15

Apr

Iceberg Lettuce is not Your Only Choice

Filed Under (Articles) by Webmaster on 15-04-2009

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 Iceberg Lettuce isn’t Your Only Choice

 
What goes in a salad? A little of this and a little of that, but 90 percent of the time it starts with crisp, green lettuce. The question is what type of greens do you like on your salad? Let’s look at some of the different types of lettuce one can use to make the perfect salad.  
 
Building the perfect salad takes time. You work from the bottom up and all the fixings need to be just right. Lettuce is not only the building block of your salad but it makes up about 50 to 60 percent of your dish. Therefore finding the right type of lettuce to satisfy your taste buds is very important.
 
Iceberg lettuce usually tops the list because it is the most common and the easiest to find. Most restaurant salads begin with iceberg lettuce. Although this type of lettuce has very little taste it is still considered one of the favorite picks. With all the other ingredients you add you won’t even notice there’s not much taste.
 
Next in line is Bibb lettuce. This type of lettuce has a slightly sweet taste. It also has a rich green color. This type of lettuce works great as bedding for chicken or tuna salad as well as fruit salads.
 
Romaine lettuce is used most often in Cesar salads. It is a little more expensive than iceberg lettuce. Its mild taste makes it a great lettuce for salads. Romaine lettuce is a little darker in color than iceberg lettuce. The leaves are long and they have a fibrous spine that runs the entire length of each leaf.   
 
A bitter tasting lettuce such as Frisee is most often found in mixed greens. This lettuce is often mixed with Mesclun which also has a bitter taste. These lettuce leaves look like they have been chewed by a rabbit before being packaged. They are a medium green in color and the leaves are long and ragged looking.
 
Other types of greens include spinach and radicchio. Spinach has a wonderful flavor and a brilliant dark green color. One of the benefits of spinach is that color. Antioxidants are found in these darker colored leaves. Beta carotene is in abundance and can help in warding off free radicals in the body as well.
 
Radicchio is a lettuce that looks more like a cabbage. Although the leaves are long like lettuce the color and texture are more like that of a cabbage. The red to purple color and the white spine that runs through leaves give this type of lettuce the appearance of a cabbage. Radicchio is rather bitter and works better when mixed with other types of lettuce than alone.
 
Last but not least is endive. Endive is a Belgian variety of lettuce. Dark green in color the leaves are short and have a tendency to curl. Due to its mild taste, endive is chosen often for salads.
 
What type of greens do you prefer? These are just a few that you can mix and match to create the perfect salad base. Try something different the next time you prepare a salad, you might just find one you love.

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05

Mar

Crisp and Fresh Lettuce Storage Tips

Filed Under (Articles) by Webmaster on 05-03-2009

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 Crisp & Fresh Lettuce Storage Tips

 
You’re hungry and you know there’s something you’re craving. Ah a salad is what you want. You run to the fridge, open the vegetable crisper only to find the lettuce you bought 2 days ago is brown and mushy. Ever happen to you? It happens more often than not.
 
Here are a few storage tips to make sure you have crisp, fresh lettuce when that craving strikes.
 
Lettuce is not cheap. When it’s not stored correctly we find ourselves tossing it in the trash more often then we care to admit. Lettuce can be purchased in a bag or by the head. Either way, if not stored properly lettuce can, and will, go bad in a very little amount of time.
 
One way to preserve your lettuce until salad time is to buy a fresh head of lettuce. Lettuce that is in a sealed bag can turn brown faster. It has already been handled, chopped or cut by a metal object and then sealed in the bag. Often times when a bag of lettuce is purchased you can already see the edges beginning to brown before it’s even made it off the shelf.
 
Grocery stores mist their vegetables to keep them hydrated. Of course we can’t do this at home and when it comes to lettuce you are better off if it’s stored dry. Always rinse lettuce before storing, but use a paper towel to dry the lettuce leaves before placing them in the proper container.
 
Store your lettuce in a dry, sealable, plastic bag. Condensation with gather on the inside of the bag even though the lettuce has been dried so line the bag with paper towel before adding the dry lettuce. This will keep a head of lettuce fresh for about a week.
 
If your refrigerator has a crisper tray, keep your lettuce stored there. Keep the temperature of the refrigerator in the middle of your temperature scale and if you have a humidity setting you can adjust, keep it set on low. The more humidity inside your refrigerator, the better chance of the lettuce leaves acquiring moisture. If the temperature is too high you take a risk of freezing the moisture on the leaves causing them to become translucent and mushy.
 
Always store your salad fixings in separate containers. The moisture or juices from vegetables and dressings will cause lettuce leaves to wilt. There’s nothing worse than craving a salad only to find your lettuce has turned brown and nasty when you open the container. Not only does it make the lettuce less appealing, but the veggies probably aren’t in that great of shape either thanks to the turning of the lettuce.  
 
By storing your lettuce properly you can have a fresh made salad anytime you wish. There’s nothing like a good, healthy salad. Go ahead and buy that head of lettuce today and feed your craving whenever the urge strikes, not whenever you’re lettuce feels up to it. 

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02

Mar

Liven Up Your Salad with Fixings

Filed Under (Articles) by Webmaster on 02-03-2009

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Liven Up Your Salad with Fixings

 
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you want to fix a salad? You’re probably thinking lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and dressing right? Boring! Salads don’t have to be boring. Liven up your salad by adding all different kinds of scrumptious fixings. Wondering what those fixings might be? Let’s explore and get creative to find your favorites.

Close your eyes and picture your favorite salad bar. What do you see? Chances are the first thing is lettuce. Many salad bars have more than one type of lettuce. Is there one you really like? Mix up your lettuce or stick with your favorite. The choice is all up to you.
 
Now what’s next? All those bright colorful vegetables are probably making their presence in your mind by now? Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers and mushrooms are all great additions to any salad.
 
Zucchini, squash, radishes and even those baby ears of corn can be added to a salad. Many people don’t think about the corn, because they are used to seeing them in stir fry meals only, yet they make the perfect addition to a salad. 
 
Just about any vegetable will work on a salad. You can get more vegetables into your daily diet with a salad than most people could ever imagine. Think of the nutritional value your salad will have with these vegetables included.
 
How about some fruit? Most salad bars contain fruits like strawberries, pineapple, bananas and other types of berries. Raisins and dried fruits are also a great addition to your salad. Fruits give your salad a sweet taste and they mix well with many vegetables. Fruits add more vitamins and minerals to your salad and up the nutritional value just like vegetables.
 
Ok what about all those toppers you see at the end of the salad bar? There are bacon bits, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and various kinds of nuts. All these toppings sound pretty good don’t they? You can also add bean sprouts, water chestnuts or red pepper flakes to enhance the flavor.
 
When it comes to the fixings you place on your salad the sky is the limit. Try new things that you might have never imagined eating on a salad. Add different fruits or vegetables with each salad. Give all those fixings a chance.
 
Still picturing that salad bar? Open those eyes and get in the kitchen. Create your own salad and make those fixings count. 

 

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