That that don't kill me, can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, cause I can't wait much longer. Kanye West, Stronger

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Salad Shopping Primer


Today I I was planning a big salad post. Since I really needed to stock up on produce, I thought I would show you some of my salad essentials.
A lot of the time I get a box of organic produce delivered through urbanorganic.com But sometimes I like to pick out my own things. I love that urban organic is local and organic, but it does take lots of washing and salad spinning because it is straight from the ground!
I went to Trader Joe's right after the gym (it's next door) so I bought everything that looked good! I also bought a lot of things that are ready to go because time is not of the essence!
Here's what I got:
Colored lettuce--tons of diffent greens, chards, a rainbow of colors to make salads a feast for the eyes!
-broccoli slaw
-snow peas (great in salads as are sugar snap peas)
-cherry tomatoes
-broccoli and cauliflower florets
-steamed beets-ready to go--beets are one of my very favorites
-cucumber
-mango--one of my favorite salad toppings
-carrots
-apples
-bananas (not for salad)
-strawberries
-baby spinach
-I also got some yogurts, trying a macca green tea yogurt, a bit weird especially since I can't remember my last flavored yogurt. Maybe it's like Pinkberry!
On my way out I picked up an impulse, seedy currant cookies. They reminded me of these great seed honey cookies I bought in Switzerland this summer. Kind of granola -like.
Despite the fact that I was pretty hungry, I managed to devour Glamour on the subway home rather than the food. Somehow I even unpacked, made my salad and took some photos for the blog rather than gobbling up the food at the counter as quick as I could chop it! Haha

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The post was great and I can't wait to try some of those combos.

I noticed you bought bagged lettuce- how do you store it? For example, when you pre make salads how do you store them so they don't get all mushy? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

What type of containers do you use to store left over food for the refrigerator and for the freezer?

Do you use plastic bags to store food or take food to go with you? If so, any brand you recommend? Thanks!

p.s. your comment on kath's blog is too funny. I lol.......there is somehing about kath's blog, different from most of the food blogs, in that I really feel I know her!

Anonymous said...

Haha, so I totally just realized my post is similar to the one above! Good timing, I guess :)

Melissa said...

Hi Leslie,

With bagged lettuce you do have to use it pretty fast. The Earthbound organic in the plastic containers seems to last a bit longer. A whole head of romaine lasts even longer.

What works the best for me with bagged lettuce is to put the plastic bag in a big gallon size ziplop and make sure to keep it where it won't get squished. Bagged spinach tends to hold up the best of all greens.

Michelle,

We have two big sets of containers. One is plastic from Ikea, tons of containers for like $10. These are fine for things you aren't heating, since plastic can break down in the microwave.

For things we plan on reheating, we have a huge set of glass containers from Crate and Barrel.

I generally bring food to work in plastic containers. But lately, I find that I end up with too many containers left at work--if I am going out with friends instead of right home or whathaveyou. So I am trying to bring my salad components in plastic bags, and them assembling my salad in reusable bowls at work. Then I just wash the bowl and leave it at work. I also just keep a bottle of salad dressing in the work fridge, so I don't have to get my lettuce soggy.

Just so everyone knows, I do try to reuse the plastic bags whenever possible to minimize enviromental impact.

This is when I am on the ball enough to pack lunch at home, a lot of time I hit up the deli.