Cooked Lettuce?? Is there such a thing? I have learned to cook every other

other vegetable that is getting "ify" - so that it want go to waste.

I just bought a head of lettuce and know it will go bad before I can eat all of it. I do everything to make it last as long as possible, but, eventually comes the time I either have to throw it out - or learn some way to cook it. Usually when I cook these little leftovers - onions, tomatoes, cabbage etc. I then freeze to eat later.

I can't think how to cook lettuce, much less freeze it.

Any help or ideas??

http://southernfood.about.com/od/spinach/r/bl10309b.htm

I've never had it, but my grandmother threatened to make it once or twice when I was a kid. I think she had a yen for it, but was outvoted by family.

He was from Kansas, and remembered it fondly from his childhood. It's pretty good, actually, with bacon and onion and vinegar dressing.

He liked all the old-timey dishes, such as raisin pie, scrapple, codfish balls, etc. His favorite dessert was also Harry Truman's favorite -- Ozark Pudding, a hot apple dessert.

I'm going to see if I can find recipes for some of the things you fixed your father in law. I have never heard
of scrapple.

Actually, do you have recipes for any or all of the above. I bet other people here would enjoy these recipes also.

how I've made it. Put leaf lettuce and chopped green onion in a bowl and set aside. Fry a few pieces of bacon until they are crispy, drain and crumble on top of the lettuce. To the bacon grease in the skillet, add 1 - 2 teaspoons sugar (or the amount that suits your taste), a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Heat until the sugar is dissolved completely and pour over the lettuce and toss. You can top it off with some chopped hardboiled egg if you like. Very good.

No recipe, just my own concoction based on what's in the house. I shred it coarsely and add it to the wok near the end.

including shredded lettuces, radishes, cucumbers, and other things we only eat raw here.

Raw veggies in China simply aren't safe to eat since human waste is a vital fertilizer and they don't have time to let it compost for 2 years first.

There is also a recipe for shredded Endive and green peas out there somewhere.

Escarole is a necessary ingredient in Italian wedding soup.

So yes, lettus is a cooked veggie in some cuisines. It's not that off the wall to consider it.

I mean, it's mostly water and it simply wilts like any other leafy green vegetable. Doesn't add any flavor to speak of, but you can add it for its texture, its fiber, color, etc.

on edit: Cajun Fried Lettuce: http://www.cajun-recipes.com/html/vegetable/31445.htm

Fried Lettuce

2 cups shredded lettuce
1 small onion sliced
1 potato diced then boiled
1 egg
Salt to taste
Spanish paprika Garlic powder
Cumin to taste
Black pepper to taste
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup water

Boil potatoes until soft. Drain water, and let cool. While potatoes cool, combine lettuce, onion, egg, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder and one-half cup water. Stir well, and let stand 15 minutes. Then add flour to thicken. Final mixture should not be too thick or too thin. With a large tablespoon, drop in hot oil and cook long enough to brown one side, about two minutes. Turn over, and brown other side, about two minutes.

Serves 2.

Iceberg lettuce can last quite a long time with one trick. When you bring it home, thunk it core side down on the counter, and then pull out the core with your fingers. Then run it under the faucet letting cold water go down into the hole where the core was. Turn it upside down to drain, and then put in a paper towel inside a plastic bag. It will really crisp up and last a long time.

If you're talking about romaine or other head lettuce, I think a rinse and then storage in paper towels should help it last quite a while in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Don't cut your lettuce with a knife, though. That will definitely make the edges brown.

I put the lettuce with the core facing up toward me and pulled it out from the there. Does it make a difference? Also, I have a lettuce keeper - a big plastic thingy - should I use that AND a plastic bag?

I had always heard about tearing lettuce - not cutting it. I thought it meant that it had something to do with the way a salad would taste! Embarrassed Patricia :embarrass:

I just cut them off the next time I'm using the head of lettuce. Frankly, I lost count of the number of heads of lettuce I threw away because they went squishy waiting for me to get up the energy to tear them. I never quite mastered the technique of tearing that would enable me to produce uniform, fork/bite sized pieces in a few seconds, like I can get with a knife.

Also, I frequently make things that need shredded lettuce, and that's easiest with a knife, too. I finally gave up on purism and just whack off the bits I need. Next time, I pare away the brown edges, and whack off some more. I rarely throw away a head anymore because it takes next to no time now to make a lunch by whacking off enough lettuce to make a bed for whatever leftover cooked veggies, etc., I have to use up.

Same deal with romain and leaf lettuce, too. I just slice off the brown edges and put them in the compost bin, then cut up what I need.

There's nothing morally wrong with convenience, especially if yer naturally lazy (like me) and making the extra effort would only result in procrastination and waste.

self-righteously,
Bright

I've made a recipe for a spring saute of fava beans, garden peas, herbs and lettuce (Lidia's Kitchen, on PBS)

(I don't use ground beef anymore, but that was in the original recipe.)

1/2 lb. browned ground beef
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lg. onion, finely chopped.
oil to cover the bottom of the pan
2 lg tomatoes
1 dessertspoon of ground coriander
1/2 t. ground tumeric
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. ground chilis
1 small lettuce

Fry onion and garlic in oil till golden. Add quartered tomatoes, add ground spices. Mix thoroughly. Cook 5-7 minutes. Shred lettuce. Add to curry. Simmer 10 minutes till cooked through. Add salt to taste.

before you use it. It works great for my stuffed pepper recipes.