Texture of Lettuce

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  • Simple. Stop putting lettuce in your salads. I eat salad regularly and haven't had a lettuce salad in years. I don't like it in a mixed salad because it goes soggy. Occasionally I will make myself a salad which is just lettuce, a few pine nuts, and a simple salad dressing, as when you eat it alone it doesn't sog. (I went to stay with a French exchange student when I was 15, and they were so horrified at the idea of eating lettuce mixed in with other veg that they trained me for life.) The rest of the time, if I want a leafy salad I use spinach, usually baby spinach. Nice and leafy, good fresh taste, and most important of all, it doesn't go soggy. Look up some more salad recipes if you're stuck, there are loads of different types out there. Here's one of my favourites, which I think I will make for lunch now we mention it.

    Small tin of chick peas
    Carrot, diced
    Tomato, diced
    Various bits and bobs e.g. raisins, olives, sundried tomatoes (may need to watch the fat content with these)
    Olive oil and lemon juice for dressing, though sometimes I will use various vinegars e.g. balsamic

    Then you get the Japanese approach to salads.

    Tomato
    Wakame seaweed (you only need a bit, it swells up hugely when it's rehydrated)
    Tofu
    Sesame seeds
    Dressing of sesame oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce.

    My current passion, which is on hold while I'm on a lower-fat diet while they investigate me for gallstones, is a variation on Thai papaya salad. You're meant to make it with green papaya, but I couldn't get that and used ripe papaya instead. The recipe says "if you can't get green papaya, use green cabbage", so I'm being pretty inauthentic here, but who cares, the salad is out of this world. This makes quite a big salad.

    1 ripe papaya, cut into chunks
    8 or so snow peas or similar
    1 red onion, finely chopped and blanched in boiling water for 5 min
    5 button mushrooms, sliced
    1/3 cup (brown) Thai rice, cooked
    1 red pepper, cut into fine strips

    1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
    juice of 1 lime
    1 tbsp? light soy sauce
    pinch cumin
    dash cayenne
    squeeze of garlic purée
    bit of water to make up the sauce

    Then there was a salad I had years ago which my mother copied from a rabbi's wife. I can't remember the exact recipe, but it involved raw broccoli, blanched red onion, mayonnaise as part of the dressing (I made it with vegan mayonnaise), and googling those ingredients will bring up lots of ideas.

    My usual variation on Israeli salad goes something like this:

    Diced tomato
    Diced cucumber
    A few black olives
    Spring onion, chopped (optional)
    Bit of fresh tofu, diced (a white cheese would work here too)
    Za'atar
    Olive oil
    Salt
    Lemon juice (optional)

    A leafy salad, since I'm trotting out every recipe I can think of:

    Baby spinach
    Avocado
    Tomato
    A few green olives
    Olive oil and lemon juice dressing

    And these are fairly unimaginative salads, to be honest, there are far more veg out there which I should be using. There really is no reason to be stuck miserably prodding at a few limp tomatoes and a bit of soggy lettuce!
  • lettuce + cabbage with a bit of dressings !
  • My gosh that sounds like me! Most people don't know what I am talking about when I describe lettuce as being "too crunchy". I also don't like the essence flavor to touch any of my food.

    I'm a picky eater, and I am pretty sure I am a Super Taster, a person who has more taste buds with more sensitivity to particular foods. I learned about this when I read Suffering Succotash, and basically some foods you can be more and more exposed to and then not mind eating them. But I have a hard time eating greens. I have to eat spinach leaves with my hands, and even then I still don't eat it that much.

    I am going to try and sneak in spinach leaves into a fruit smoothie, and hopefully the taste of the greens will be masked.
  • Quote: My gosh that sounds like me! Most people don't know what I am talking about when I describe lettuce as being "too crunchy". I also don't like the essence flavor to touch any of my food.

    I'm a picky eater, and I am pretty sure I am a Super Taster, a person who has more taste buds with more sensitivity to particular foods. I learned about this when I read Suffering Succotash, and basically some foods you can be more and more exposed to and then not mind eating them. But I have a hard time eating greens. I have to eat spinach leaves with my hands, and even then I still don't eat it that much.

    I am going to try and sneak in spinach leaves into a fruit smoothie, and hopefully the taste of the greens will be masked.
    The best way to mask that is with bananas. You could also try half carrot and half spinach. Just a thought!
  • I get my lettuce once a week from a local grower. The varieties vary by season but I make one HUGE salad and then keep it in mason jars to take to work during the week. I will tell you that everybody that eats some absolutely begs me to bring more for them. I have lettuce but about 50% is veggiesTry this...

    2-3 types lettuce or greens (spinach, baby kale, romaine, buttercrisp etc.) wash, chop and throw into huge bowl.
    1/2 shredded cabbage
    5 or 6 shredded carrots
    6-8 shredded radishes
    1-2 diced yellow or green zucchini (chop small if you don't like veggies but they add substance)
    one bunch chopped green onions
    1 huge bundle or cilantro (sometimes basil but cilantro rocks)

    Other veggies as I come across them. I use this as my base salad and it lasts all week. I keep it in a large kitchenaide salad spinner. I take it for lunch and we have it for dinner each night.

    To really kick it up (I know you will think you won't like this but humor me and try it) take a bowl full, drizzle on olive oil, juice a lemon or lime over it and sprinkle with sea salt. It will catch the cilantro and BANG SO good!! My kids eat this every day and will eat more then a cereal bowl at a time!

    I add chicken, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, eggs or other proteins for lunch. I don't add tomato or cucumber or other "wet" veggies because by the end of the week they are yucky.

    I think if you try this you will reduce your texture issue. There is a lot of "crunch" due to carrots, cabbage etc. Try going for half the lettuce. I never use iceberg and I find that mixing greens helps a lot! I LOVE cabbage and kale fresh!
  • I don't like crunchy lettuce myself. Iceberg and Romaine are gross. I'll stick with Spring Mix or Spinach for my salads.
  • I don't like crunchy lettuce. Iceberg is blah, and I don't like the big stems in Romaine. I like green/red leaf lettuce. Something you might consider is making a salad with warmed toppings. For example, I made a chicken fajita salad. I cooked some chicken breast in fajita seasoning and added onion, bell pepper, corn, and beans to heat through. Put it all on a bed of lettuce while it was warm and topped with cheese, salsa, and some mashed avocado.
  • I totally thought this was just me! I can't stand the texture of lettuce! I know it's been suggested multiple times already, but spinach really does work for me.
  • Quote: My gosh that sounds like me! Most people don't know what I am talking about when I describe lettuce as being "too crunchy". I also don't like the essence flavor to touch any of my food.

    I'm a picky eater, and I am pretty sure I am a Super Taster, a person who has more taste buds with more sensitivity to particular foods. I learned about this when I read Suffering Succotash, and basically some foods you can be more and more exposed to and then not mind eating them. But I have a hard time eating greens. I have to eat spinach leaves with my hands, and even then I still don't eat it that much.

    I am going to try and sneak in spinach leaves into a fruit smoothie, and hopefully the taste of the greens will be masked.
    I'm a picky and a supertaster too! I did start out when I was a teenager with iceberg, which was what everybody I knew ate (this was the 70s). Then as romaine and other leafy kinds became more available, now I prefer them and think iceberg is a waste of time. I also have pet rabbits and rabbits aren't supposed to have iceberg so I don't buy it. Baby spinach I find enjoyable as well. I do get the texture thing - these days for me, though, it's more about things like onion - too crunchy AND too strong - or tomato (slimy and seeds).

    I have done the "eat spinach leaves by hand" thing too! It makes them seem more like a snack, I guess, and kind of fun. Sometimes I get myself to eat lettuce more when I nom on it while I'm prepping it for the rabbits. Hee hee! I live with only one other person and we have pretty different tastes in foods so basically it's like living alone; I get to choose what I eat and not have to eat in front of other people much. That takes some of the pressure off. Although it can also result in laziness . . . right now I do need to try and eat more salad and stuff again.
  • Or you could always find alternative places to stick your leafy greens. I put kale and spinach in smoothies, or steam kale and put it in soup or pasta with other veggies.

    I personally have stopped keeping delicate greens around because they go bad so quick. But I do like romaine lettuce and eat a bag of it for breakfast every day.
  • arugula is a good choice, it has a nice nutty flavour and a crunchiness. I'm not a fan of iceberg. I don't mind spinach too much, but mostly my salads do not have any lettuce at all, just peppers, celery, tomatoes and cukes.