Here's the thing: I really don't like chopping, washing, and drying lettuce—to the point that I rarely eat salads at home. And yet there's a little guilt involved with paying $4 or $5 for the ready-to-eat bags. This one, however, is worth it. This salad hardly needs toppings.
It's the Fresh Herb Salad from Earthbound Farm Organics, a mix of baby lettuces, arugula, and frisee, plus parsley, cilantro, and dill. You think it would be weird to have all of those herbs in one bite, wouldn't you? But it's not. It is delicious.
Of course, if you hate cilantro, this isn't the salad mix for you. And clearly you could make a fresh herb salad with whatever lettuce you prefer and some leftover herbs in your refrigerator. Maybe this will simply provide inspiration.
But I for one am hooked on the ease of this (recycled!) plastic container. The greens are so complex and surprising, I could eat them with nothing but a basic vinaigrette. It's munch, munch, boom! Cilantro! Munch, munch, dill...mmm. I love it.
It seems to come and go at the Whole Foods I frequent. Anyone else out there a fan? How do you feel in general about pre-bagged lettuces?
Related: 5 Tips for Making a Week's Worth of Salads on Sunday
(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)
How To Make Perfect Bacon in the Oven
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Straw Mat from The ...
Find Your Style: 20 Classic to Contemporary Kitchens to Add to Your Inspiration Board
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
"I really don't like chopping, washing, and drying lettuce"
This. I cheat and just wipe my romaine hearts quickly with a damp towel before tearing them to bits when I make salad.
I too love this salad mix and agree that it's so good it doesn't really need toppings.
I love fresh herbs in my salad, especially basil! However, I'd still recommend washing and drying the mix - I don't trust that they're clean right out of the container.
You don't wash your salad that comes in a plastic container?
I love herbs in my salads, especially cilantro!
I use a salad spinner to dry my lettuce; it makes life infinitely easier. I bought mine at IKEA for $5 CDN and it might just be the best $5 I've ever spent. It's a small spinner, perfect for 1-2 people, and works really well.
As far as pre-packaged salads go, though...I stopped buying them when I read about the chlorine baths the lettuce(s) goes through to retain its (their) freshness, though you can't beat the convenience.
They have this for sale all the time in SF bay area Lucky supermarkets
I love this salad, but it's always just as rotten right out of the box as all Earthbound Farms lettuces tend to be. Washed and dried? If it's washed and dried, why do I have to pick through to pull out the slimy bits, rewash it, and meticulously dry every leaf so that it lasts longer than two days in my crisper?
And yes, I'm putting a paper towel in there to keep it fresh.
I hate washing and drying lettuce, too. So I just go to the salad bar and grab the amount I need. The arugula/lettuce/mesclun hardly weighs anything (it's the toppings that'll get you!), so it usually only costs $1.50 for enough to feed 2 people large side-salad portions.
They ripped off some our local farmer's markets growers to make this salad...
I've switched to growing my own salad mix so I'll continue doing so until it gets warm. It's pretty easy to grow but you still have to wash it.
Whenever I buy bagged salad I just can't finish it before it turns into brown mush. So I've just given up on it.
The container is also great to reuse as a small window box for growing microgreens or starting plants for the garden as well. - Even less guilt.
This is a great post. It's soo honest. I love this salad but am always a little ashamed to buy the pre-packaged stuff...it seems indulgent. I always rinse the salads, though, maybe to wash away the guilt.
I first fell in love with this mix via Safeway's store brand. I thought it might be kind of funky, but after the first bite I was hooked! I have no guilt about the bagged or boxed salad greens. The ease makes me eat a salad, no excuses. Yes, I'm that lazy. I'll own it.
There is a 1 lb. container of Earthbound organic greens that is available in Bay Area Costcos for less than $4. (I get the spring mix, not sure if they carry the herb mix.) In addition to salad, I use my greens for sandwiches in place of lettuce or thrown into curry or soup.
I don't love the herb salad, but I do buy other earthbound salad mixes with regularity. While prepping salad is a pain, it's my everyday lunch in the office. Without Earthbound it'd be an even bigger pain!
I never was it, but sometimes I do find slimy bits, which I hate.
what panda cakes said - if you LOVE salad, $4 at Costco will buy you a package that's maybe 3x the grocery store package - it's Taylor farms or something, the same brand they're selling in the clamshell at Target these days (in Chicago, at least).