Lettuce

[starone]

Can you cook lettuce? And if so, how would you cook it?

[puddicat]

you can braise it!!

[Brooksy]

Normal drill is to freshen tired lettuce up with cold water. Cooking it for any length of time would turn it into mush.

[Aji]

You can cook any food...... but whether it will be edible afterwards is another matter.

Lettuce contains too much water for it to be edible after much cooking. Puddi is right though, it can be very very lightly braised (like just a few seconds, but no more!) but after that it turns to mush, like Brooksy says.

Chinese lettuce is slightly different - if the stems are thick and woody, then you can lightly saut� it in some oil (nice with fresh ginger, garlic, lemon grass and chillies). You could also do the same to Pak Choi but this is more like a cabbage than a lettuce.

[starone]

Thanks a lot everyone who answered. Sounds as if it's not worth the bother. Didn't want to end up with a load of mush. Maybe I shall just have to eat more quickly before it goes too limp.

[Dewi]

Try this, it's delicious

Pea, Lettuce and Mint Soup Recipe

1 tbsp olive oil
125g onions, peeled and chopped
230g potatoes, peeled and chopped
� l water
250g frozen petits pois
4 lettuce leaves shredded
generous handful of fresh mint, chopped
50g fresh sorrel, shredded
salt and black pepper, to taste

Add the oil to a lidded pan and use to sweat the onions and potatoes over gently heat for about 6 minutes.

Season well then add the water.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Add the peas and lettuce and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes.

Take off the heat and add the min and sorrel.
liquidise in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth.

Place back in the pan to re-heat then adjust the seasoning and serve.

[ummmm]

Jamie Oliver does a really nice creamed lettuce with peas.

[no-knowledge]

i love lettuce

[stompe]

Is that why your green sometimes {:)

[ummmm]

So do I.....!!

[Dewi]

Or try this Gordon Ramsay recipe

Quick braised lettuce & peas

16 halved pearl onions
300g frozen peas
2 tbsp olive oil
3 Baby Gem lettuces , finely shredded

Cook the pearl onions for 5 mins and the peas for 2 mins in separate pans of boiling water until the onions are soft and the peas are just cooked.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, brown the onions, then add the peas and shredded Baby Gem lettuce.

Cook just to heat through lettuce, then season and serve.

[chazza]

The chinese students that lived in the flat beside me when i was a student cooked it all the time!

They put it in a tray with a chicken, added loads of oyster or soy sauce (not sure which) and something sweet like honey and it tasted fantastic when it was cooked