Quick Tip: How to Wash a Big Load of Greens

Want a quick and easy way to wash all the chard, kale, and salad greens you'll be picking up at the farmer's market in the next few months? Look no further than your kitchen sink.

Just fill your sink with water and then give those greens a few good swishes. Leafy greens will actually float on the top of the water, so dirt sinks to the bottom of the sink while the greens stay on top. We usually let the greens sit in the water for a few minutes so the grit has a chance to settle.

If you have a smaller amount of greens, you can also do this in a large bowl - or right in your salad spinner. We just find the sink to be handier when we're cleaning a whole load of greens at once.

We actually first heard this tip on an episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown - just one of those completely life-changing tips he sneaks into his segments. Thanks, Alton!

(Image: Emma Christensen)

Comments (18)

I do this in a large salad spinner and I add Grapefruit Seed Extract to remove any parasites.

When I worked in a restaurant we'd fill up the sink with cold water, add a few tablespoons of salt, and a lot of ice. We'd dunk the greens in that and swirl them around, and then let them drain. The restaurant manager said the salt would kill bugs and the ice would keep the leaves crisp.

wait.....you mean this isn't how most people wash their greens??? Seriously?

My mom washes greens like these and creasy in the washing machine rinse cycle (of course with no detergent)!

i love this idea but i fear my sink is too dirty. can you do a post about how to properly wash a sink?

I add salt, too, on the advice that it helps kill bugs. Not sure if it's true or not, but it doesn't hurt.

@actorsdiet: Same, here. Even with all the 'green' cleansers on the market, I don't really feel like my sink is clean unless I really scrub and use bleach... which I don't want on my food. Is it too OCD if I don't want to eat anything that accidentally falls in my sparkly-clean sink?

My sink is totally gross and rusty. I went to a restaurant supply store and bought a giant steel bowl for about ten bucks. It holds a few gallons and was nowhere near the largest one they had. It fits perfectly on the ledge of my sink. I fill it up with water, put the greens in, then lift them into a salad spinner to dry.

@grumpygirl - my thoughts too! (I mean, and I promise I'm not just being baity this time, how else would you do it? Ok, lately if I've only had half a dozen leaves, I've just run them under the tap, but for any serious amount of, well, anything out of the garden...)

...and, uh, I wash my sink by giving it a wipe around with the dishcloth with the tap running. Seems to work.

I did this with a load of chard this week and about a dozen earwigs came crawling out from the murky depths!!!! EWWWWWWWWW.

I'd rather have then flee and be removed than killed and risk eating them though.

Which lead me to a side question - how do I get rid of earwigs organically?

I am not the least bit obsessive about cleaning but I must agree with those who have posted that they fear their sinks are not clean enough for this. I've heard many reports that sinks are filthier than most bathrooms. I don't know if this is true or not, but the idea of washing my greens in something that is potentially a bacteria factory - not appealing in the least.

Believe me, Chinese housewives have known this so-called tip since like Tang dynasty.

I had to laugh at this "tip"! Here's another one: wash your sink, and THEN wash your greens!

I don't know what I am more afraid of, the tip or most of the comments?
And what does it say about the tip giver?

I just love the implication that everyone who thinks this is unsanitary is too stupid to wash the sink first. Obviously one would wash the sink first. I just don't feel that is sanitary enough.

But maybe I am just an idiot.

My apologies - I didn't mean to sound insulting to anyone. I just thought that if you wash cutlery and glasses in the sink, then why would it be unsanitary to wash lettuce in there? As long as the sink is scrubbed regularly, I think it would be fine.