My garden has produced an abundance of lettuce (mainly butter lettuce) this year but there’s a limit to how much salad I can eat. What else can I use them for?
Julian, by email
“Start thinking of lettuce, and especially butter lettuce, as bread or a taco shell,” says Jesse Jenkins, author of Cooking with Vegetables, and happily this is a “highly adaptable” strategy, too. Sure, you could pile in grilled spicy pork belly and herbs, but this dinner fix also works well “with everything a big green salad does: a piece of nicely grilled protein, some sauce, a few pickled crunchy things, all wrapped in a big, beautiful green leaf”. But why stop there? “I also like to use butter lettuce to wrap cheese toasties,” Jenkins says. “It catches all the fatty goodness and acts as a barrier between the crunchy bread and the roof of your mouth.”
Lettuce is also a great carrier of flavour, so braising is another potential ploy. “Start with a base of onion and garlic,” suggests Yohei Furuhashi, head chef at The Lavery in London, then separately brown some chicken thighs and add them to the onions with a little thyme, a splash of wine and some chicken stock. Then tear in some lettuce and simmer for 10-15 minutes to “let all the flavours come together”.
Julian might also give his abundant greens a quick stir-fry “with olive oil and garlic, then mix with cooked lentils, herbs and chilli and serve with salmon”, Furuhashi says. Alternatively, get a thrill from the grill, says Alice Power, head chef at The Black Swan at Oldstead near York. “Halve or quarter lettuces, and get them on the barbecue. Pair with stone fruit and grilled halloumi or chicken, and that will feel very different from a standard salad.” Dressing-wise, the aim is to balance the smokiness, which can done in myriad ways: “Go sweet and fruity, or creamy and herby, or something quite spicy,” Power says.
Otherwise, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that few problems can’t be remedied by soup, and tackling an excess of lettuce is no different. “Take any Asian-style broth with chilli, coriander and chicken, then add the lettuce and it will soak up all that juice,” Furuhashi says. Power, meanwhile, would chill out by blending said lettuce into gazpacho or a chilled green and herby soup. Asimakis Chaniotis, of Myrtos in London, on the other hand, takes inspiration from a fricassee of lettuce with lamb, which is usually eaten in Greece at Easter. “As it’s summer, I’ve been making a version with fish,” he says, and at the moment that means pink bream. He starts by sweating onions and garlic, then adds lettuce and herbs (parsley, mint, dill, basil, chervil) and cooks for just a minute or two. Cook some fish, and serve with an avgolemono sauce (AKA whisked egg yolks, lemon juice and cornflour), which Chaniotis fancies up by turning it into a foam.
All that said, sometimes the simplest solution comes from a change in mindset, Power says: “Start thinking of lettuce as a lighter-style leaf, such as spinach,” and stir it through sauces and pasta at the last minute. “Or shred lettuce and add to a courgette and herb risotto,” she says. “That would be nice at this time of year.” And who am I to disagree?