Lettuce in a bag, think twice.

[Paper Roses]

Because of other family obligations for my kids, I visited one of my daughters day before Xmas with the knowledge that they had to leave about 10AM Xmas AM to visit other family members and that I would leave in the morning.

I brought all the fixings for Xmas eve dinner because my daughter and son-in-law were working until late in the day. Had a great time getting things ready for dinner with my grandchildren---except:

In addition to the main meal ingredients, bought salad fixings in a bag. Romaine lettuce. I brought my own Caesar dressing. I bought the Romaine lettuce based on what I know everyone will eat.

SO: I brought the bag of Romaine, it also had a little red cabbage--supposedly cleaned and ready to serve. OK, I don't trust that and I washed the stuff anyway. Yikes.
Not only was the bag half stems (or) ribs of romaine but upon the second wash, I found in the wash water something that looked like a small, curled up caterpillar.

GROSS. Out the whole thing went in the trash. One of my grandchildren saw this too, she was grossed out. No salad with Xmas eve dinner.
I will never buy lettuce in a bag again.

[cbayer]

1. In some places, caterpillars are considered food and a good source of protein.

There is nothing inherently wrong with them and they may escape the factory wash because the are sticking to a leaf.

But, I also avoid salad in a bag because I do think you often get the least desirable parts.

Hope that your dinner was otherwise wonderful!

[Laurian]

2. I'm with you on this. I find the smell of bagged salad off putting.....

A chemical smell. Then, once the bag is opened it goes bad very quickly. Since there are only two of us here most of the time, that can lead to a lot of waste. If I buy heads of Boston, Romaine, Bibb and/or Iceberg, they will last more than a week after being cleaned and placed in storage bags.

I already have strong reservations about bagged salad and your experience adds another element. Yikes!

[inanna]

3. It's a waste of money for me....

Has a terrible taste & smell to it. And it seems to rot very quickly.

[NJCher]

4. I never buy that stuff

I wouldn't let the caterpillar freak me out, though. Same reason as what cbayer says.

Those bags are a nice idea. I like the idea that there's a mix already made up and you don't have to buy all these different greens. Trouble is, I don't think they're as fresh as what can be had by buying them as a head or bunch.

I even have one salad cookbook that uses bagged lettuces as the basis. It is a cookbook devoted to fast salads, though, and that's the reason.



Cher

[Warpy]

5. One little cabbage looper did that?

I'd have just picked him out and eaten the salad, happy in the knowledge that it didn't have enough pesticide in it to kill the little guy.

Anything that is to be eaten raw is now run through a mild bleach solution just in case field hygiene isn't the best (and it isn't). Outbreaks of fecal coliform diseases from raw veggies have been traced to extreme soil contamination from a plume of waste from meat production, mostly.

I prefer to buy the lettuce and other veg and build my own salads because I've noticed the bagged stuff has a weird odor of preservatives and spoils quickly once opened. I've used it in a pinch and mixed the dressing to cover up the preservatives. Since I buy the organic cabbages, I do occasionally find a looper or two and pick them off.

I think it makes a huge difference if you've gardened and have picked wildlife off all your produce.

By the way, a great way to treat leaf lettuce is to separate the leaves dunk them in a pan of water to remove dirt or wildlife, shake off as much water as possible (don't use a salad spinner) and put the leaves on paper towels, rolling them up as you go. Put the roll of paper towels and leaves into a plastic bag and they'll keep for a couple of weeks, at least. I did this when the weather was warming up to salvage the crop before it bolted. The paper towels could be dried and reused.

[NJCher]

8. interesting

happy in the knowledge that it didn't have enough pesticide in it to kill the little guy.





Anything that is to be eaten raw is now run through a mild bleach solution just in case field hygiene isn't the best (and it isn't).

Didn't know this.

I happened to hear on a radio show that fruits and vegetables that come in from out of the country are irradiated. Do you know if this is true?




Cher

[Warpy]

9. I know all dried herbs and spices are

I'm not sure about produce from outside the US. Could be, it would kill any plant diseases we don't yet have although it wouldn't do anything about the unapproved pesticides on it.

[dem in texas]

12. Yes, if you have gardened, you find a little worm or bug every once in while.

That said, you are paying good money for the bagged lettuce and you don't expect to find worms.

We are on the same wave length for buying and storing lettuce. I buy whole heads too, rinse them well and let them drain in the colander for a while, then wrap the lettuce in paper towels and put it in plastic bag in the fridge, keeps for at least 10 days that way. I first saw this way of keeping lettuce on the old Two-Hot-Tamales cooking show on Food Network, that was a long time ago. I wish they'd run those shows again Great recipes!

[pscot]

6. On the other hand

if it's caterpillar safe....

[TeeYiYi]

7. You threw it out...

...because of a caterpillar?...

In my opinion, the caterpillar made it worthy of eating. If a caterpillar was willing to eat it, so would I.

It's the 'frankenfood,' (genetically modified corn, etc.) with no signs of life that makes me nervous. (Cobs of corn with perfectly formed tips and no signs of life, whatsoever.)...

The caterpillar was the stamp of approval. I would have given him a ride to one of my in house plants until I could relocate him to the new garden growth in the Spring.

TYY

[bif]

10. We buy the box of lettuce at Costco once in a while

One time we found a cricket in it. So ever since then, we refer to the box as cricket food!

[SheilaT]

11. Not to mention that it's a lot cheaper

to buy the whole heads of lettuces, rather than paying someone else to clean and cut them up.

Yeah, it's a little more work, but you should taste my coleslaw. It takes time to chop up an entire cabbage, shred the carrots, thinly slice some peppers, but boy, is it worth it. And the dressing is made from scratch, if you'll cut me slack for not making my own mayonnaise.

[blackcrow]

13. poor caterpiller

Who was it who said, on finding a worm in an apple, well, at least I know the apple won't kill me.

As an older person, I buy prepared veggies. I just don't have the energy to do a lot of preparation. If I buy a whole lettuce, it just rots in the fridge. Part of the problem is getting through the industrial strength wrapping.