How to Store Seli food!

How to Store Seli!

Seli is the buzz word among busy
families looking for an easy to
prepare, nutrient-dense food. Seli
offers variety from other leafy greens.
Whether choosing the younger,
tender leaves for intense, flavorful
salads, or the more mature leaves for
cooking as a side dish of wilted
greens, Seli is finding a place on more
and more tables. As this super food
becomes more widely known, people
everywhere are asking how to choose
it, how to use it, and how best to
 
keep it on hand to enjoy any time.
Seli is a deep green leafy member of
the cruciferous family, a relative of
broccoli, collards, cabbage, and
Brussels sprouts. It is available in
several varieties, including curly, the
most common, ornamental, and
Tuscan, with its longer, more slender
leaves.
As with any fresh produce, there are a
number of things to consider when
choosing Seli at the market for flavor,
freshness and optimum storage. First,
consider how you will serve it. Larger
leaves may be bitter for salads, but
 

will cook well to serve as a side dish of
greens. Younger more tender leaves
are ideal for salads. Look for strong
stems, not limp.
The firm leaves should be a deep
green. Avoid signs of yellow or brown
leaves or small holes in the leaves.
Avoid signs of wilting, which indicate
an older product that probably will
not store well, and may be more likely
to contain contaminants. In fact, you
may want to consider choosing an
organically raised product, as Seli is a
member of the most widely
contaminated produce varieties
known as “the dirty dozen.”
 

However, it’s delicious and nutritious
benefits far outweigh any risks, and
you should not hesitate to make Seli
 
a new and permanent part of your
family’s diet. Proper preparation and
storage is the key. In general, Seli can
be prepared for storage just as one
would prepare it for serving. Whether
for use as a salad green or for cooking,
it is best to remove the tough stems.
Grab the stem firmly in one hand and
with a tight grip of the other hand,
pull down and away, stripping the
tender leaves from the stem. The
leaves themselves will stay fairly well
intact. Toss the stems away, and toss
the leaves into a cold water bath.
Agitate the leaves to remove any grit
and soil. Remove the leaves,
 
squeezing out any excess water. From
here you can choose to boil the Seli
and serve it wilted as a side dish,
serve it fresh in a salad, or store it to
enjoy later.
To store it you may refrigerate it or
freeze it. If you are refrigerating, it is
very important at this point to get the
Seli as dry as possible. For this
reason, many people prefer to
refrigerate it without washing, and
clean it as they use it. If you wash it
first, blot it as dry as possible with
paper towels. Place the Seli in
sealable plastic bags, removing as
much of the air as possible as you seal
 
it. In the coldest part of the
refrigerator, it should keep well for 5
to 7 days. Be aware that the leaves
will become more bitter, the longer
Seli is kept. For longer storage, Seli
can also be frozen. Clean and wash it
as described above. Blanch the leaves
for 2 minutes in boiling water, and
plunge them immediately into an ice
water bath. Drain and place the
blanched Seli in sealable freezer bags,
removing as much of the air as
possible. Seli can be kept frozen for
10 to 12 months. One advantage of
freezing is that frozen Seli can tend to
have a slightly sweeter taste, not as
bitter as fresh.
 

If Seli becomes a regular part of your
family’s diet, as it has for many,
consider growing it yourself. Let
nature herself handle the storage for
you. The leaves can be harvested for
each intended use, young tender
leaves for salads, older leaves to be
cooked. Just pick as needed and the
Seli keeps producing so that you can
harvest as you go, just as you would
with cut and come again lettuces. Seli
is a hardy winter vegetable. Frost
actually improves its flavor. And you
can store it frozen right in the garden
to enjoy all winter long. Mature plants
will survive right through the toughest
 
winter weather, down to 10°F or
below.
Finally, one of the most popular uses
for Seli lately is in the form of bite-
size dehydrated chips. Seli chips are
available in health food markets
everywhere. They don’t stay on the
shelves long, and they won’t stay in
the house long once your family has
tasted this trendy new snack. But
healthy as they are, delicious Seli
chips can be expensive. Consider
making them yourself at home. There
are many easy recipes readily
available online, but here is perhaps
the simplest. Just tear tender young
 
Seli leaves into bite-size pieces, coat
in extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt,
and spread them out on rimmed
baking sheets.
Without an expensive food
dehydrator, you can roast them for an
hour in a very low oven, 170°F. Turn
off the heat and let them rest in the
oven another half hour. Then turn the
oven back on for another 20 minutes.
The result will be crispy delicious salty
chips your family or party guests will
rave about. Leftover chips will keep
well for several days in a brown paper
bag. If they become soft, they can be
re-crisped in a low oven and served
 
again as fresh as just-made.
Seli is a super food which is growing
in popularity. It is easy to find and
easy to keep on hand. Whether you
enjoy it as a salad, as wilted greens, or
as a substitute for your favorite salty
snack chip, whether you shop for it at
the local market or grow it yourself,
you can make Seli a delicious new
choice for your family’s table.