Lettuce and Greens Vegetable Explanations Please

[juliesvoyage2]

Hi Everyone--

The teacher in me says that there is no such thing as a stupid question (sidebar- if you read any posts by me, you may be confused. I am a teacher, grad student, and part-time server), but I feel like this is stupid. Can someone explain the various types of lettuce and greens? I know the basic Romaine and iceberg, but at at store there were so many other choices that I was confused! I ended up with a bag of greens, which are very strong. Some greens are fluffy looking and leafy, others have green tops and white bottoms, etc. I am confused!

Thanks for your help!

[goobygirl]

Greens are a general term for green leafy vegetables such as : kale, spring mix greens, romaine lettuce, other lettuces, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, spinach. Maybe more. I generally make my green smoothies with the spring mix, romaine, kale and spinach. I do not use the stronger greens which in my opinion are beet greens, mustard, turnip, and collard greens.

Hope this helps.

[Bodhi]

Here is a list of leafy greens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_leaf_vegetables

You can click on each one and get more detailed info. :D

Cool! I just learned from this list that I have sorrel, aka spinach dock, growing in my yard. I could have a sorrel and dandelion salad.

[petaltothemetal]

Arugula (green, also called rocket), raddichio (red or fuschia with white), dandelion (green) and endive (pale green) tend to have a bitter edge to them and are often sold in salad mixes. You can grow a less bitter raddichio at home and harvest it in cool weather. Collards, kale, and many mustards have less bitterness but are strongly flavored. They are lovely in asian foods like roll-ups, sliced really thin or used for the wrap itself, especially if you use a sweet/sour sauce like plum puree, ginger and vinegar. I really like tatsoi, which is a tiny spoon-shaped dark green pak choi (also called bok choi) - it is very nutrient rich and already in bite sized pieces. I also like mizuna, a sharply toothed asian green that looks like anorexic (super skinny) dandelion - it has a nutty taste with a little bitterness. Some others you may not find in a store but may find wild or can grow at home: claytonia (miners lettuce, an ornamental round leaf), sorrel (a lemony spinach taste) and dock (a large leafed lemony but fibrous plant that grows leaves in a rosette and has a long root like a dandelion - this should be eaten in small quantities because it has a lot of oxalic acid, which can be hard for people to digest when you are not used to it. But it is delicious wilted in the dehydrator with some other greens and amino acids.)

If you're doing green smoothies, romaine, red leaf lettuce and spinach are not bitter and blend well.

[juliesvoyage2]

Thanks for the tips! They are very helpful. :) If only I could take my computer with me while grocery shipping, I would be great. So, I'll have to print these responses since there is no way I can remember all of them. ;)

[spicyfull]

I would try one at a time until you educate your palate. Usually you can find the same greens in the Fresh Vegetable section.

[Erika]

I agree that you should only pick 1 or maybe 2 new items to try out until you get to know that certain food. Certain greens will go bad faster than others so you'll have to get a feel for how much you need to buy so that you don't end up wasting. They also have so many different flavors in the greens and you might not like it so just pick a few and write it down in a little notebook. Make notes about which ones that you got and if you liked them or not.

My personal favorites are...
Green leaf lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Mustard greens
Spinach
Boy Choy

Best of luck to you

Erika

[MelissaO]

Some greens are too strong for me to have on their own. If I am juicing them then I will add in a organic lemon that makes it not so green tasting. If I am blending then I will add in a banana to cut the green taste.

I am not sure if you have a juicier but my favorite green drink is green lemonaide. It is very refreshing and doesnt knock you over with green taste:D

Use 1 head of celery, romaine lettuce or 6 stalks of kale (pick one of them)
2 apples
a 1 inch piece of organic ginger
1 organic lemon peel and all