Small Veggies with Fruit: small gold potatoes, chard or kale, onions or scallions, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsley or chives, Pink Lady apples, and Fuji apples.
Large Veggies with Fruit: sweet potatoes, baby bok choy, dandelion greens or spinach, small gold potatoes, chard or kale, onions or scallions, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsley or chives, tarragon or cilantro, Pink Lady apples and Fuji apples.
Fruit only: dried apples, Crimson Crisp apples, Pink Lady apples, and Granny Smith apples.
LETTUCE 101
Think beyond the basic salad.
Table of Contents
Tasting Notes:
There are so many different kinds of lettuce, and they each have their unique signature taste and texture. There are four basic types of lettuce:
Iceberg: light green ball of crisp leaves with lots of water content and crunch. Not a lot of taste so we don’t grow this variety. This is best used in combination with other veggies or greens, or can be broken up into a wedge for a wedge salad.
Romaine: longer leaves, crunchy but slightly bitter.
Loose-leaf: red or green colors.
Bibb: small heads (green or purple/red) with wide leaves, soft texture, and mildly bitter flavor.
Lettuce is a cool season crop, so you are unlikely to see it in the peak of summer. The time of year and where it’s grown also effects the taste. We find lettuce in the high tunnels are more tender than ones in the field because the wind hasn’t been beating the plants up.
Prepping Lettuce:
Lettuce can be dirty, so submerge it in a bowl of cold water, then drain and spin dry. Refresh limp lettuce by putting it in a bowl of cold water for up to 60 minutes.
For head and whole loose-leaf lettuce, trim them by cutting out the core. Cut out any brown or wilted stems. Tear into smaller pieces if desired.
To store:
Highly perishable. Romaine lettuce will keep for a week because of its tight head. But loose-leaf and Bibb lettuces should be the first item you eat from your share. If it has been rainy in the weeks leading up to your share, the lettuce will not keep as long. Wait to wash your lettuce until you are ready to use it.
Substitutes:
Spinach, watercress, dandelion greens, radicchio, tatsoi, mizuna, kale, arugula
Best Uses:
Pizza topping
Sandwich topping or BLTs
Braised
Tacos
Bed for grilled fish/steak
Juice it
Grilled
Stir-Fry
Wrap your fish in it Spring Roll
Rice or noodle bowls
Quiche
Roast chicken on top of it
Salad
Lettuce wrap
Soups
Pesto
Lettuce puree