapped in several layers of cling film;
sent to the freezer.

If the consistency of the salad after defrosting is not important to you, then you can prepare it for storage as follows:

washed and dried leaves are passed through a meat grinder or blender;
the resulting slurry is placed in bags, molds or plastic containers.

Salad puree is used to make soups and sauces.

You can store finely chopped leaves in ice trays, fill them with water and place them in the freezer. This method extends the shelf life of the product by 1-2 years.

Leaf lettuce is classified as a quickly fading plant, so its shelf life can be extended by storing it in the refrigerator or freezer. Each of these methods has its own nuances, the correct observance of which will allow you to prepare delicious vitamin-rich dishes even after the end of the product’s ripening period. Frozen leaves can turn into mush when stored for a long time, so this preparation is often used for soups or sauces.

Video: green salad - preparations for the winter

Green salad! Preparations for the winter. Freezing

Watch this video on YouTube

Video: how I store lettuce leaves

How do I store lettuce leaves?

Watch this video on YouTube

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