Kitchen Essentials – lettuce
Red is the new green!
Red lettuce, that is. Radicchio, Belgian endive, Boston red leaf lettuce, to name just a few. Punch up the visual impact of any salad by tossing in a few red leaves.
Except for the more bitter varieties, like radicchio, lettuce generally tastes like lettuce regardless of its colour — mild, even slightly sweet. Other common red lettuce varieties are the maroon romaine which has a smoother texture than its green twin. Oak leaf lettuce (called that simply because of its appearance, not because it comes from oak trees – so, don’t pick and eat oak leaves; you won’t like it) has a slightly nutty flavour. Savoy (not the cabbage) has a bit of a bite. If you’re a more adventurous type, then you’ll love pungent mustard leaf lettuce. Do you enjoy indulging in fresh salads and lettuce-based appetizers? Then adding a mixture of red lettuce varieties to your creations will definitely be a treat.