Lettuce is a precocious crop and it is often the first to appear on the table. According to the terms of consumer ripeness, salads are divided into spring, summer and autumn. Farmers breed mainly four types of salads: leafy, cabbage, romaine and asparagus.
Lettuce is one of the most popular green plants, which is especially appreciated in spring, when the diet lacks vitamins and minerals.
Salad is a delicious dietary vegetable and a mandatory component of the most exquisite dishes of European cuisine. It has a low calorie content and is rich in minerals and vitamins.
Lettuce leaves and heads are usually consumed fresh to prepare various salads mixed with other vegetable crops (cucumbers, tomatoes) or as an independent dish.
How to Mix Lettuce with other Ingredients?
Chopped fresh lettuce leaves are seasoned with vegetable oil, mustard, garlic or onion, salt, lemon juice, vinegar, finely chopped dill, parsley, celery, chervil are added to taste. The salad is also used to prepare the first dishes (soup-puree) boiled cabbage. Salad is also used in stewed and fried form. Lettuce leaves are eaten before the plant forms a stem, as they subsequently become bitter.
Seed (cultural) lettuce is cultivated mainly for nutrition. Latex (lactucarium) is obtained from the stems. The seeds contain good quality oil. For nutrition, young leaves of leafy varieties, heads (cabbage and romaine lettuce), thickened stem (asparagus salads) are used until the flower stem appears.
How to Use Lettuce in Cooking?
Lettuce leaves are an ideal component of simple and delicious vegetable salads, products for which do not require heat treatment. And they also make cute snacks in the form of tubes, rolls, slices, bags, envelopes.
Lettuce leaves remain one of the most interesting ingredients in cooking in general. Firstly, because of its appearance, brightness. Secondly, because of the benefits and taste. You can put any cold snacks, ready-made salads on them. And outwardly it will look more beautiful. They can also be added to any snacks and salads, thereby saturating the dish with vitamins and fiber.
How to Cook with Lettuce?
The simplest, fastest vitamin salad consists of: leaves, boiled eggs, green onions and mayonnaise. All this is chopped and mixed. It is served as a snack or as a spread on bread. It can be used as a filling for pita bread rolls. The combination of green salad leaves and red fish is very interesting, many advise to try it.
Often in Turkey, this salad is prepared as a main dish for lunch or dinner. The composition includes lettuce leaves, eggs, parsley, green onions, black olives, and also add hot red pepper and season with plenty of olive oil.
Ensalada mediterranea. A very simple and very popular salad in Spain – in the hot season, it can probably replace a full lunch. In every country, even in every region of a more or less large country, there is a salad that the locals eat most often. In Spain, at least on the Costa Blanca, it is ensalada mediterranea (Mediterranean salad) or ensalada mixta (mixed salad). By and large, there is only one difference – in the Mediterranean oil is always olive, in the mixed one there can be any vegetable. Don’t wait for an exact recipe – it doesn’t exist. I will tell you how it is most often prepared in our region.
The salad is prepared very quickly and simply. It has an excellent combination of mozzarella, dried ham and two types of tomatoes, which complements the subtle aroma of garlic. Very tasty! Try it and you…
The salad is prepared very quickly and simply. It has an excellent combination of mozzarella, dried ham and two types of tomatoes, which complements the delicate aroma of garlic. Very tasty!
