Steve Wertz wrote:

If making a regular old green salad with iceberg lettuce, do you
wash/rinse your lettuce? Why or why not?


Steve, is your question a joke? of course you wash your lettuce, but ice
berg to me, IMO, is about the worst for a green salad. I like a butter
lettuce or a red or green leaf lettuce, ill take romaine if nothing else
is available but i would use spinach greens rather than ice berg.

I could never get the "restaurant salad bar" taste at home and I
asked myself, what do restaurants do that I don't? They usually
wash/soak they're lettuce, for starters.

I only just started recently washing lettuce and I think it
actually tastes better that way. Or is that just a psychological
thing?

Consider that it grows out side and that there is usually nothing to
stop animals defecating on it, air borne dust, dirt, bacteria & flies
can land on faeces and then on the lettuce, the hands that pick the
lettuce could have just been to the toilet, and then there are whatever
pesticides and other chemicals and bacteria it can acquire in the
journey from the farm to your table.

I take a head of red leaf lettuce, a big clump of broccoli, green
onions, tomatoes, sweet red or green bell pepper a couple of mushrooms
(sliced thin) cut them into small dice and toss with garbonzoe beans and
a nice vinaigrette. Occasionally i add some avocado and/or chopped
orange slices.

Often times i will cook a chicken breast, cut into dice and marinate for
20 minutes or so in the vinaigrette before serving with the salad.

It just occurred to me that with a tightly packed ice berg you may not
have as much of a cross contamination problem as you might with one of
the more open heads of lettuce but i would still rinse it.
---
JL

-sw

"Joseph Littleshoes" wrote in message
. com...
Steve Wertz wrote:

If making a regular old green salad with iceberg lettuce, do you
wash/rinse your lettuce? Why or why not?


Steve, is your question a joke? of course you wash your lettuce, but ice
berg to me, IMO, is about the worst for a green salad. I like a butter
lettuce or a red or green leaf lettuce, ill take romaine if nothing else
is available but i would use spinach greens rather than ice berg.

I could never get the "restaurant salad bar" taste at home and I
asked myself, what do restaurants do that I don't? They usually
wash/soak they're lettuce, for starters.

I only just started recently washing lettuce and I think it
actually tastes better that way. Or is that just a psychological
thing?

Consider that it grows out side and that there is usually nothing to stop
animals defecating on it, air borne dust, dirt, bacteria & flies can land
on faeces and then on the lettuce, the hands that pick the lettuce could
have just been to the toilet, and then there are whatever pesticides and
other chemicals and bacteria it can acquire in the journey from the farm
to your table.

I take a head of red leaf lettuce, a big clump of broccoli, green onions,
tomatoes, sweet red or green bell pepper a couple of mushrooms (sliced
thin) cut them into small dice and toss with garbonzoe beans and a nice
vinaigrette. Occasionally i add some avocado and/or chopped orange
slices.

I always feel I have a better chance with lettuce not causing me a stomach
problem if I include lemon or lime in a dressing or if I rinse in vinegar
or spray with vinegar-then rinse. Something I always do.
Dee Dee

Steve Wertz wrote:

On Wed, 10 May 2006 20:55:42 GMT, Joseph Littleshoes wrote:


Steve Wertz wrote:


If making a regular old green salad with iceberg lettuce, do you
wash/rinse your lettuce? Why or why not?


Steve, is your question a joke? of course you wash your lettuce, but ice
berg to me, IMO, is about the worst for a green salad. I like a butter
lettuce or a red or green leaf lettuce, ill take romaine if nothing else
is available but i would use spinach greens rather than ice berg.


You're not the first person to chime in to say they wash their
lettuces, but then state they don't use iceberg (which is the
exception to lettuces needing washed).


Consider that it grows out side and that there is usually nothing to
stop animals defecating on it, air borne dust, dirt, bacteria & flies
can land on faeces and then on the lettuce, the hands that pick the
lettuce could have just been to the toilet, and then there are whatever
pesticides and other chemicals and bacteria it can acquire in the
journey from the farm to your table.


You're gonna love this site:
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html

I am a little more careful with raw foods, i shop for my fruits and
veggies at an open air market and have seen bird poop fall on products.
In the vendors defence this is rare and is almost immediately detected
and removed but still...

I stopped making purchases at a local markets salad bar when i saw a
rather dishevelled, street person stick his hand in the potato salad,
scoop out a handful of it and shove it in his mouth.

In not ultra fastidious, but i cant imagine not at least rinsing veggies
& fruits. I also wash my hands very well before i cook anything, even
make a sandwich. Ok, i will open a bag of chips without washing my
hands, or have a cookie or something like that.

But you are right, last night i was handling raw chicken, and without
thinking i reached over to a bottle of soda, opened it with my greasy
hands and took a big slug and then thought ...'oh ...my...god!' what
have i done!!!!...well nothing happened, i did not die of botulism (sp?)
poisoning



This table lists the Defect Action Levels for agricultural
products. In other words, the levels of allowed rodent
droppings, insect parts, pesticides, mold, rot, feces, animal
hair, etc that are allowed in foods you're eating every day.

No amount of cleaning is going to eliminate all of the above.
Now imagine all those foods you don't have the option of
washing...

Some people even wash meat or rice, grain might be more difficult but
still i understand what your saying yet still attempt to do what i can
to lower if not eliminate the possibilities of contaminates. I use very
little processed, packaged food.

If it doesn't kill you, it can only make you stronger.

Generally i agree with you but there is a cumulative effect also, and as
we get older we are not as strong as we were, nor our immune system either.

People
who are too fastidious about killing off every harmful element
are the people who will be the least resistant to common,
everyday pathogens. The whole cycle is making the human race
weaker, and the bugs stronger.

Don't get me started on 'antiseptic wipes' and disinfecting soaps that
are being marketed to the masses these days!!!
---
JL

-sw