Drying your greens

There’s nothing worse than buying fresh, healthy-looking produce at your grocery store and pulling it out one or two days later only to find it’s already spoiling. Was it already spoiled? Did the store sell old produce? If you’re dealing with greens, most likely you’re simply storing them incorrectly.

Here is a quick guide to ensure your greens stay fresh for up to a week and a half. This method works with most salad greens including arugula, spring mix, kale, or spinach. For a green like lettuce that comes on a head, you likely won’t need to use this method however it can be helpful if you find those greens are also going bad fast.

To get the maximum effect, it’s important to do this right when you come home. I’ll usually unload my groceries and leave my greens out as a reminder and then use this method once everything is unloaded. Most greens will come “triple washed” which means they are clean and you don’t need to wash them again. If they are not washed, then gently wash them and use this method to dry and store them.

Take a few long sheets of paper towels and lay them out on a flat surface. Start laying out your greens on the towels in a thin layer so that there are no large clumps. As you lay your greens out, look out for pieces that are very wet, drying out, damaged, or brown. Set them aside and toss. Even if all the other pieces are healthy, having a few wet or old pieces can spoil the entire batch quickly. Continue this process unless you’ve laid out the entire batch of greens. Use more paper towels as needed.

Leave the greens to ‘dry’ for ~15 minutes and no longer than 30 minutes. When you transport the greens from the store to your home, condensation immediately starts to form and even this small amount of moisture can lead to spoiling. Laying the greens out to dry will remove this moisture before you store them away. After 15 minutes, roll up the paper towels with the greens still inside and put them into your storage container of choice. If you are using the plastic box that your greens came in, just ensure you dry any condensation on the inside first and that it has a strong seal.

If you do notice small spoilage after several days, unroll the paper towels and identify any wilting, wet, or spoiled pieces and remove them to keep the remaining greens fresh.

Delicate vs hearty herbs

When substituting fresh herbs or thinking about what herbs will go well with a dish, it’s helpful to understand that most herbs fall into two broad categories: delicate herbs and hearty herbs. Delicate herbs have a lighter flavor and are usually physically softer, whereas hearty herbs have a very bold flavor and are usually physically stronger as well and will not bruise as easily.

Delicate herbs are best used as toppings or stirring in at the last step since they will wilt with long exposure to heat. These herbs typically go well with lighter, warm-weather recipes. When these herbs are exposed to heat they will soften and impart their flavor on the dish in a more subtle way compared to being sprinkled on top of a dish.

Hearty herbs can withstand longer periods of heat and can be thrown in a simmering sauce or in a low and slow cook. These herbs usually need to be cooked to draw out of their flavor so they’ll be incorporated into a dish earlier on rather than sprinkled on top. They’ll typically be in many cold-weather recipes like a hearty soup or braise.

Delicate herbs include: basil, parsley, chives, dill

Hearty herbs include: rosemary, thyme, sage

That’s not to say that if a recipe calls for a hearty herb you can’t use a delicate herb as a substitute. Just be mindful that you may need to adjust when you add the herb and how long you cook it. However, if a recipe like pesto calls for blending basil raw and does not cook it through, it will be difficult to substitute with an herb like rosemary that should be cooked prior to eating.

Pasta water

What is pasta water? Why do some chefs and food articles declare it is liquid gold? Because it is, kind of.

‘Pasta water’ is a shorthand term for the water that dried pasta is boiled in. When pasta is cooked, it releases starch into the water changing the nature and properties in that water. Starch is a natural thickening agent and often lends an almost creamy texture to whatever is it added to. When added to a pasta sauce near the end of cooking, pasta water acts as a slight thickening agent and ensures the sauce clings to the pasta for that perfect bite. It also lends a creaminess that creates a restaurant-like feel. Most restaurants and well-versed home cooks will finish cooking their pasta in the sauce for the last minute or two and ladle in a bit of pasta water at this last step to help everything come together. Some of the most classic pasta dishes like cacio e pepe use pasta water as a base for the sauce.

The next time you make pasta, think again before you pour all that pasta water down the drain.