It was some sort of sign. I noticed the package waiting by the door as I pulled into the garage. I had just been listening to a story on NPR about the importance of washing salad before you eat it, even the greens that come in packages that say triple washed. I was compelled by this story because, I must confess, I never wash the salad I serve that comes out of the triple washed packages. Listening to this report I thought, what have I done!? Putting my family in harms way all this time!  I quickly realized that if we had been exposed to lethal salmonella poisoning that can lurk in salad greens, we would have known by then. Not knowing what was in the box, I opened it to find not one, but two salad spinners from OXO! Ironic right!? One was for me to try out and review as part of their Healthy Eating Tools program, and the other to give away to one of my lucky blog readers. Now,  I have never had a salad spinner before, and to be honest had never really understood the importance of owning one. Frankly I thought of it as one more thing to take up cabinet space that I would rarely use.  The thing is, my family does eat a lot of salad, and as I mentioned before, I would buy the pre-washed type and toss it in a bowl.  My sister-in-law recently told me that she had bought a salad spinner for herself as well as one for my mother-in-law, and that they swear by using one. I quizzed her, truly curious, as to why it is better than just rinsing it in a colander?  It is all about the excess water that winds up at the bottom of your salad bowl,and of course a thorough washing, she had explained.   I knew what she meant because I love the salad at our favorite Asian restaurant, but at the bottom of the bowl it is always watery, and I leave it to waste because of that.  At home I never had that problem, because I usually had not washed the salad.  

So having just heard the NPR story (which has become controversial apparently), and received my OXO salad spinner, I put the spinner to test.  First of all I have to say I’ve always been a huge fan of OXO products because of their ergonomic designs that also happen to be attractive. I think I’ve mentioned before that for me to love a product it has to have great form AND function, OXO products usually do. So as an OXO fan to begin with, I was not surprised that my salad spinner was actually nicely designed when I pulled it out of the box. Pretty!  Never having used a salad spinner before, I found the OXO salad spinner intuitive to use.

I made my favorite salad to serve with dinner by adding glazed pecans, Gorgonzola crumbles, dried cranberries, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing to the baby spinach.   I know that it is silly to be so excited about my new salad spinner, but, hey, sometimes it’s the little things that make us happy.

Are you a salad spinner? I’d love to know what others think!

 

 

*  I received a free OXO salad spinner for reviewing purposes. (and I totally love it! Thank you OXO!)  I also received a free OXO salad spinner to give to one of you! YAY! All my opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.

This Giveaway has ended. Congratulations to the lucky winner!