Salad spinner saves the day

Remember my post a while back about dirty organic produce? I ranted, yes I did, about how organic produce always seems to be dirtier than conventional when you buy it in the store.

Well, speaking of dirty . . .

We joined a CSA farm this year, which we couldn't love more, but it brings the definition of dirty produce to a whole new level. We are spoiled in the stores when things have been pre-washed for us. There is literally dirt caked in-between the lettuce leaves when we get our bounty each week..

So how do we wash it?

First we tried just rinsing the leaves and putting them on a drying rack to drip dry. The result? Well, you know when you are enjoying your scrumptious clam bellies and then you chomp into a sandy one, instantly offended at the interruption in your tasting pleasure? That was every bite of our salad.

Next, we tried wiping off each piece of lettuce, thinking that we would also wipe away the dirt that was left behind from the rinsing. It was better, but still a bit too earthy for my liking.

My husband finally suggested we buy a salad spinner, and it was the answer to our lettuce problems. After rinsing the big chunks of dirt off, I put the lettuce leaves in the salad spinner and rinse again. Then I spin my little heart out and the rest of the dirt flies off the leaves with the water droplets.

Hip, hip hooray! Clean, fresh, organic and local -- now the lettuce is satisfying to eat, too.

The best part? We paid $3.13 for the salad spinner at our local Walmart.