The one problem with buying bulk lettuce and storing it in my produce bag all week is that by Friday things are looking a littttttle droopy. What to do abut the wilt?
I’m looking into other ways to store the lettuce…maybe I need another vejibag? I only have one, but it works like a dream with every piece of produce I’ve tried…maybe I just need a bunch in various sizes. Shout out in the comments section if you have a good system.
Anyway, I made gnocchi for dinner with TJs cauli gnocchi and walnut pistachio pesto from the freezer stash.
You have to follow the instructions on the bag very closely, sauteeing it in a decent amount of olive oil first, before adding water and letting that cook off…if you try to boil it in water like normal pasta it doesn’t work.
Once it was coked through, I tossed it in pesto and threw arugula on top. Even though the arugula looked a little sad it still tasted good, so maybe I just need to not worry about the lettuce storage and just eat it.
Kyle’s portion got parmesan, but I thought the pesto was hearty enough that it didn’t need anything else.
I love love love a super thick and nutty pesto. And since the pistachios in the pesto were salted and roasted, they gave the dish the perfect rich umami oomph.
As much as I feel like I SHOULD be making soups halfway through October, it’s still sunny and 80 degrees out, sooooo…I guess we are going to extend summer with basil filled dinners??
I’m still super obsessed with the cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe’s. Even though I haven’t been to TJs in almost a month (!) I still have quite the freezer stash from when I bought half a case last Spring. It seemed crazy at the time, but it’s super nice to have a (VEGGIE PACKED) meal always at my fingertips…both the gnocchi and pesto are VERY well stocked in our deep freezer so this meal may keep popping up well into December. 😛
All those soft lettuces go over the hill quickly, honestly i would be worried if five days later it looked happy and freah! If they’re just a little droopy a swish in some water with ice in it helps. Otherwise i just plan to eat the soft lettuces first and save more hearty greens for later in the week.
Wilty lettuce… store it upright in a jar of water. you don’t need to fill the jar all the way up, just put in enough so the stems touch the water. Keeos my greens vibrant for a few extra days beyond their normal shelf life. 🙂 Enjoy that Gnocchi!
Hmmm…this is also how I store my cilantro, but greens are so tall…I’m going to have to think of a way to reconfigure the fridge…what about mixed greens though? (or things without stems)
Hi Elise,
To store salads and spinach I use glass tubs from ikea.
They stay fresh and I can keep them easily for 5 days. The only minus it fills your fridge…
Thanks for sharing your amazing recipes! Your quick banana bread is so good and my 2 year old son loves it!
Greetings from Belgium,
Nicky
Thanks Nicky!
I know you’re trying to minimize plastic, but my trick for keeping delicate garden lettuce fresh is using a ziploc, open just a crack to let allow gas exchange, with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. I’ve had greens last over two weeks this way. I wash and reuse the ziploc a zillion times (or sometimes not even wash it), and the paper towel goes in the compost when it’s looking funky. Jo Robinson has some great advice on lettuce storage to maximize nutrition in her book Eating on the Wild Side, but I’ve found this to be a less finicky compromise.
Below is a crazy long link to an excerpt from Eating on the Wild Side on storing lettuce. I think you’d love the book for picking the most nutrient-dense varieties of fruit and veg to buy and grow and all the nutrition geekery.
https://books.google.com/books?id=5NpRubbotHUC&pg=PT16&lpg=PT16&dq=eating+on+the+wild+side+store+greens+with+holes+in+plastic+bag&source=bl&ots=QSsA4hbWxT&sig=bsOsTtD8aNuugGkZv3-m64Ohs14&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjF-fnh8aHeAhX6IDQIHaopAx4Q6AEwDHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=eating%20on%20the%20wild%20side%20store%20greens%20with%20holes%20in%20plastic%20bag&f=false
Awesome! Thanks for the link (just gotta focus on doing the best and not letting perfect be the enemy of good).