How do you clean your veggies?

[rush]

Usually with cabbage, iceberg, romaine, you just need to peel off the outer leaf, and the rest will be pretty clean.

But for the veggies that sprout individual stocks/leaves/etc like spinach, kale, and collards, cleaning it isn't as easy as dunking 'em in water...

I blend kale and collard greens for my green smoothies, so I have to shop for them every couple days, and it's not easy.

They're very dirty. On rare occasions, I'll actually find pretty clean kale/collards, and I'll stock up with everything they have, but for the most part, there's a lot of grime, residue, slime, and sometimes even bird feces.

Also, the collard greens often have yellow grime that is literally embedded onto the leaves. The only way to get 'em off is to manually stretch 'em off with your nails. But they're everywhere...

Does anybody deal with these greens?

 

[CWS4322]

The only kale I deal with is from my garden, so it isn't dirty, it isn't covered in birds' feces (yuck)--if anything, it ends up with some grass on it from the mulch. Because kale (and collards) grow "upright" I'm surprised they are dirty...I'd probably look for another source...or, plant your own. Kale is relatively easy to grow and doesn't take a lot of space. It is frost tolerant and it is also heat tolerant, at least here in southern Ontario. And, we have HIGH humidity and HOT days during July and August.

 

[justplainbill]

Tampico vegetable brush or soft tooth brush and / or soak and rinse? Because we're concerned about clogging our drainage we use several large (3 or 4 gallon) tubs to soak and rinse and dump the rinse water in our garden or on our mulch pile.

 

[blackpig]

A rinse under the tap usually suffices for most vegetables. A bit of "clean" dirt never harmed anybody - it probably helps build a decent immune system.

What I'd be more worried about would be chemical residues left by intensive farming. I always peel carrots for this reason unless I know who grew them and with what - it's also a good idea the give citrus fruits a good scub with detergent as the supermarket stuff has mostly been coated with wax to make them look shiny, appetising and, well, healthy.

 

[Saphellae]

I typically buy the packages of baby spinach for my green smoothies. Haven't had the opportunity - or rather, the guts - to try kale yet so I can't comment on washing them

The majority of the time I scrub any fruits or veggies when they come in the house. Fruit fly eggs can be brought into the house via bananas, apples, citrus, etc. and I hate having them flying around.

 

[jennyema]

Soak in cold water and agitate with my hands in a salad spinner. A few times

 

[rush]

The only kale I deal with is from my garden, so it isn't dirty, it isn't covered in birds' feces (yuck)--if anything, it ends up with some grass on it from the mulch. Because kale (and collards) grow "upright" I'm surprised they are dirty...I'd probably look for another source...or, plant your own. Kale is relatively easy to grow and doesn't take a lot of space. It is frost tolerant and it is also heat tolerant, at least here in southern Ontario. And, we have HIGH humidity and HOT days during July and August.

Where did you buy it?

I actually bought some kale seeds from Gurneys, but they came with some chemical coating. I'm gonna return it, because I was expecting organic seeds... I don't know what the point of growing your own fruits and veggies is, if it's not organic...

 

[rush]

A rinse under the tap usually suffices for most vegetables. A bit of "clean" dirt never harmed anybody - it probably helps build a decent immune system.

What I'd be more worried about would be chemical residues left by intensive farming. I always peel carrots for this reason unless I know who grew them and with what - it's also a good idea the give citrus fruits a good scub with detergent as the supermarket stuff has mostly been coated with wax to make them look shiny, appetising and, well, healthy.

Yeah, I always go for the organic kale or collards, but most times, the organic versions are extremely filthy. I don't know why this is...

So I'll go for the non-organic stuff on most occasions.

 

[CWS4322]

The kale seeds are from plants I grew--no chemical treatment on them.

 

[rush]

I typically buy the packages of baby spinach for my green smoothies. Haven't had the opportunity - or rather, the guts - to try kale yet so I can't comment on washing them

The majority of the time I scrub any fruits or veggies when they come in the house. Fruit fly eggs can be brought into the house via bananas, apples, citrus, etc. and I hate having them flying around.

The packaged spinaches are extremely convenient. They're usually triple-washed, so I just throw them in a pale of water to give it a final rinse.

But honestly, I only settle for spinach if the kale and collards are in dreadful condition. But kale isn't really in demand, so they don't come conveniently packaged like spinach.

Collards on the other hand come packaged, but 90% of the times, they're still dirty. All you have to do is see through the transparent bag, and you can see the dirt on the stocks...

I'm not sure what your tolerance for green smoothies are, yet, but just throw in a couple stocks of kale (like five or six). Depends on how big each stock is, but generally, I'll use the entire bunch. If it's a big bunch, I might use 2/3 and save the rest for another day. Toss in two large apples, and it's very drinkable.

Of course, smoothies made from spinach is creamy and smooth. Spinach is a very mild veggie. It's not overpowering, and people eat it straight up in salads.

The kale or collard greens smoothies are not as nice in texture. They're more slimy... but they're the king of greens.

 

[CraigC]

Also, the collard greens often have yellow grime that is literally embedded onto the leaves. The only way to get 'em off is to manually stretch 'em off with your nails. But they're everywhere...

Does anybody deal with these greens?

I don't think that is "yellow grime", I think they are leaf miners.

Craig

 

[medtran49]

We grew collards this year. They aren't hard to grow, just need some water every day or every other day depending on weather. If you don't pull the whole plant, just take the outer 3 rings of leaves, leaving at least 3 inner rings of leaves, they plant will continue to grow throughout the season. The texture of the leaves is totally different than what we get at the store, much thicker and more velvety (from lack of a better word). They also take longer to cook but, hey, I'll happily trade that off for just picked greens, rinsed off, and plopped into the pot over the packaged stuff or even the bundles you get in the store. I'm totally spoiled now.

My girlfriend grew kale this past year and she says it's not anymore work than collards, which she did last year.

Both can be blanched and frozen by the way.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

When I come home from the produce stand, I just toss them all in the dishwasher, hit the RINSE ONLY button, and turn off the DRY cycle.

 

[CWS4322]

Kale is probably one of the easiest things to grow...it is disease resistant, drought tolerant, and frost resistant. And, it comes back the 2nd year (well, some of it does). This is what goes to seed and where we get our kale seeds for the next year.

 

[Fabiabi]

Some cold water usually does the job especially if it's from the garden. Maybe soak the veggies if they're from the supermarket and rinse them a few times.

 

[Selkie]

For greens I break apart the leaves, rinse thoroughly in cold water followed by a spin in the salad spinner.

Carrots, turnips, certain kinds of potatoes and other root vegetables I peel. Fingerlings, Yukon Golds and small red potatoes I scrub with a vegetable brush.

Celery I de-string.

 

[Fabiabi]

I also think it depends greatly on where your veg is coming from, obviously it will need a good scrub if it's from the supermarket, but if from your own garden where you know what goes on it might just need a rinse to remove mud.