This time of year, I cannot imagine needing to purchase lettuce. If I want a salad, I pop out into the garden and pick enough lettuce to make one. It’s one of the simple pleasures of life. I love that for a packet of seeds, I get to munch on greens I could never find in the store…well, at least not until recently. With the rise in bagged gourmet blends, peeps who do not have a garden can finally taste the goodness of non-iceberg and romaine leafy greens, with minimal effort. In fact, according to an article on NPR, those little bags of lettuce might be equating to peeps eating MORE veggies.
Just a few short decades ago, bagged lettuce meant spinach or iceberg. The convenience was nice, but paying a premium when a head of lettuce was mere pennies by comparison seemed a little nutso. Now, though, those triple washed bags of leafy greens {shown to be just as safe as the whole head alternative, according to the article}, offer varieties most people would not get to eat unless they’d grown them themselves. The result is convenience, added flavor, and boosted nutrients {the picking, washing, packaging, and shipping to the store turnaround is usually within 24 hours, so while nutrients do deteriorate upon preparation, the short time span means they still pack a nutritional wallop}.
While I still cringe at the idea of paying $5 for a bag of lettuce on a regular basis, when I am traveling, I have NO problem grabbing a bag and having a quick and healthy lunch on the go–the convenience is awesome, and it’s cheaper than paying for a salad at a restaurant. Plus, I can totally see how buying a bag that you don’t have to come home and wash and prep means getting dinner on the table for a family AND still offering healthy choices.
So what do you prefer? The bagged varieties, growing your own, or buying a head of lettuce and prepping it yourself?
~Mavis
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Carrie says
I wish I could pick lettuce from my garden in July! Everything has bolted and pulled up at the end of June. Kale is still going strong but I really dislike salad made with 100% kale. I buy the prewashed boxed lettuce once a week and add in some kale since I eat a salad for at least 5 meals during the week. For an organic 16 oz box of half spinach and half baby greens is about $6.00 and it will give us 10 salads. I’ll buy Romaine heads every once in a while since they are cheaper (3 heads in a bag for $3, unwashed) and to vary our diet some.
Lynn says
I have NEVER had homegrown lettuce that wasn’t bitter. I wish It wasn’t that way
erin in ia says
I agree Lynn, always bitter here, too…any advice Mavis? Maybe we’re planting the wrong kind.
Sue R. says
Here’s my tip for bitter homegrown lettuce–soak in warm water for 5-10 minutes. Then soak in cold for about the same time. This seems to really help and the lettuce is crisp after the cold water soaking. Also, it seems like more water in the garden helps to discourage the bitterness.
Lisa Millar says
Grow my own or prepare my own
To be honest, its the plastic packaging that puts me off. If a vegetable or fruit comes in plastic I avoid.
I understand the convenience, but we keep inventing new ways to use more plastic when we should be trying to cut back – I have even seen whole heads of iceberg lettuce in their own wrappings!!
Summer in the garden is lovely for picking your own salads fresh daily if you can.
Leslie says
I’ve never seen iceberg that wasn’t wrapped!
Patsy says
Mavis,
Please tell us how you clean and dry your homegrown lettuce. Do you have a favorite salad spinner?
Pamela says
Since I don’t garden bagged. Love it, when it is on sale that is! I love the kind that has a few types of lettuce, carrots and red cabbage.
Cheri says
I agree with Lisa about the plastic, and also the cost per ounce is prohibitive. But I have a family of seven, and it is true that we wouldn’t eat as much of a variety of veggies without the bagged stuff. I almost never buy prepared, fresh veggies, like cucumbers, peppers, or broccoli–the exception is Trader Joe’s 8-veggie mix–but I do buy bagged salads sometimes if I otherwise wouldn’t take the time to make a salad. And we get a much wider variety of greens that way, too. For example, Trader Joe’s has a cruciferous bagged salad with all sorts of stuff I wouldn’t buy and prepare on my own, just because of the variety and time required to prepare them all. It has kale, brussel sprouts, and other bitter greens that taste pretty good when mixed with more mild greens like romaine. Usually, though, I take the time to buy heads of lettuce and spinach and prepare them myself in my salad spinner.
Jen Y says
I buy head lettuce. Aldi sells Artisan lettuce in 4-packs that I like but I buy a 3-pack of romaine hearts, a head of iceberg & a shell of spinach pretty much every week. In late winter I can grow these (I could in fall as well if I’d just do it!) but my summers are much too hot & if I can keep them from bolting they’re always bitter with the heat.
Buying heads take so little prep it’s worth the savings – I wash well, drain well then wrap in a paper towel & store in a ziploc bag in the fridge. Then when I make a salad I carefully peel off the leaves I need to keep the head fresh as long as possible.
Lynn says
Thanks for the tip Sue! I’ll give it a try.
Julie says
I feel like I’m playing Russian roulette with E.coli when I buy bagged salad mix. I like the convenience of it, but can’t get past the worry when I bring it home. I like to buy the heads of lettuce and prepare it at home. It takes more time, but I figure it’s safer to eat.
Kristina says
E-coli cases in greens have lately come from animals traveling through the field or poor field sanitation (i.e. not washing up after going to the bathroom) by people picking the produce. Plus, there’s probably more thorough washing in a packaging plant than the average consumer employs. I feel at least as safe with bagged.
Ranee says
We just moved a couple of months ago and did not get anything planted at our new home. However, there is a farmers market every Saturday morning and I get locally grown lettuce there. Good value and very fresh. Of course we purchase other things as well, so the farmers market is the best, even though we are a small town. Last Saturday we got lettuce, English cukes, tomatoes, and eggs. And yes, these chickens are pasture raised. I am so happy!!
Marcia says
Like Julie above, I avoid bagged mixes these days. I think it makes things awkward sometimes. My neighborhood has a potluck every Sunday night. Sometimes people bring salad. But I hate to ask “is it from a bag?” So I assume the answer is “yes”. Even if it looks yummy, it’s not worth running to the bathroom later.
Some bags are okay, some are not. It’s a crap shoot (um, literally). I suspect that I have a reaction to a preservative that they use to keep lettuce fresh. I’ve noticed in the last 3-4 years that eating a salad from a restaurant makes me ill. Not every restaurant, and not every salad. There are a few restaurants in town that are fine. I’ve had enough problems at other restaurants that I’m leery of salads from a bag or box.
Lest I think I’m crazy, my husband has noted that his boss has said the same thing…bad reactions to eating salad “out”. So, the few times that I eat “out” I get cooked vegetables.
It’s okay, because I eat salad almost every day. Most of the time it’s greens from our CSA/ produce delivery. Sometimes it’s heads of lettuce that I’ve purchased and washed myself. Too bad, because long long ago I did love me a bagged salad mix.
When traveling with the family, if I don’t have my trusty salad spinner, I’ll often make do with cucumber/ tomato type salads, raw veggies and hummus (most recent trip – stayed in a house AirBNB and donated a carrot peeler to the house), frozen vegetables, or hardier cooked veg (broccoli, cauliflower, etc).
Brianna says
I have a child who reacts to some bagged and pre made purchased salads. Some companies coat the salad in a fine spray of propylene glycol to maintain freshness and texture. It is approved by the FDA in small amounts for consumption, even though it is antifreeze. Miralax (anti constipation medication) is a similar derivative of propylene glycol. Thus, I am convinced his bouts of overly loose stools after consuming these salads are probably caused by the propylene glycol and not the salad ingredients themselves. Just a thought for your salad issue.
Marcia says
That’s what I have been assuming. At first I wondered if the salads were not properly washed, then I read up on it and realized the preservative might be the issue.
This also explains why some salads when “out” are okay, and some are not. It depends on the source of the lettuce. Some restaurants wash their own, some use bagged mixes. And not all bagged mixes are the same.
Dayna says
I really like the Dole Chop Salad kits. I would never take the time to chop up all the ingredients so small. Right now they have them at my Aldi.
Mimi says
I buy bagged salads because I like baby lettuce and spinach and use coupons for the lowest price, BUT…I still wash them. I’ve encountered containers with so much mud included I just don’t trust that “triple washed” promise.
Heidi P says
Are you okay Mavis? Today is out of sync. Did I miss something? No Monday deals or what you eat post????
Tina says
I noticed that Mavis wasn’t posting too. Something must have happened to pull her away. I just hope everything turns out ok, whatever it is.
Linda Sand says
I buy bagged salads. We don’t have a place to garden. And we can’t eat whole heads fast enough to keep them from spoiling. So having a mix already prepared is wonderful!
Earlene says
In the summer, I go to the Farmers Market and get my lettuce, We don’t have a garden and when we did, it was a fight between the rabbits, deer and rabbits!! So, I wou;d rather see the bunnies in the yard and enjoy them. Buy bagged salad all the time
Ginger says
We do both. I buy 3 or 6 pack romaine. I will use a bag salad and add a head of romaine to stretch it out to feed the family.
Linda says
While bagged lettuce is convenient, I find it goes bad (slimy or rusted) very quickly after the bag is opened, so for our 2 person household, I’ve been buying head lettuce, which will stay fresh MUCH longer. If I’m feeding a gang, I opt for bagged, though I have to tell you that at my niece’s wedding reception, my sister used bagged salad (big bags from GFS) and there was a 1″ dead bug in one of the salads. Washed, but a bug! Fortunately it was a family member who got it and she didn’t cause a big scene- just disposed of the bug and the salad. Yeccch! I never open a bag without thinking about that.
Lisa MTB says
I go for the bagged (I find anything that cuts down on prep time useful), but give it another wash before I serve it.
Mamatosix says
On the issue of produce..has anyone tried bountiful baskets? I’m in western Washington. Just wondering if you Mavis are aware of this or any other readers have any feedback as to the value or quality?
Thanks!