Buying The Best

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Home: Table of Contents

Feature Articles

What are Leeks?

Meet a Not-Too-Famous Onion

Discovering What We Don’t Know About Leeks

Alien Encounters:

Drumming Up Inspiration for Strange-Sounding Vegetables

A Week of Leeks:

Get to know Leeks, 7 Easy Ways

In Every Issue

Why We Love It

Partners in Flavor and Season

Leek Season

Vegetable Boosters

Picky Eater Tips

Money Saving Tricks

News from the Farm

Cooking School

Cooking Classes:

White Fish and Leeks en Papillote

Roasted Leeks and Butternut Squash Salad

Buying the Best

Storing for Flavor

Prepping Tricks & Tips

Cooking Basics

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes

13 Easy Recipes: Make

Leeks a Mid-Winter Favorite

At the Store Buying the Best

What Kind to Buy: Few Choices Make for Easy Decisions

Sometimes, it’s nice not having choices, because that means not having to make a lot of decisions. Leeks are very compliant in this respect. Basically there are just three options: small, medium and large.

This isn't to say there aren't different varieties of leeks. There are, but they just won’t make a big difference in terms of what you buy at the store. Unlike vegetables such as summer squash, peppers, cabbage or winter greens, where the varieties can produce characters of wildly different colors, textures and tastes, the difference in leek varieties have more to do with technical considerations like the length of growing season, leaf size, bulb shape, and so on.

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Small, Medium or Large? Mostly Interchangeable

So as between small, medium and large, is there a reason to choose one over the other?

For starters, most grocery stores only offer one size of leeks, so this is a moot question. Where you do have a choice, however (e.g., at Farmers Markets), a recipe may specify a preferred size. For instance, leeks that are about 1” in diameter are the perfect size for Roasted Leek and Butternut Squash Salad. A recipe might also specify “baby” or “small” leeks if they are wanted specifically for their tenderness or milder flavor, as in Leeks in Mustard Vinaigrette. Barring a size specification in a recipe, however, the different sizes can generally be interchanged in dishes, so you needn’t agonize unduly over a buying decision–except as noted in the following section.

How to Buy the Best: Signs of Freshness

As with any vegetable, always buy the freshest possible. How can you tell if a leek is fresh? As always, look for signs of freshness vs. signs of age and deterioration, as indicated by: color, turgidity and overall condition.

	What’s Fresh	What’s Not Fresh
Color	Vibrant, rich green leaves Lustrous, creamy white bottoms	Leaves yellowed, dulled, or decayed Yellowish, rather than creamy bottoms.
Turgidity	Firm and plump feeling	Limp and rubbery stalks Leaves that are shriveled
Overall Condition	Blemish-free	Browned and curled edges, nicks, bruises, torn leaves

Not to Worry: Lots of Dirt

As explained in the Prepping section, leeks are a dirt-attracting vegetable. So a fair amount of dirt in and around the leek is no cause for concern. You’ll just want to know the best way to clean leeks.

Yellowed Leaves