Drowning in Lettuce!

If you've participated in a CSA, you have almost definitely cursed the volume of lettuce that you get through the season. It's great at the beginning, because you're not getting a whole bunch of anything else, and after winter you're delighted by the delicate greens. Anything green, really. As the season wears on and you continually receive a couple heads of lettuce every week, you have probably despaired. Even the most dedicated can't eat that much salad and stay interested. Especially after the rate and volume of other produce ramps up in your box.  Not to worry, I've got some solutions for you! 

Early in the season we had two HUGE heads of lettuce every week.  I thought that would peter out, but we're still getting weekly lettuce into August.

We already posted about Petits Pois a la Francaise, a delicate dish of cooked lettuce and shelled peas.

Try lettuces blended into healthy green smoothies, wilted into fried rice and udon soup, or as a condiment: 

Pickled, as in Shalotta, or

blended, as in Aji Sauce

1/4 head of lettuce, torn into pieces (iceberg is fine, romaine is better) 

3 jalapeno chiles, seeds and veins removed (leave some seeds if you like spice) 

1/4 cup mayonaise 

5 green onions 

1/2 bunch of cilantro leaves (try to avoid the stems) 

1/4 cup roasted, shelled pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas)

juice of one lime

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp black pepper 

1 tsp garlic powder (I sustituted with about 6-8 cloves of garlic- yea a lot) 

Whiz up everything until smooth, in a food processor. Put on everything. 

Use as wraps in place of tortillas for a healthy, gluten free lunch or for amazing roasted pork a la Momofuku's bo ssam.

Sturdier lettuce, like romaine, can even be grilled! Drizzle with your favorite high-heat oil (we use grapeseed oil) and toss on the grill with the rest of your meal and dress with Caesar dressing for quite a fancy side Caesar salad.

Think outside of the CSA box and tell me your creative lettuce recipes!