Fresh salad ingredients that last?

Morning Glory

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Given the current situation it seems like a good idea to buy fresh salad ingredients that don't wilt and shrivel after a day or so. Bagged and ready to use salads are notoriously short on shelf life. Which fresh salad ingredients are your best buys for staying fresh longest?
 
Well, carrots last an age, but the other stuff, not so much.
 
Well, carrots last an age, but the other stuff, not so much.

I suppose it depends what is meant by lasting. I'm meaning about a week at least, or more.

Radishes & beetroot are two other root veg used in salad which last. In terms of greens; cabbage for sure plus Cos lettuce and Iceberg lettuce keep well. And surprisingly, I find that rocket (arugula) keeps rather well.
 
Sugar (snap) peas usually last me about a week as well as celery. Celery I mince pretty fine before adding to the salad.
 
The first thing I do with iceberg lettuce is to cut out the "stem" part. That is where the lettuce head starts to turn color and go bad. I put it in the crisper drawer with one of those filters that removes ethylene gas from the air in the drawer. I easily get a week from a head.

Another long lasting salad ingredient is bacon! :okay:

CD
 
X2 on the bacon,lol.
Interesting the stem thing, I leave it on, it lasts longer here. Tried your method it doesn't last as long. My fridge has crisper so with air flow so I easily get a week. Mines a maytag.
Carrots last forever here. Plus we pick fresh from garden, Spring onions radishes etc.

Russ
 
I find Romaine lettuce can last a while - in fact I have some in the Fridge that was delivered 10 days ago and its still ok. I just remove the leaves from the stem as needed and put the rest back in the crisper drawer in it's bag (still on the stem).
Tomatoes can last a couple of weeks too (though it can be variable) - I guess it depends on the variety and how ripe they were when they were picked.
Spring onions are another that seem to go on forever (and if they go a bit floppy then just use them up in a cooked dish!).
Cucumbers are more difficult - they go mushy fairly quickly. Baby cucumbers last longer than normal size ones - probably because the skins are intact whilst you are storing them.

I bought one of these mats from Lakeland a few months ago and it does seem to work.

Another long lasting salad ingredient is bacon! :okay:
I don't consider bacon as a salad ingredient - its something you can add to a salad, but its not salad.
 
Cucumbers are more difficult - they go mushy fairly quickly. Baby cucumbers last longer than normal size ones - probably because the skins are intact whilst you are storing them.

This is annoyingly so - they look as if they would last ages, like a marrow.

I don't consider bacon as a salad ingredient - its something you can add to a salad, but its not salad.

I think caseydog was sort of tongue in cheek. But there's no doubt a few sprinkles of crispy bacon are great on a salad.

Peppers seem to last a long time - though I'm not overly fond of them raw.
 
Our cucumbers are all small almost gherkins and if separated some could last over a week. Ordinary lettuce deteriorates in a couple of days but green oak and red oak with roots still attached may last a week. Carrots and Chinese cabbage appear to last forever. Thai chillies last over a week and sometimes two weeks. Coriander lasts about 3 days as does parsely and basil. Spring onions last a few days longer. Tomatoes vary but generally are still firm after a minimum of 4 days.

All the above are kept in the salad drawer.

Radishes are strange. Left outside the fridge they'll stay crisp for 5 days; inside the fridge they go to mush overnight.

Onions and shallots are left outside the fridge with the garlic, apart from the potatoes. It's not unusual for them to be still usable after 10 days.
 
For lettuce, I immediately pull all the leaves apart, throw out the bad ones, rinse and dry the good ones, then into a plastic ziplock bag.

I roll and squeeze every ounce of air out, seal it, and that'll last a couple of weeks.
 
Tomatoes vary but generally are still firm after a minimum of 4 days.

I know you are dealing with high temperatures there, but tomatoes ate one vegetable (fruit) which should never be kept in the fridge as the flavour deteriorates quite significantly - scientific fact. To quote:
.
Tomatoes grow in hot climates. It's why they're so integral to food from countries such as Italy and Mexico. "Chilling, a major stress for a tropical plant such as the tomato, reduced the activity of hundreds of genes," said science writer Bob Holmes .

"Some of these produce enzymes responsible for synthesising the volatile chemicals that make tomatoes taste sweeter and give them a more complex, appealing aroma. Many of the enzymes never recovered, even after the tomatoes were back at room temperature. Taste tests confirmed that chilling did, indeed, give rise to less flavourful tomatoes."

So yes, basically, chilling has a negative impact on the glorious flavour of tomatoes, and it also impairs the seductive aroma – the fresh, earthy smell you get when met with a new bunch, all plump and red.
 
There's a brand here that sells living lettuce, still has roots attached. It comes in a hard plastic box with a little divot where the roots are that I think you are supposed to put water in when you get home. I think it's some type of butter lettuce.
 
I know you are dealing with high temperatures there, but tomatoes ate one vegetable (fruit) which should never be kept in the fridge as the flavour deteriorates quite significantly - scientific fact. To quote:
.

If we have an excess of tomatoes, I have recently taken to peeling, chopping and freezing them. I have also frozen tinned tomatoes if the tin contains more than I envisage using in the near future.
 
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