This Week's Healthiest Food - Romaine Lettuce
 

http://www.whfoods.com/index.html?PH...cf68e93580e481

Ewwwwwwwwww! :barf:

There's just something about the texture of this stuff I don't like. The frilly leaves surrounding a hard chunk of rib.

I'll admit it, I'm an iceberg lettuce junkie. But I boost the nutrient value of my salads by adding in fresh baby spinach. I love fresh spinach. In fact yesterday I had a huge salad for lunch made with nothing except spinach. I make a wonderful spinach salad with sliced fresh carrot, crumbled turkey bacon, thin-sliced onion (I prefer red or sweet onions) fresh mushrooms if I have them on hand and sprinkled with one or two tablespoons of shredded parmesan cheese. Sometimes I eat it without dressing or sometimes I drizzle on a little of the Light Vidalia Onion.

Yummy!

I think this is healthy and a great alternative to iceberg lettuce. I really like this in Caesar salad, yum...

I can tolerate it in caesar salad, for some reason. But I never buy it myself.

Oh I like Romaine lettuce...more so then iceburg lettuce. I find Iceburg has no flavor except water....romaine has a different flavor to it. I love it on burgers and in wraps, salads...I also find that it is a sturdier lettuce, and doesn't wilt nearly as fast as iceburg lettuce.

As weird as this is going to sound, that's why I like it. I don't like lettuces and greens that have a strong taste.

I have always hated iceberg because it is so bland. I don't like salad dressing so my greens have to have a flavor. Spinach is also a great salad booster.

I have been buying and eating Romaine lettuce hearts for years. I think that they are a little milder in taste and a lot easier to prepare as they are all "clean". I buy them in a 6 pack at Sams Club for 3-4 dollars, though the price changes a bit with the fuel costs and the season. We eat salad almost every day. I also buy baby spinach and the fancy lettuce mix ( the name escapes me) if the price is not too high.

Ohhhhhh yes, I'm crazy about fresh spinach. I mix it up with my lettuce to boost the nutrient value of my salads (or I'll make a salad with nothing but the spinach). I put it on my sandwiches, in my wraps, baked with chicken breasts, with fish, all sorts of stuff. I'd say that next to onions, spinach is the vegetable I eat the most of. I eat it almost every day.

I'm really glad I read this thread today. I brought a romaine-lettuce salad to work for lunch, and the warm smell of everyone's cooked food is making my cold salad seem not as appetizing.

I buy bags of mixed baby greens, bags of spinach. It's so worth it to not have to clean ... the convenience factor is definitely a boost in me getting my daily veggies in. I use the spinach in frittatas, spinach/mushroom sandwiches, salads, etc. When I think I've had enough, I cook them up in a pan and either eat them that way or freeze them in ice-cube trays with a little water for future use in soups or what-have-you. (None of these great ideas are my original ideas ... they've all come from 3FC. :) )

You know what though, hon, I wash bagged lettuces anyway. Dole had an outbreak of E. Coli sometime last year, several people got sick from eating the pre-packaged salad greens, and ever since then I've washed them.

I was bummed about that because I like just busting the bag open and going to town, but now it's a habit to dump the whole bag into my large collander and rinse rinse rinse. And, of course, I don't put the washed lettuce back into the same bag it was purchased in, I toss it into a gallon-sized ziplock bag.

I wash ALL of my pre-packaged produce, including spinach, shredded carrots, coleslaw mix, everything. Even if it says it's been "pre-washed."

It's better to be safe than sorry.

Speaking of Greens ...
 

... I posted this elsewhere on the boards, but I thought it would be applicable here as well:

Every year at the Farmers' Market, I buy a "lettuce bowl" ... it's a variety of greens growing in a container, where you just pick them as you need them. Fresh and delicious! I found a photo of one online:


This is an excellent way to get a few more fresh veggies in on a daily basis. Sometimes, as I'm leaving, I grab a handful and eat them plain in the car as I go. I recommend you run-don't-walk to a local farmers' market and pick one of these up! (if you like salad)

A restaurant I loved that's now closed once had a very simple romaine salad that, for me, was an entree (I was thinner then!). Just a two or three "ribs" of romaine, with a very simple oil and vinegar dressing and parmesan cheese. It was heaven and, in summer, filling enough to be a meal. I never could duplicate it.

[QUOTE=LLV
I'll admit it, I'm an iceberg lettuce junkie.
[/QUOTE]

As am I! I have started making a lot of my salads with no lettuce; just cauliflower and all the other fresh veggies, etc. I don't like the taste of the stuff in the prepackaged bags and if I buy a head of lettuce it goes bad; so I eat it "out" but seldom at home. Sometimes I buy the bags of coleslaw instead, as they last longer in the fridge.

To me romaine or fresh spinach is like eating weeds! :(

Me too!!! I wash everything! I use a salad spinner which makes the job much easier.