The title strikes well with this amazing, commonly-known vegetable; everyone can now remain calm in regards to romaine lettuce! The outbreak in romaine lettuce is no longer a scare, and we can go back to enjoying one of our most favorite leafy greens.
Even though commercial romaine lettuce has been the subject of product warnings in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked back to its known outbreak origin. Now that the outbreak has been controlled, we are going to start seeing a lot more varieties of the romaine lettuce that we’ve grown to love.
Also known as “cos” lettuce, this lettuce was presumably introduced on the Greek island of Cos. Then, it reached to Asia and Western Europe, such as Rome, Italy, and France, where they termed the vegetable “Roman lettuce.” Hence, the common North American name, romaine.
Romaine lettuce is one of the most popular in the garden and in the kitchen. It’s one of the fastest-growing vegetables that is easy to harvest and takes up little space. As soon as they are ready to use, you can just pull them right out of the ground. They can even continue to grow if they are cut from the heart, but it won’t grow to be one single, neat head of lettuce.
When choosing your romaine from the store, you want to be sure that you are picking a head of lettuce that is crisp and unwilted. Unwilted meaning it is not limp or slimy and is free of dark spots. The outer layer of the lettuce should be a darker green, with no yellow or brown coloring to the edges of the leaves. When storing your lettuce, you want to keep it away from fruits like apples, pears and bananas because they will cause the leaves to brown. Romaine lettuce can keep its freshness up to seven days if stored and refrigerated properly.
This common salad green is mainly known to be used in Caesar salad, another known Greek attribute. I am a big fan of a good Caesar salad with zesty dressing, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and seasoned croutons. Classic and delicious. But there are many different varieties of recipes where you can use the romaine leaves, such as a teriyaki glazed chicken lettuce wrap with carrots and ginger, another one of my favorites! Make a platter with romaine lettuce leaves, diced vegetables, chicken and/or tofu, and a variety of nuts. Now, everyone can interact by making their own lettuce wraps. Garnish your sandwiches with crisp romaine lettuce for a little extra crunch! When it comes to salads, get creative! Mix your lettuces together, find your favorite foods to add, and use fresh vegetables, nuts/seeds, fruits, cheeses and/or meats.
Romaine hearts can also be used to cook, like when braising. Over medium/high heat, heat oil in a sautée pan, place the leaves cut side down and flip after 30 seconds. Then, take the romaine out of the pan onto a separate plate. Heat garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano with spent oil; deglaze with white wine and add chicken stock. Then, place the romaine leaves back into the pan, lower heat to simmer, and cover. Don’t forget to season to taste! This really makes a great side veggie dish, especially when not everybody cares much for fresh greens.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss new ingredients, you can always feel free to chat with me! I love to work with any ingredients that I can get my hands on and have explored many traditional and innovative, alternative methods of cooking. So, even if there’s something new that you would like to explore, we can go on that culinary adventure together! You can reach me at kyle@nona.media.
