Written on: April 2025
Hello hello, if you are new here, my name is Nat, and I decided to help you lower food waste in your kitchen! So, to start this journey, I'll show you not one, but two ways to store your greens (think any kind of lettuce, spinach, spring onions, kale - all kinds of leafy greens really).
Either way you choose, the first thing you will need to do is wash your greens. My preferred way of doing so is to fill the sink with water, add a teaspoon of baking soda and a drizzle of vinegar (don't waste any expensive ones, a simple white or red will work just fine), remove the root part of the leaves, and add them to the sink. Let them soak a bit in the water, then rinse a few leaves at a time and place them on a colander so the excess water can drain. Continue until you have rinsed all the leaves.
First method:
Now for the first method, you will need a clean kitchen towel and a plastic food bag. Add your greens onto a towel and wrap them burrito style, but not too tightly. The main goal here is for the leaves to be inside the towel, as this will help them stay fresh. Then add the wrapped towel inside the food bag and place it in the fridge.
Second method:
For the second method, you will need a food container and some kitchen paper. Start by placing a piece of paper at the bottom of your container, add a few leaves, then add another piece of paper, then more leaves, and once you've added all the leaves, cover with more paper and close the container with a lid. Store in the fridge.
Both ways can keep your greens fresh for up to 10 days, although don't expect them to be the same as the day you bought them!
Some notes for you to consider:
When you store your greens, they need to still be a bit wet, as this water will go onto the kitchen towel/paper and help them stay fresh, although too much water won't work.
If you use kitchen paper, while the days pass by and you go through your greens, change the paper to help them stay fresher. Let's say, in a period of 10 days, I might change the paper once or twice, depending on the type of greens.
While you go through your greens, if you notice a leaf has gone bad, make sure to remove it, as this will make the rest go bad faster. Of course, both ways of storing assume that you have removed any bad leaves during the cleaning process.
And a small tip to finish this blog post:
I follow the container-kitchen paper storing technique even when I buy already washed and cut leaves - you know, the ones you find in the fridge section ready to use - to ensure they will remain fresh for longer!
I hope you found this blog helpful, Nat x
