Edible Paradise

RECIPES:  The Original Caesar Salad, Salade de Mache with Roasted Red Beets, Goat Cheese and Hazelnut Dressing, Grilled Romaine Lettuce, Basic Vinaigrette, Creamy Buttermilk Dressing, Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette, Strawberry Vinaigrette, Thousand Island Dressing, Honey Mustard Vinaigrette, Orange Basil Vinaigrette, Honey Ginger Salad Dressing, Grapefruit and Mint Vinaigrette

Lettuces are abundant at the farmers markets this month. And, when it comes to talking about lettuce, there is a lot to cover – crisphead, cos or romaine, butterhead, and looseleaf. Although, technically not lettuce, there’s also the chicory family – endive (green and red), curly, frisee, and escarole. Don’t forget radicchio and its many varieties. What about greens like arugula, “wild” arugula, mizuna, mache, and mustard? Let’s not overlook peppery cresses – watercress, Upland cress, and peppercress. And, don’t forget sorrel! Although not lettuces, these leafy greens find their way regularly into interesting salads.

Crispy, Crunchy Lettuce

Crisphead lettuces are the ones that crunch. The most famous – or infamous – is iceberg lettuce. There are older varieties that have more taste, such as Reine de Glace (Ice Queen). I recall one or two years long ago when a farmer brought some to the market for sale. I imagine the effort was wasted, as no one would buy it except me. I enjoyed the extreme crunch, and the flavor was subtle but different from grocery store iceberg. Iceberg lettuce is great when you want a vehicle for dressing, like the wedge salads with bacon and blue cheese or Ranch dressing on restaurant menus.

Romaine Lettuce
Next up is cos or romaine lettuce. These heads are usually long and cylinder shaped, and are also pleasingly crunchy. They also have a fairly assertive flavor, and come in various colors. The standard version has darker green outer leaves, while the inner ones are pale and bright. At the farmers market, you can also red romaine, ranging from a pale blushing red along the leaves edges to bronze to deep dark red on the end of the leaf or the whole leaf. One of my favorites is a romaine I have always called  “trout lettuce” in my head, and it turns out it really is called “Speckled Trout.” A similar variety is known as “Freckles.” Both are green romaine with reddish spots and are quite attractive as well as tasting good. Besides being good in salads, the leaves lend themselves to dipping and work well in long sandwiches. They are also excellent for grilling. Grilling brings out sweetness and the light charring is a wonderful contrast to the moist stems.

Butterleaf Lettuce
Butterleaf lettuces form soft heads that are curved like a ball. They are loose, and the leaves are very tender with a texture that lends them their “butterleaf” name. Colors range from soft pale green to lovely reds. Butterleaf, Boston (also called Limestone), and Bibb are well known varieties. These lettuces have a mild taste with just a hint of the bitterness some lettuces have, making them good candidates for salads to start a meal, or as a light salad to finish a heavier meal.

Looseleaf Lettuce
Looseleaf lettuces are just that – heads that are open with loosely joined leaves. Many of these are very tender lettuces, and some of the more striking looking lettuces come from this family, as well. Redleaf and greenleaf lettuces are common from this family, but there are deeply lobed red and green oakleaf varieties, deer tongue, and the flamboyant Lollo Rosso. This lovely lettuce is ruffled along the edges, giving it an almost frizzy look. The color ranges from a bright, deep red to a stately bronze red, with lower sections of the leaves ranging from white to green to red. A green version of this lettuce is Lollo Biondo, and both varieties are loaded with flavor. A little bitter, a little sweet, they just seem to be a little bolder flavor-wise. When these two lettuces are combined in a bowl with oakleaf lettuces, it makes a very striking salad.

Chicory or Endive
In addition to true lettuces, there are many types of chicories that are used like lettuce. Chicory flavor profiles range from the pronounced bitterness of radicchio (some are more bitter than others by orders of magnitude!) to the mildly bitter and slightly sweet flavor of escarole. Frisee has a mild bitterness and an almost astringent quality to it, and endive has a pleasant bitter and sweet character. These chicories are often quite strikingly colored and make salads a treat for the eye. In use, a little of these leaves act as foils or points of interest to milder lettuces, and they pair well with nut oils, nuts, and fruit such as apple or pear sliced into the salads.

Arugula
Also lumped with lettuces are things like arugula (A.K.A. Mediterranean rocket, rucola, rocquette) – regular and wild – with a  nutty, spicy flavor. Arugula goes well with citrus fruits, nuts, apples and pears, and cheeses.

Cresses are often lumped in with rocket, but they are typically spicier and can also be bitter. Mizuna, considered a mustard, is used in salads along with young red mustard leaves to add a milder punch to the palate and beauty to the bowl.

So as you can surmise by now, there is not just one type of lettuce. What might be simply labeled “red romaine” may actually be one of the many varieties of red romaine including Spock, Outredgious, Firecracker or Blackhawk. I asked one farmer how many types of lettuces he has growing and was told 20. And that was just one farmer! While strolling through our farmers market, I counted over 30 varieties of “lettuces” including chicories, cresses, mustards, and arugulas. That leads to a lot of variations, so get out there and taste some of these lettuces and their friends.

Nutrition
Lettuces actually are good for you. Keep in mind that the darker the lettuce, the more nutritious the lettuce will be. Lettuces are good sources for vitamin C, beta carotene, calcium, folacin, and even iron. Arugula is at the top for nutrition (a 3.5 ounce serving has over 100% USRDA of vitamin C, around 300 mg of calcium, and 10% of RDA for iron). Lettuces are also an excellent source of dietary fiber.

Lettuce – Not Just For Salads!
Besides use in salads, lettuce is also delicious cooked. A classic French dish pairs butter lettuces with freshly shelled peas in a buttery braise. I am fond of grilling romaine and Little Gem lettuces, and eating them as a vegetable after drizzling them with high-quality balsamic vinegar. I love to sauté escarole or endive with a pinch of sugar, and this works with butter head lettuces as well. So, if you find you have more lettuce for salad than you need, try cooking some.

Confused about lettuces and which is which? Here's a great visual guide for salad greens.