Romaine Lettuce - it's not just crunchy water!

This week's vegetable box feature: Romaine Lettuce!

 

Did you know?

• One of the most popular of all lettuces, Romaine is versatile and has a crispy, mild and sweet flavour.
• You can see the mineral content in most lettuces by how green it is, except romaine. It’s lighter colored leaves are rich in minerals you can’t find in many foods.
• It contains more vitamin C than an orange!
• Believe it or not, It’s high in protein! What? Yeah, protein. Weird right?
• Lots of omega 3—which is an essential fat. Each head of romaine lettuce contains nearly 45% of the recommended daily allowance.
• Contains vitamin A&K and a good dose of potassium.
• Outer leaves are generally more bitter and by removing them, the overall sweetness will be amplified.

 

Fun Fact: Romaine Lettuce contains lots of water! One salad made with romaine lettuce is almost a cup of water, one head is 20 ounces!

 

Where to store it?

If you're in a hurry, fresh romaine can be stored unwashed in a loosely closed plastic bag. If you prefer to wash it before putting it away, separate leaves from the heart. After a gentle rinse, pat the romaine dry, tightly seal in a plastic bag, and store in the lettuce-only crisper drawer where it lasts the longest.

 

How to Use it?

Romaine lettuce is best suited for both raw and cooked applications such as braising, grilling, and lightly boiling. The leaves can be used fresh and torn for salads, or they can be used as a dipping vessel for sauces, dips, and fillings. They can also be layered on sandwiches, burgers, and in wraps for added crunch.

In addition to fresh preparations, Romaine lettuce can withstand high heat which makes it suitable for grilling, braising with cooked vegetables and meat, adding to soups, and chopping and mixing into stir-fries.

 

Recipes:

 

Pan Grilled Parmesan Romaine

Created by: Hot and Cold Running Mom

 

Ingredients:

3 romaine heart halves

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

coarse ground pepper

dried oregano

Directions:

1. Clean and dry the romaine using paper towels. Cut in half leaving the core intact as much as possible and remove any wilted leaves.

2. Brush both sides all over with olive oil. Grill in a large skillet starting with cut side down for 2 minutes on medium heat. Carefully turn over and cook 2 more minutes. Drizzle with balsamic and sprinkle with parmesan, black pepper and oregano.

3. Serve immediately

 

Asian Chopped Salad

Created by: Holly Nilsson

Deliciously crunchy Asian inspired salad.

 

Ingredients:

1 romaine heart chopped

1 cup green cabbage thinly sliced

1 cup purple cabbage thinly sliced

1 red pepper thinly sliced

1 cup bean sprouts

1 cup snap peas sliced

1 cup carrots julienned

2 green onions thinly sliced

For Serving:

2 tablespoons cilantro chopped

⅓ cup Sesame Ginger Dressing store bought or homemade

1 teaspoon sesame oil

¼ cup almonds toasted

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Wash, prep and chop all vegetables

2. Heat sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat and toast almonds for 3-5 minutes or until slightly browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

3. Combine all ingredients together and toss with dressing.

4. Top with toasted almonds, cilantro, and sesame seeds.

 

Crunchy Romaine Toss

Created By: Plain Chicken

So easy to make & delicious!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts

1 (3-oz) package ramen noodles, uncooked and broken up (discard flavor packet)

4 TBSP butter

1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped

1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

Dressing:

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup sugar

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1½ tsp soy sauce

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, melt butter. Add broken ramen noodles and walnuts. Cook on medium-low heat until brown. Cool on paper towel.

2. In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, combine red wine vinegar and sugar. Cook just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool.

3. Combine browned ramen noodles and walnuts with chopped broccoli, and romaine.

4. Whisk together red wine vinegar and sugar mixture, soy sauce and vegetable oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Pour dressing over romaine mixture and toss.

 

Vegan Caesar Salad

Created By: Ambitious Kitchen

Fresh & delicious! This simple recipe is the perfect lunch on its own and makes a wonderful side for your favorite main dishes!

 

Ingredients:

3 heads romaine lettuce, chopped (about 10 cups chopped romaine lettuce)

1 1/2 cups roasted chickpeas

1 batch vegan caesar dressing

Optional: 1 avocado, sliced

Dressing:

1/4 cup drippy tahini Juice from ½ large lemon (about 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice) 1 clove garlic, grated or finely minced 1 tsp very finely diced capers 2 tsp caper brine (from the jar of capers) 1 tsp dijon mustard 1-3 TBSP warm water, to thin out dressing a bit to your liking Freshly ground salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. First make your vegan caesar dressing and set aside.

Dressing:

Mix it in a small bowl until smooth: tahini, fresh lemon juice, garlic, diced capers, caper brine, dijon mustard, warm water and freshly ground black pepper. Thin it. Feel free to add a little more warm water to the dressing to thin it to your liking. Taste the dressing and add more salt and pepper if you’d like. Enjoy!

2. Next, you can choose to serve this on a platter or in a bowl. Platters are pretty for entertaining or serving guests and bowls are great for date nights, family dinner and meal prep.

3. Toss the chopped romaine with the dressing until well coated, leaving a little dressing for drizzling on top when done. Sprinkle chickpeas generously on top, adding more if you’d like additional crunch. Drizzle with a little more dressing, then serve!

Serves 4-6 depending on if you are serving as a main or a side. Feel free to add avocado to the salad as well!

 

Recipes are curated by Lauren