{"id":17182,"date":"2021-04-05T10:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T14:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=17182"},"modified":"2021-03-22T13:11:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T17:11:45","slug":"lettuce-entertain-you-its-lettuce-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2021\/04\/05\/lettuce-entertain-you-its-lettuce-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Lettuce Entertain You \u2013 It\u2019s Lettuce Season!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD,\nRD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEADS UP: there are two large\ncategories of lettuce, head lettuce and leaf lettuce. Until recent years, the\nmost popular head lettuce was iceberg. And why, might you ask, is this\ngreen-on-the-outside, white-on the inside called \u201ciceberg?\u201d No, it has nothing\nto do with the Titanic. When iceberg lettuce was first commercialized on a\nlarge scale it had to be covered with ice so it would not wilt during shipping.\nThere, now you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OIL BE DARNED: Lettuce was\noriginally valued for the oil pressed from its seeds. We\u2019re talking at least 4,500\nyears ago. There are documents proving that the Persian nation ate lettuce\nleaves at least as far back as 600 BCE. The ancient Greeks and Romans valued\nlettuce as both a vegetable and a remedy. The word lettuce comes from the Latin\n\u201clactuca,\u201d which comes from \u201clactus,\u201d which means \u201cmilk,\u201d because, when cut,\nlettuce leaves tend to give off a milky sap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GREEN, RED, WHITE, AND\nBEYOND: Lettuce leaves are generally green, but they also come in red, white,\npale yellow, and faintly purple Whichever color you choose, be sure the leaves\nare glossy, firm and crisp. For head lettuce, be sure the head is dense (the\nleaves should be closely packed) and that the head feels heavy for its size.\nLeaf lettuce should have firm, crisp leaves that have a clearly defined rib\ndown the center. Always avoid dull-looking, rusty, soggy or yellowing leaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE GREENER THE LETTUCE\u2026generally the more vitamins and minerals it contains. Most varieties have a fair amount of folic acid (an important B vitamin), are helpful for hydration and are low in calories and sodium. Deep green lettuces, such as romaine or Boston are higher in nutrients then the paler varieties, such as iceberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FIRE AND ICE: lettuce is\nusually eaten raw, but a classic French garnish, called \u201cchiffonade,\u201d is a\nlight saut\u00e9 of shredded lettuce in a small amount of vegetable oil. So, impress\nthe folks with \u201cpetit pois a la francaise,\u201d baby peas with a garnish of saut\u00e9ed\nlettuce. Lettuce can be quickly braised in vegetable stock and place on top of\na cold salad for a \u201cfire and ice\u201d creation. Toss chopped lettuce leaves into\nsoup right before serving\u2014the broth will cook the leaves. Lettuce gives a\nlight, refreshing flavor to soups. Add interest to cold lettuce salads by\ncombining several types of lettuce (bagged, ready-to-use lettuces are great for\nthis).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petits Pois a la\nFrancaise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Serves 6-8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil\nof your choice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 cups freshly shelled or frozen peas
1 cup finely shredded head lettuce, such as Iceberg
1\/2 cup chopped green onions (white part only)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1\/8 teaspoon sweetener <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wash fresh peas and pat dry. If using frozen peas, do not thaw. Heat a large frying pan, add oil. Add peas to the pan and heat and toss briefly, to coat, about one minute. Add all remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Put heat on low, cover, and simmer until peas are just tender, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD HEADS UP: there are two large categories of lettuce, head lettuce and leaf lettuce. Until recent years, the most popular head lettuce was iceberg. And why, might you ask, is this green-on-the-outside, white-on the inside called \u201ciceberg?\u201d No, it has nothing to do with the Titanic. When iceberg lettuce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17184,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17182\/revisions\/17184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}