Once again, I've gotten some mustard greens and have tried to get all of the sand off of them. I have washed and washed and washed. There has to be a better way. First I cut them from the roots. It had rained so they did have extra dirt on the leaves. I put them in a cooler full of water, like someone had told me to do. Then I took them out, rinsed and cleaned out the cooler and repeated the process a couple more times.
I brought them inside and then proceeded to rinse them in my sink. I started thinking that there has to be a better way to do this for just one mess of greens. So the thought occurred to me to ask all of my friends out there in cyberspace. What do I do? Is there an easier way to get the sand from the greens? I haven't cooked any greens lately because of the sand issue. Nothing worse than getting a good ole bite of savory greens only to have a grain of sand find it's way between your molars while chewing. Uggghhh! We'll see how these turn out. If you have any suggestions for me......PLEASE......I'm begging.......please leave a comment below to let me know your tricks for removing the sand.
Thanks!
Hey, Ashley, put them in a sinkful of cold water (or your ice chest), add a lot of salt, then move them around and let them sit in salt solution for 5-10 minutes. pick them up out of salt water, and set aside. you should have sand in your sink (or ice chest). Repeat above with new salt and water. Darryl says that the salt makes the water heavier, and makes the sand settle. works on same principle as shrimpers use when they put salt in their salt box (it helps clean them, e.g. separates trash, little fish, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI meant to tell you that I use about 1/4 cup or so of salt when I do greens in sink. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ms. Gail. My friend just told me that her grandmother told her to sprinkle a little salt on them, but she didn't know why. Your method makes sense. My greens did turn out good & sand-free! Thanks for your comment :)
ReplyDeleteGail took my idea! Whenever we wash dirty food, even the heavenly morel mushrooms, we soak them in salt water. It brings out all the dirt and even tiny insects that like to hide in folds. Hope it worked for you. BTW I don't think I have ever had mustard greens...is it sort of like spinach?
ReplyDeleteMs. Gail, the comment above that says from Brenda, is actually from me....My mom had come over and was on our computer. She was still signed in when I posted that comment. It was late for me....I didn't realize it. Oooops :)
ReplyDeleteGlad the salt worked for you...some greens are really hard to clean, but are so worth it. Have you tried kale? We've gotten on a kick of eating it lately, and love it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the greens are worth it. Mallory loves them. Haven't tried kale yet, but I've heard it was good.
ReplyDeleteOur spring greens garden is now ready to start picking Turnips & Mustards. I remembered the problem of rinsing all the sand & dirt off the greens, and recalled your helpful post here last year. So we looked it up again to learn the remedy. We will be using the salt soak to clean our greens. We can’t wait to eat some home grown greens!
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