fftf: bunches vs bags vs heads vs containers 🥬 which greens are best?

Hello friend!

A few weeks ago I found myself FUMING in the kitchen while picking through a large plastic container of mixed greens.

You know what I’m talking about - you begin to pull out handfuls of spring mix, only to find little brown, wilty, smelly bits of rotting lettuce speckled throughout the plastic box. They leave tiny brown-juice trails on the GOOD pieces of lettuce, and the closer you look, the more yucky pieces you seem to find.

If you’re like me (kind of a weirdo)… with a possibly-obsessive hatred of food waste, you may spend 20 minutes picking through the whole container to get all the good pieces out before washing them twice in the salad spinner to make sure all the funky brown bits are gone.

Or - maybe you’re the (smarter?!) type who opens the container, gets a nasty whiff of defunct lettuce, and immediately throws the whole thing away, feeling a bit guilty about it, but figuring it’s not worth the time to sort through. (I admit this may be the better option to my picking-while-fuming technique.)

An ugly but real life photo of my picked through salad box. Notice the pile of discards in the sink :(

If you’ve been in either of these situations before, then I hope you’ll hear me out today as I make a case for buying bunches of greens and whole heads of lettuce over those pre-packed containers. (I'm here to convince you to at least give it a try!!) To be fair to all sides, I’ll also include when and why I WOULD buy the containers.

First, I gotta acknowledge that the pre-washed, ready to eat containers/bags of lettuce (and spinach, arugula, etc) are extremely convenient. When there are no bad bits, you can simply grab a handful and stick it straight into a bowl for a very fast salad. (In case you want to nerd out, I did some brief research on pre-washed lettuce! Apparently it can be controversial. This article is very in-depth about what "triple-washed" actually means, though admittedly it's from a small salad-green-producer who may have an incentive to trash-talk the big players.)

Spring mix is mild, delicate, and delicious and I do love the variety of lettuces it includes. And arugula in a box is usually the only kind in the store.

However, in my experience, if you let the box of greens go more than 3 days, you inevitably end up with some yucky bits, which are a big pain in the butt to sort through or clean out. (And if you accidentally buy an older box, it can have bad bits as soon as you bring it home.)

Consider instead a bunch of greens (especially spinach) and whole heads of lettuce. Of course, I prefer to buy these at the farmers market, but you can also find them at regular grocery stores if you take a closer look at the shelves. (Especially as we are entering peak greens season, there should be more whole heads of lettuce available!)

Some especially HUGE and beautiful heads of lettuce from a few summers ago :)

Now- yes, I know, you have to wash the whole heads of lettuce and the bunches of greens. (And if you are shopping at the farmers market, you have to wash thoroughly and look for potential bugs and dirt!)

BUT in my experience, bunches and whole heads can last a full 1-2 weeks in the fridge if you store them properly! Seriously - I have been pushing the limits of my lettuce/greens storage in this past year (bc: laziness) and I am still amazed every time I find myself eating delicious, perfect lettuce leaves (from a whole head) a full 1-2 weeks after I purchased them!

Now of course, fresher is always better; I’m not saying you should necessarily keep them around this long. BUT - the main win with buying whole heads or bunches is the FLEXIBILITY in timing they provide, MINUS most of the worries about waste.

If you buy the whole head of lettuce but don’t have time or aren’t in the mood for salads in the days immediately after… no problem! When stored properly, you have over a week to decide when and how to eat those gorgeous greens.

An additional reason to buy the bunch or whole head is to avoid plastic packaging (which if you're an eco-freak like me, is reason in and of itself) but - I also know that not everyone chooses to soothe their climate anxiety through individual actions like I do.

I most often buy whole heads and bunches, but if I'm at the store and craving it, I will buy a box of spring mix. More broadly, here's when I WOULD buy boxes/bags of greens:

If that's all that's available to you, then by all means - you gotta get your greens!
If you just don't have time for washing greens right now.
If you know you’re gonna finish a box of greens in 3 days or less
If you’re feeding a large group and need a lot of salad, a box is a convenient way to go.

Still... if you usually buy boxes and bags, I encourage you to at least try buying whole heads once in a while. I find they often have more flavor than the greens in the plastic containers. And if you're not already... I especially encourage you to STORE them using my techniques for long-lasting-lettuce. (Many people have told me that my veggie storage techniques are "life changing!" 😱 🤗)

Before I tell you about the latest tweaks to my storage techniques, I need to say a quick word about arugula...

If you ever see arugula sold in a large bunch, YOU GOTTA TRY IT! If you have only ever eaten “baby arugula” from the plastic container, you have truly not had a full arugula experience.

Honestly they don’t even have bunches of arugula very often at the farmers market where I shop, but I found it two weeks ago at a new market and I was SO HAPPY!

Big arugula is SPICY. Like - it has some SERIOUS ZING! The bigger leaves have slightly more stalk that gives it some crunch too! Omggggggg I love big arugula SO MUCH.

I first experienced the most delicious arugula when I was working on Kuaiwi Farm on the Big Island of Hawaii for 3 months in the fall of 2015. In my time there, it was the only plant that I actually saw through its entire life cycle: I planted the seeds, watched them grow, and made the MOST delicious salad with them in my final weeks on the farm. Since then, arugula has held a VERY special place in my heart.

This is the actual arugula I planted and ate in Hawaii in 2015:

After this experience, I was so excited about arugula, I attempted and actually did manage to grow it in the window of my SF apartment briefly! I probably only got about 2 salads out of that effort but… it was fun! So if you're gonna garden this summer - definitely plant some!!

OK - that concludes my love-for-arugula rant. The bottom line is - my final (and most important!) reason to try whole heads and bunches of greens is to experience their FULL flavor potential, which I find is more readily available when they're in their BIG, WHOLE forms (you at least gotta try it if you have only ever eaten the babies).

Now onto the technical stuff - some updated greens storage techniques! (Overview veggie storage guide here on my website.)

How to store BUNCHES of greens (spinach, arugula, kale, etc) and/or whole heads of lettuce:

ALWAYS: untie the twist tie (for bunches of greens) as soon as you bring greens home!
Rinse lightly with cold water over a colander in the sink. For whole heads of lettuce, run the water straight down into the core for a few seconds, then turn it over to let the water flow out into the sink.
Pick out any yellow or bad leaves from the bunch, or pick off any wilty leaves or damaged outer leaves from a whole head of lettuce.
Storage options (in order of my preference for each type):

For more delicate bunches like spinach, arugula, dandelion greens, bok choy, AND for whole heads of lettuce with tender leaves like butter lettuce, leaf lettuce, etc:

"specialized" plastic container with ventilation such as this or this
a regular plastic tupperware (you'll need a big one), keep it partially open and that's ok if some stems are popping out. I successfully stored a bunch of spinach (rinsed per the above 3 steps) in this red-lidded container for 10 days last week! (see photo below for exact container)
for a small bunch, you can also store like herbs if this works better for you: store upright in a wide-mouthed jar/plastic container with a little water in the bottom (like flowers) and a compostable, plastic, or cloth bag loosely covering the top. Depending on your fridge, this method may run a risk of the tops freezing if the top shelf of your fridge is too cold (like mine is).
In a vejibag or wrapped in a towel, per the below

For hearty greens like kale and collards, and for heartier heads like romaine, I prefer to store:

in a vejibag (rinse/wash before hand)
washed and wrapped in a damp towel, with a large rubber band around it to keep it together (not too tight)

The downside of the plastic containers is that they take up more space in the fridge. The upside is you can see the greens more easily, which reminds you to eat them! (I love my vejibags because they take up less space, and work so well in the crisper drawer, but I do find that I sometimes forget what's in there!)

I hope you enjoyed this nerd-out on greens and greens storage. If you've discovered any new techniques, I'd love to hear about them!

For some salad inspiration, check out some of my past recipes:

Happy Friday!

love,
Jess

I've been storing bunches of spinach in these two containers recently. Kale is pictured bc I didn't have any spinach to show you when I took this photo. The spinach does not stick out quite as much as this kale. The kale in this photo has been stored according to the above methods in a vejibag for about 5 days. You can see how GORGEOUS and perfectly crisp it looks! I removed it from its happy home in a damp vejibag to be a model for this photo.

All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.

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In case you missed out, here are a few past issues to check out:

April 16: Want to cook while you work? I’ve got a hack for that 🍠
April 9: my FAVORITE EVER lentil recipe (very easy!)
April 2: I gasped when I looked in the mirror and saw this

March 5: the tinder message I'm still thinking about 1 year later 🔥
February 26: THIS quick-cooking veggie NEEDS to be in your rotation
February 19: want to 10X variety in your meals with zero cooking effort?

February 12: "it tastes like heaven, Jess! like layers of cloud” 💖
February 5: if I only teach you ONE meal, let it be this...
January 29: a 2-ingredient veggie soup that will blow your mind

Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!

I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.