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Reader Tip: Store Greens in Recycled Salad Containers

2008_05_01-Greens.jpgWe liked this tip from reader and Cure-taker RebeccaCT. She says that when she brings fresh greens home from the market, or when they arrive in the CSA box, she cuts off the stems and repacks them in these flat plastic boxes. And where are the boxes from? They're recycled!

 
 

Sometimes we don't get our greens fresh from the garden or the farm; we break down and buy them for convenience in those flat plastic boxes. This isn't so bad, though, if you only do it a few times. Then you can wash out and reuse those boxes for all the summer greens you're about to get.

2008_05_01-Greens3.jpgRebeccaCT says that this preserves her greens remarkably well; some lasted a week in the fridge. Right now she has mustard, turnip, kohlrabi and radish greens, and we're jealous of her loot!

The main thing about this tip, though, is the space saving; we spend a lot of time figuring out how to cram greens and vegetables with their odd shapes into our packed refrigerator. These boxes make your cut greens more uniform, easier to fit in the fridge.

2008_05_01-Greens2.jpgAnd here are some of the greens all cooked up Catalan-style. Delicious!

Thanks for the tip, RebeccaCT!

See more of RebeccaCT's Cure photos here

Related: How to Organize Your Fridge plus Do Fridge Crisper Drawers Really Work?

(Images: Flickr member rch)

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Tips & Techniques, Ingredients - Vegetables, storage, refrigerator

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Comments (6)

That's a great idea!

Anything you can do to repurpose those containers is great.

At my place of work I am trying to switch over where I can to biodegradable packaging. I prepare a lot of food to go and the amount of GARBAGE associated with such an operation is embarrassing.

Now, if the original packer of those salad boxes used biodegradable packaging we'd be getting somewhere!

Packages like that can be made out of corn and potato starch and disappear in a landfill in 6 weeks.

posted by art on 2008-05-01 11:52:57
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I do this, and then use them in the winter for winter sowing once the snow comes.

http://wintersown.org

posted by ChzPlz on 2008-05-01 15:37:11
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Another reason I like these is that you can see what's in them and what shape it's in.

@art--I've heard that the biodegradable ones don't degrade that well in actual landfills--not eno

posted by RebeccaCT on 2008-05-01 18:47:22
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Oops.

@art--I've heard that the biodegradable ones don't degrade that well in actual landfills--not enough oxygen, I think. Are the newer materials better?

posted by RebeccaCT on 2008-05-01 18:49:00
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@RebeccaCT

The ones I looked at yesterday were supposed to disappear in 6 weeks. The person who showed them to me was very specific about that time frame. I believe potato starch was the main component.

posted by art on 2008-05-01 23:27:01
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That all looks great ...However she is using a T-pan that some of the teflon is off ...NOT good that is not a "mineral" our bodys use ..We all need to use stainless Steel pots and pans for our health....maj

posted by majeral512 on 2008-06-05 13:33:33
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