Salads

[themitchx]

Hi

After reading a few health books and listening to some health podcasts, I'm trying to eat healthier and have been batch making some salads to eat for lunch during the week. But I've noticed that some of the ingredients have a 'once opened consume with in x days' on the side, and it's either 1 or 2 days - which isn't great if you're making, say, 4 or 5 days of salads. For example, a packet of edamame beans says 'consume within 1 day of opening' or a tin of mixed beans/lentils says 'consume within 2 days of opening', etc. But these packets/tins are too big to really eat in one or two days.

Are there any tips and tricks I should know about for working around this?

thanks

Yep, I completely ignore it.
If it looks, smells, and tastes ok then chances are its fine.

For veg just go by look/smell. It won't harm you if a bit old. Most modern fridges will keep things fresher for longer then use by date.

I would buy fresher ingredients that arnt in a packet. Whole carrot, grated as needed. Baby gem lettuce lasts for ages and you use a whole one per salad. While cucumber, sliced as needed etc.

Obviously use by dates re meat you need to be careful.

Agree with pp's. For tinned beans I find they last longest if drained, rinsed well and dried off on kitchen roll, then kept in Tupperware in the fridge.

Most supermarkets sell packets of frozen edamame beans. They freeze really well so even if you buy fresh ones, you can freeze any you don’t use.

Absolutely as others say - base it on look and taste and smell, not dates.

A lot of packaged salad is done in a way to preserve it but then, when opened, it can deteriorate quickly, especially if it's older. eg bags of lettuce - once opened, the lettuce will go old quicker than if you'd bought a normal, non-vacuumed pack of lettuce. But the vacuum packed one will last for a long time unopened.

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah, I agree with the "best before dates" and how they're only a guide and normally things last well past their BBE, especially if not opened, however, it was the "once opened, consume within a certain amount of time" - and sometimes very short periods (1 or 2 days) - that got me thinking these may be more important to follow?

No, honestly I ignore all those things - that wording is put in by lawyers sitting in head office in corporations who are worried about being sued because one person one time ate an edamame bean that had mould on it and decided to sue.

As @Luckydog7 says don't buy pre-prepared - get whole veg and prepare as you need. You can also freeze lots of veg if you have a smaller household and can't eat stuff all in one go. Edamame beans are a perfect example - you can freeze half the pot, but even better is to buy a huge bag frozen and just defrost what you need each day.