Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Tools I Couldn't Cook Without: My Zyliss Salad Spinner +A Healthy Trick for Cleaning Produce


I left my ex-husband our salad spinner in the divorce, so I had to go out and get a new one right away. This is my current Zyliss Salad Spinner. The first one had a lid that you could use to convert the spinner for fridge storage (lucky guy!) ;0) So if you're in the market for a salad spinner & you can find the one with the lid--go for it. If not, you can still store with the lid of this one. It pulls like a lawn mower, smooth and fun! Just hummms away. I eat so much healthier when I don't have to towel dry lettuces. It's a great way to get kids involved in cooking; there more likely to A) help in the kitchen & B) eat the salad they made.

It also allows you to soak the lettuce for a while, which is nice if you can't buy organic, or if you want to perk up lettuce with cold cold water. I just tear lettuce roughly and fill with cold water. Pull the basket up and dump the water. Put the basket back and spin away. You can clean other veg in there too. :0) Adding a paper towel on the bottom of the basket for storage makes the lettuce last longer. (It gets damp from the lettuce & prevents it from dehydrating.)


Salty fruit???

After I soak fruit/veg, I scrub 'em clean with a brush and salt. Then rinse 'em.

  • Salt is naturally anti-bacterial (So it's great for things like cantaloupe which can harbor salmonella (source & more info)
  • It doesn't affect the flavour. In fact, some people like to add salt to fruit: apples for instance.
  • It's mildly abrasive, so it removes things like wax.
  • Salt is especially good for cleaning produce you eat/use the peels of like potatoes and citrus: it gets in those little divits!
Happy eating,
:0)
Mel

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