Lettuce be thankful for the little things.

I was standing at Target recently, and wandered down the kitchen gadget aisle. And this happens from time to time - I became mesmerized by all the shiny, pretty, colorful stuff. Mostly I am traditional when it comes to gadgetry. I like my mini chopper, but most of the time I just reach for a knife. Every utensil in my drawers closely resembles the utensils used by my mom, and her mom. Nothing fancy.

But a little piece of plastic stopped me in my tracks. A LETTUCE KNIFE?

It had a clear blade and a lettuce green handle. And the card to which it was attached suggested that metal knives cause lettuce to turn brown, while plastic will produce nice, chopped greens that stay fresh looking longer. HUH? I had never heard this before, but I did think back to all the lettuce I threw away because it turned brown and ugly. I know, I know. Most chefs recommend tearing the lettuce into bite sized pieces. But I'm always in a hurry to get the stuff ready, so I chop it.

Anyway, I snagged the knife for about the same price as this one on Amazon and gave it a try.

First, I wondered if it would mash the lettuce because it's not a sharp metal blade, but it sliced through the head of iceberg like it was meant for this job (and it was!). Then I wondered if the claims of fresher-longer were true, and they are. My first try with this gave me fresh looking lettuce for about a week, and then it only had a few brownish areas. This was nothing like the 3-5 day lifespan of lettuce chopped with a metal knife. I have a head of lettuce in the fridge right now that I chopped about 5 days ago that looks like I just bought it.

Sometimes it's the little (cheap) things that make me happy, and this time it came in the form of a plastic lettuce knife. Happy chopping!