How to eat lettuce in winter

August 22, 2019 7:22 PM

Our backyard is full of volunteer cos (romaine) lettuce, which is mostly being eaten by snails because it is winter here, and lettuce just does not feel like winter food. Any suggestions for what I can do with it that will be interesting to eat in winter?
posted by kjs4 to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Grilled Caesar Salad. Slice lettuce heads in half lengthwise grill til warm and slightly charred, and top with good parm or pecorino curls and your favorite Caesar dressing. Chicken or Shrimp optional.
(edit: I say grill but griddle top indoors is how I do it.)
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:28 PM on August 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

Lettuce soup
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:37 PM on August 22, 2019 [3 favorites]

Lettuce fried rice. Delicious greasy fried rice which feels healthy because it’s full of shredded lettuce.
posted by huimangm at 7:59 PM on August 22, 2019 [3 favorites]

A handful of shredded lettuce is good in broth based soups (like chicken noodle, wonton, etc). It wilts slightly but maintains a bit of crunchiness. Prepare the soup as usual, and just toss in some shredded lettuce leaves shortly before serving.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:00 PM on August 22, 2019

Romaine is a good crunchy lettuce to stand up to roasted vegetables. Cauliflower and carrots are nice, roast them about halfway and then toss in mushrooms and red onions until browned. Toss things beforehand in some oil and vinegar plus spices (sherry vinegar and thyme plus salt and pepper would be what I'd do) and make a similar salad dressing with a nice oil you wouldn't want to roast but the same flavors otherwise. Serve the veggies warmish or room temp on a bed of lettuce with the dressing. Optionally, add protein like some lamb or some of those lovely gigante beans or maybe some roasted chickpeas.
posted by Mizu at 8:13 PM on August 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

No one's said Bo Ssam yet, so here it is. More generally, wrap tender braised meats in lettuce, and enjoy.
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:12 PM on August 22, 2019 [5 favorites]

Add to stir fries
posted by kinddieserzeit at 10:51 PM on August 22, 2019

Side salad with some serious pasta. Pasta feels like a winter food, for sure, but it surely does benefit from something fresh served along with it.
posted by amtho at 11:46 PM on August 22, 2019

zamboni posted this recipe over in another ask. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks delicious.
posted by mumimor at 11:57 PM on August 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

Harvest them early! Split in half as "romaine hearts."

Infuse with liquid marinades. Throw on a grill for a couple of minutes, flip, another couple of minutes, serve.
posted by porpoise at 12:11 AM on August 23, 2019

Steak salad if you eat red meat!
posted by sallybrown at 9:02 AM on August 23, 2019

Wilted lettuce with vinegar, onions, and bacon. Something like this.
posted by nirblegee at 12:18 AM on August 24, 2019

make spring rolls. you can forgo even the rice paper wrapping, and just wrap it in lettuce leaves. Put inside whatever you want, veggies, meats, seafood, etc. this is our go-to for the summer when we're drowning in heads of lettuce that are bigger than my kids. :)
posted by alathia at 11:46 AM on August 25, 2019