cook lettuce?

[Paneenjerez]

Hey y'all,
Can you cook lettuce? And more importantly, if you do, will it taste good? We have an overabundance in our garden and I get tired of eating it just in salads. I planted a mesclun mix, no big leaves so can't use the it for wraps.

[2big4mysize]

Re: cook lettuce?

you can add it to soups and it will behave just like spinach. it will retain whatever flavor it had depending on what variety you fixed. I've uses a spicey mix letuce bed as cilantro replaceemnts in stuffed tomatoes and that worked okay.

I've never cooked it as a veggie though.

You can as southerners call it kilt the lettuce too by fixing your salad and pouring hot grease of your choice some use bacon fat I use olive oil on it just before you eat it. you can hear the lettuce popping as it gets kilt and then eat the warm stuff. You can wilt it with a warm dressing too.

you can also donate it to a food pantry or senior citizen home they love getting fress veggies.

[not2late]

Re: cook lettuce?

Yes you can cook lettuce. I've sauteed it---just chop into 2 inch pieces and saute in butter or olive oil, salt and pepper, until it's wilted. It will retain some of its crunch. The flavor will be a bit sweeter and mellowed, so I use it when I saute some of the more bitter/sharper greens like Swiss Chard, mustard greens, etc.. You can use this sauteed lettuce in omelettes and fritattas.

This is a foodnetwork sauteed lettuce recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cook...6_5582,00.html

This is a good way to prepare lettuce too:
http://www.soupsong.com/rlettuc1.html

[lolitaleekun]

Re: cook lettuce?

I'm very late on this, but this sounds like a fantastic way to get larger volumes of lettuce without eating bowlsful.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: cook lettuce?

I've seen recipes for grilled romaine, too.

[BlueDun]

Re: cook lettuce?

The French use lettuce to make soup but I've never tried it. Good luck - BD

[Spring Towry]

Re: cook lettuce?

The French use lettuce to make soup but I've never tried it. Good luck - BD

I put lettuce in my soup. It thickens it up. I plant lots of it in the summer and sometimes run out of things to do with it. I donate tons we eat tons, then I start freezing it. I take the bags out of the freezer and smash them to break up the frozen leaves and pour in what I want.

[sallyseachange]

Re: cook lettuce?

Italians have a recipe for cooked lettuce with broad beans. All sauteed together (young broad beans, double shelled) with EVOO, garlic, chili pepper. I imagine the lettuce is added towards the end. Broth is added as needed until right consistency achieved.
My MIL makes this and it's wonderful... the lettuce still has a little consistency and the broad beans are semi mushy. You eat it luke warm with a drizzle of more (good quality) EVOO on it after it's plated.