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Lettuce
By Good Food News, December 2001
Lettuce is one of the worlds most popular vegetables and is commonly used in salads. There are thousands of different types of lettuce available.
Some of the more common lettuce varieties include:
- Butter a soft leaf lettuce that has a bright green head and a mild flavour.
- Cos this is a crisp pale green lettuce with elongated leaves.
- Iceberg also know as common lettuce. This lettuce has coarse crisp leaves and a tight head.
- Mesclun this is a mix of leaves, providing a variety of lettuce leaves, as well as leaves such as rocket, chervil, and mustard.
- Mignonette has a curly, small soft leaf with red edges. The leaves at the centre of this lettuce are pale green, but still tinged with the darker colour.
- Radicchio has a bitter flavour and comes in different colours and shapes, some varieties are dark red or can be streaked with dark red.
- Oakleaf a light green or reddish loose leafed lettuce and the leaf is shaped like an oak leaf.
Nutritionally speaking, the darker the lettuce leaves, the higher its content of carotenoids. Carotenoids including beta carotene, are converted by the body into vitamin A. The body requires vitamin A for growth and development, good vision, immunity and tissue repair. Lettuce also provides a source of vitamin C, dietary fibre and folate.
Choose lettuce that has bright, crisp leaves and does not look wilted - lettuce that has wilted will have lost some of its nutrients. Store lettuce in a sealed container or plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
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| Stanton R. Vegetables. Allen & Unwin, NSW, 2000. |
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