Lettuce
Lactuca sativa
Similar veggies:
Salad mix, lamb’s lettuce, rucola, winter purslane, summer purslane
A quick introduction
We grow many types of lettuce that all look a little different. Sometimes we harvest whole heads of lettuce and sometimes we harvest lettuce by cutting only the loose leaves to make a salad mix with different kinds of greens. Endive is often confused with head lettuce and the easiest way to distinguish the two is by test-tasting for bitterness. Lettuce leaves should be pleasant to eat raw and not overly bitter (although they do tend to get a tiny bit bitter in summer).
Storage
As with all leafy greens we recommend washing lettuce in cold water (we do pre-wash it at the farm) and drying it. You can either already separate the leaves from the head and store them in a closed container (this way they probably stay longest) or you can keep the whole head in the vegetable drawer of the fridge.
Season
Spring to fall
Suggestions for preparation
We think that our lettuce stands out in taste and freshness and needs little more than a good olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and a nice vinegar to make a delicious salad. Since our lettuce heads are mostly grown outside and exposed to 'real' weather conditions such as heat, wind and cold, the leaves can be slightly tougher than supermarket-bought lettuce, which tends to be grown under artificial conditions in greenhouses. We have a jar with roasted seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds & sesame seeds) in our kitchen pantry to add to quick salads.
Recipes
In need of salad inspiration? Here are Stadsgroenteboer Andres' basic guidelines to make a filling salad:
Make sure you have at least a few of the ingredient types below:
-Crunchy & juicy elements like kohlrabi, carrots, turnips.
-Spicy elements such as mustard greens, rucola or radishes.
-Green elements like carrot greens, lettuce and radish tops (if very tender).
-Spring onions, chives or young garlic.
-Filling elements like roasted sunflower seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, sprouts, tofu or mushrooms
-Some delicious edible flowers such as nasturtiums, borage or rucola flowers.
-A vinaigrette with good olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and whatever else you like.
And voilá, there you have your salad!