For this week’s Fresh Produce Tuesday series, we are featuring recipes for all the great varieties of local lettuce available in the spring. Some of the lettuce varieties include arugula, mesclun, oak leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, mache, romaine hearts, and watercress. (If you want to learn more all the types and test your lettuce knowledge, Steamy Kitchen has an on-line quiz with 21 varieties of lettuce.) Lettuce is the mainstay of most salads, but I can’t wait to see what other lettuce recipes others have for their greens.
We spent most of the weekend recuperating from last weekend’s pig roast. On Saturday, we did take Baby T to two local farms. Weir River Farm in Hingham, MA opens up their animal barnyard area every Saturday from 10am-2pm. T loved checking out the horses, sheep, pigs (and brand new piglets!), chickens, and cows. Then, we headed over to Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset, MA for their annual plant sale. I picked up a few herbs for container plants (and sadly, not my raised garden boxes.) Their honor-system farm stand was also open and I was able to pick up the arugula seen in the picture above.
Here are ten lettuce recipe ideas:
- Apple, Pecan, and Blue Cheese Salad with Dried Cherries from The Pioneer Woman
- Arugula Salad with Olive Oil, Lemon, and Parmesan Cheese from Tyler Florence
- Asian Lettuce Cups with Ground Turkey and Green Apple from Steamy Kitchen
- Curried Chicken Salad with Watercress from Good Life Eats
- Chorizo and Sweet Potato Lettuce Wraps from Pink Parsley
- Frisee Salad with Grilled Asparagus and Prosciutto from Framed Cooks
- Homemade Ranch Dressing from Confections of a Foodie Bride
- Spicy Greens Salad from Oprah.com
- Strawberry Hazelnut Goat Cheese Salad from About.com Local Foods
- Tender Lettuce Salad from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, May 2009
Food bloggers, please link up your favorite lettuce recipe below. Feel free to submit your favorite salad dressing recipes as well. Readers, please “like” the recipes that find most appetizing. Please keep us posted on any recipes you try!
Here is the Fresh Produce Tuesday schedule for the next few weeks:
Week #10- May 29th: Morels
Week #11- June 5th: Strawberries
Week #12- June 12th: Kale
In case you missed any of the previous weeks, here are recipe ideas for Asparagus, Artichokes, Spring Onions, Peas, Garlic Scapes & Spring Garlic,Rhubarb, Fava Beans, and Radishes.