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View Full Version : 30 day challenge, preparing salad WITHOUT USING A SALAD SPINNER!



Mrs-M
6-10-11, 12:13am
For me this is a given, preparing salad without the aid of a spinner, but I thought it would be fun to throw a 30 day challenge out there to everyone/anyone interested in preparing salad (for 30 days) the old-fashioned way.

chrisgermany
6-10-11, 4:05am
Put the salad leaves in a towel, go to your garden, porch or balcony and SPIN your arm around!
If you put the towel in a big enough plastic bag you can even spin inside...

mira
6-10-11, 9:48am
I'm not even sure what a salad spinner looks like. I've never used one. I take it they are quite common??

catherine
6-10-11, 9:52am
I agree. I've never used a salad spinner.

Float On
6-10-11, 10:30am
I've never had one either.

reader99
6-10-11, 10:36am
My mother had one for a while. Sometime in the 90s they were big. I once spun lettuce on the spin cycle in the washing machine.

What I do now is take a plastic bag, lay a paper towel in the bottom, wash the lettuce, lay it on the towel, put another towel on top and refrigerate. Keeps 4-5 days.

ApatheticNoMore
6-10-11, 12:18pm
Well when I make salads for myself I sometimes eat them with the leaves wet, when I've made salads for others I've often dried the leaves with paper towels. And every single time it has occurred to me how ridiculous it is to be wasting paper towels for that, and how badly I NEED a salad spinner instead!

loosechickens
6-10-11, 3:36pm
What I'm going to do until I find another salad spinner at a thrift store, is to quickly sew up a muslin bag (I've got lots and lots of muslin) about the size of a small pillow case, pop the washed greens in that, hold it closed, and spin it around a bit, then just lay the muslin case down on the counter with the greens spread out in it until the muslin has absorbed the moisture, then dump into the salad bowl. If I don't use the muslin case for anything else, can't see why I couldn't just hang it up until it dries and reuse as needed.

Hey, maybe I won't even NEED to get another salad spinner........ ;-)

Gina
6-10-11, 5:11pm
Why would I want to give up something that simplifies my life? I know what it's like to not use one - I didn't have a spinner for years and years, and I even did the swinging pillowcase on occasion. That works well, but takes more time, effort, and space (to swing). Guess I just love my conveniences.

Perhaps there should be an equal challenge of using a spinner for those who don't. Or perhaps we should just let people use or not use what they want.

Well, it's time to prepare a grand lunch salad with my perfectly picked, washed ...and spun.... lettuce. Yum.

Anne Lee
6-10-11, 5:47pm
Ack! :0! This is talking SL too far.

:~)

lhamo
6-10-11, 7:39pm
Yeah, I can't quite fathom the whole "salad spinners are a tool of the devil mentality" -- if someone finds it useful and has space for it, what's the big deal? Next thing you know you'll be trying to take away my cheese graters (yes, I have more than one) or something.

Our salad spinner was left behind by the former owners of our place and I LOVE it. I don't have muslin bags or paper towels and don't have counter space to dry a bunch of lettuce. I can put enough lettuce in for two lunches, let it soak for awhile to loosen up the dirt (organic lettuce comes with quite a bit of extra dirt!), rinse it a couple of times, give it a whirl and set about making my salads. There is nothign to "wash" after -- just rinse off the little lettuce bits. I have a dedicated space under the counter for the device, and nothing else is crowded out. Giving it up would not simplify my life or make me any more frugal. YOu will pry my salad spinner from my cold, dead hands!

But to each his own. If you like shaking, muslin bags or whatever and that works for you, by all means go ahead and enjoy your challenge.

lhamo

Mrs-M
6-11-11, 12:42am
I always thought spinning greens in a pillowcase or towel or cloth/fabric sheet was just plain old fabricated fun, didn't realize you guys were actually serious.

At any rate, every so often (after starting a thread) I think to myself- "what a big mistake", and this is one of those occasions. Don't know what prompted all the seriousness by a couple members here, but that's fine. Live and learn I guess... I was only trying to encourage a little fun.

lhamo
6-11-11, 5:16am
Sorry -- I meant my post to be largely tongue in cheek as well, but now see it doesn't really read that way. Note to self: do not try to be clever before morning coffee has kicked in....

I will now proceed to flog myself with the rope pull on my salad spinner. See how useful they are.

:)

lhamo

Mrs-M
6-11-11, 6:00pm
No worries. I found this tongue in cheek smiley a while back. http://th167.photobucket.com/albums/u144/bjornunda/th_tongueincheek.gif

Fawn
6-11-11, 10:13pm
I am soooo simple, I eat the dirt on my unwashed, unspun lettuce.

Just don't be too surprised to find me dead in a couple years.....

Tiam
6-11-11, 11:16pm
Not me. My salad spinner makes my lettuce so much better. I pick it from the garden, bring it in, soak it really well, to get the sand, dirt and bugs off and tear it up and put it in the spinner and spin. Then the spinner goes in the fridge with the lettuce in it. I can keep cut lettuce, ready to pour into a bowl and eat for twice the amount of time as any other method. It is dry, fluffy, green, leafy. Any other method, eventually it wilts and gets tired. I'm not getting rid of a great thing!!!

Tiam
6-11-11, 11:55pm
I'm not even sure what a salad spinner looks like. I've never used one. I take it they are quite common??


Here's one. They can get pricey, but I get mine at yard sales. http://www.saladspinner.net/oxosaladspinner.jpg

Mrs-M
6-12-11, 7:50pm
Originally posted by Fawn
I am soooo simple, I eat the dirt on my unwashed, unspun lettuce.

Just don't be too surprised to find me dead in a couple years..... Now- now, be nice. :)

Tiam. I like the sounds of your storing method.

Tradd
6-12-11, 10:59pm
I've never had a salad spinner, although I think a college roomie might have had one and I used it a few times. Something else to wash. I just buy bagged lettuce and get around that whole thing!

Mrs-M
6-12-11, 11:45pm
Originally posted by Tradd.
I've never had a salad spinner, although I think a college roomie might have had one and I used it a few times. Something else to wash.ROTFLMAO! Oh how funny! Talk about make me laugh! Just knowing you and I think alike on the "one more thing to wash/clean" issue! :laff: That's me to a T! :~)

Madsen
6-13-11, 2:10am
Are these mainly for homegrown lettuce that still has dirt?

Mrs-M
6-14-11, 6:19pm
Originally posted by Madsen.
Are these mainly for homegrown lettuce that still has dirt? I'd say not.

cattledog
6-14-11, 9:05pm
Then the spinner goes in the fridge with the lettuce in it. I can keep cut lettuce, ready to pour into a bowl and eat for twice the amount of time as any other method. It is dry, fluffy, green, leafy. Any other method, eventually it wilts and gets tired. I'm not getting rid of a great thing!!!

Agreed- the spinner makes a great crisper. My lettuce keeps for a long time in it.

Tiam
6-19-11, 3:57pm
Not just for garden lettuce. It just dries the lettuce really well, and does make a great storage vessel, keeping it fresh longer. The down side of it, is it is bulky, takes up space and kind of difficult to store.

treehugger
6-20-11, 12:46pm
Are these mainly for homegrown lettuce that still has dirt?

I'm genuinely curious; do you not wash store-bought lettuce? Personally I'd eat my own homegrown lettuce without washing it before I would eat commercial lettuce. At least I know my dirt is just...dirt. :)

Anyway, I agree that a salad spinner (I have the OXO one) makes an excellent storage place for washed and dried lettuce in the fridge. Keeps prepped-for-salad lettuce ready all week.

Kara