Guide

Fruit and Vegetable Guide

Lettuce

Spring, Summer, Autumn

Description: Lettuce varieties abound. Most head lettuces and looseleaf lettuces have relatively mild flavors, and vary in appearance, color, and texture. Other leafy greens used for salad include romaine, arugula, curly endive, frisee, chicory, and watercress; these are more intensely-flavored.

Selection: Choose crisp, fresh lettuce and salad greens. Because they are very perishable, they should be purchased only in excellent condition.

Storage and handling: Refrigerate crisper varieties up to 7 days, wrapped in slightly damp paper towels in a plastic bag from which the air has been removed. Before eating, separate leaves from the head and swish in a bowl of cold water until no grit is present.

Preparation: Be sure the greens are dry, as dry greens hold dressing better. Tear do not cut into pieces. Hardier, sharper-tasting greens like escarole and chicory can be sautéed in butter or oil.

Serving suggestions: Toss raw lettuce or greens with vinaigrette or your favorite dressing and chopped vegetables or fruit, toasted nuts, and/or dried fruit (SIS, p. 44); serve immediately. Leftover lettuce can be added to soup or quiche. The sharper tasting greens do well with a hot bacon dressing.

Nutrients: Vitamins A (dark green lettuces) and K; lutein and zeaxanthin antioxidants (green lettuce).

1 lb raw = 10-16 cups
1 lb cooked = n/a

The Fruit and Vegetable Guide is reproduced here with permission of Herald Press, publisher of Simply in Season.

Subscribe to a recipe a week from the Simply in Season cookbook.

Guide

Fruit and Vegetable Guide

Lettuce

More from our readers

Send your tips, helpful comments or recipes


	Guide General Tips Apples Asparagus Beets Blueberries Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Collards Corn Cranberries Cucumbers Edamame Edible flowers Eggplant Fennel Grapes Green beans Kale Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Melon Mesclun Mushrooms Okra Onions Parsnips Peaches Pears Peas Peppers Persimmons Potatoes Pumpkins Raspberries Rhubarb Rutabagas Spinach Summer squash Strawberries Swiss chard Sweet potatoes Tomatillos Tomatoes Turnips Wild greens Winter squash Fruit and Vegetable Guide Lettuce Spring, Summer, Autumn Description: Lettuce varieties abound. Most head lettuces and looseleaf lettuces have relatively mild flavors, and vary in appearance, color, and texture. Other leafy greens used for salad include romaine, arugula, curly endive, frisee, chicory, and watercress; these are more intensely-flavored. Selection: Choose crisp, fresh lettuce and salad greens. Because they are very perishable, they should be purchased only in excellent condition. Storage and handling: Refrigerate crisper varieties up to 7 days, wrapped in slightly damp paper towels in a plastic bag from which the air has been removed. Before eating, separate leaves from the head and swish in a bowl of cold water until no grit is present. Preparation: Be sure the greens are dry, as dry greens hold dressing better. Tear do not cut into pieces. Hardier, sharper-tasting greens like escarole and chicory can be sautéed in butter or oil. Serving suggestions: Toss raw lettuce or greens with vinaigrette or your favorite dressing and chopped vegetables or fruit, toasted nuts, and/or dried fruit (SIS, p. 44); serve immediately. Leftover lettuce can be added to soup or quiche. The sharper tasting greens do well with a hot bacon dressing. Nutrients: Vitamins A (dark green lettuces) and K; lutein and zeaxanthin antioxidants (green lettuce). 1 lb raw = 10-16 cups 1 lb cooked = n/a The Fruit and Vegetable Guide is reproduced here with permission of Herald Press, publisher of Simply in Season. Subscribe to a recipe a week from the Simply in Season cookbook. More from our readers Do you have a tip, comment or recipe you would like to add to this page? Send your tips, helpful comments or recipes Name Email Address Email Address confirm Comments
World Community Cookbooks Simply in Season About Recipe of the Week Fruit and Vegetable Guide Blogs & Reviews Study Guide Register Simply in Season Children’s Cookbook About Look Inside More-with-Less About Recipes Extending the table About Recipes Links MCC Web site
	© 2009 Mennonite Central Committee 21 South 12th Street, PO Box 500 Akron, PA 17501 tel: +1 (717) 859-1151 or toll free (888) 563-4676 MCC Canada, 134 Plaza Drive, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 5K9 tel: +1 (204) 261-6381 or toll free (888) 622-6337 Contact cookbook@mcc.org regarding the content of this page. Contact fdy@mcc.org regarding technical difficulties with this page.