I’m trying to eat healthier this year — so I put a salad bar in my fridge

Tracy Swartz
·2 min read
21
I’m trying to eat healthier this year — so I put a salad bar in my fridge

Romaine calm, everyone.

New Jersey DIY digital creator Micah Enriquez — who runs the popular Make It With Micah channels — has fans salivating over her latest hack: a salad bar inside one of her fridge drawers.

“[One] of my New Year’s resolutions was to eat at least one salad per day,” Enriquez, 40, posted on TikTok last week. “This system has really helped, and my husband has taken to eating more salads as well.”

All of Enriquez’s ingredients are arranged in individual containers — from avocados to Babybel cheese, shredded carrots, tomatoes, eggs, broccoli, feta cheese, hummus, olive tapenade and, of course, let us not forget lettuce.

Enriquez’s 1.1 million TikTok followers peppered her with questions about how she outfitted her matte white GE Cafe refrigerator.

“[One] of my New Year’s resolutions was to eat at least one salad per day,” Enriquez, 40, posted on TikTok last week. makeitwithmicah/TikTok
“[One] of my New Year’s resolutions was to eat at least one salad per day,” Enriquez, 40, posted on TikTok last week. makeitwithmicah/TikTok

“Why are the avocados and tomatoes in the fridge????” one viewer wondered. (A refrigerator is colder than the ideal temperature for tomatoes and unripe avocados.)

“They stay longer for me,” Enriquez replied.

“Awesome idea,” another TikToker applauded. “Do things dry out not being covered?”

Enriquez responded: “So far the items I’ve picked aren’t getting dried out, mainly because the large pull drawer has a great seal. But I’ll update if that changes.”

“How long does your salad and other leaves stay fresh and not wilt?” a third commenter asked.

“Usually 7-10 days but we finish it by then,” Enriquez said.

“That looks like my grocery bill in just one drawer — I need to win the lottery,” another TikToker declared.

“Trader Joe’s has the best prices on organic produce,” Enriquez shared.

Enriquez’s post has pulled 2.5 million views on TikTok and 1.3 million views on Instagram.

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A post shared by Micah Enriquez (@makeitwithmicah)

Salad bars — popularized decades ago by restaurants such as Ruby Tuesday and the Sizzler — were often shuttered early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The salad days of salad bars may be long gone — but they appear to be experiencing a resurgence in grocery stores, according to data from the retail technology company Upside.

Hot buffet transactions were up 37% in September 2023, compared to September 2022, while salad bar transactions rose 11% over the same period.