Revive lettuce

[ktcolt]

What is the best way to revive lettuce from the bag...where the bag has NOT been opened yet...is only 3 days old and is already showing signs of limpage...wilting...brown spots...with that not so fresh look. I want to use it tonight but it needs a kickstart.

[Snowflake]

Has anyone else heard of coating with Olive Oil and then shaking on some Sea Salt? The oil coats the lettuce so that the salt isn't too harsh.

[xnyorkr]

Rinse the lettuce off to clean it, roll the remaining lettuce in a damp dish towel, and put it in the refridgerator until it's chilled. Crisps it up again. Works for me if the lettuce isn't too far gone.

[chef chicklet]

Wash in glass bowl using cold water, dunking it many times, pick off any thing disturbing. Then I place in a smaller glass bowl that the head of the lettuce just reaches the top. After letting it dry in a colander, I place it in the bowl, line bottom with a paper towel, and then cover the top of the lettuce with two thicknesses of paper towels, and then plastic wrap. Chill all day before using. Crispy lettuce, and it lasts awhile. I don't store it in the veg bin either, just on the lower rack of fridge. I don't know if there is anything unique to this process, but I do have people ask how I get my lettuce so crispy.

[Mila]

Saw this on a Michael Smith Foodtv show.
Soak the leaves first in luke warm water which apparently opens the "pores" of the lettuce. Then after 5 minutes (I think) shock it in a cold / ice water path.

Anyone who saw this and has a better memory than me please chime in.

[hotoynoodle]

shocking it with an ice water bath might help. it could have been languishing in your produce section for a while too.

[GilaB]

Soak it in cold water with some plain white vinegar added, which crisps things up significantly. I can't give you precise measurements - in my big, salad-sized bowl, I probably use about a quarter cup of vinegar.

[laurendlewis]

According to the produce mgr at my grocery store, lettuce is best eaten within a day or 2 of purchase. Now we all know that's a load, but that's their party line I guess.

[ccbweb]

Well, "best eaten" is probably accurate. Granted, it should last a bit longer properly stored, but I'm sure you're right that's the line.

I think the suggestions of putting the lettuce in cold (I use ice water) water is an excellent one. Don't forget to spin it dry, it'll help open it up as wel.

[DGresh]

I would put it in a big bowl of cold water and *carefully* pick through it removing any yellow, slimy, or otherwise bad looking leaves. Those can really ruin a salad as they taste absolutely terrible.