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Lettuce, the most commonly consumed leafy vegetable, provides about
seven calories per 1 cup serving. When it comes to satisfying your appetite,
it helps to eat foods high in volume but low in calories like lettuce.
Lettuce is not typically a stand alone vegetable. It is usually served
with an array of other vegetables and fruits or used to add a crunch to
sandwiches, hold a variety of fillings as a wrap, or provide color as
a garnish. Lettuce and other leafy greens are generally cool season crops with short growing periods. This means gardeners can get several crops of salad greens in the time it takes other vegetables to reach final maturity. Because leafy greens can grow in a variety of locations, they are often available at local farmers markets. Home-gardeners can enjoy lettuce and other types of leafy vegetables planted in traditional rows, containers, or even as accents in flower gardens.
Types of Lettuce
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| Table 2. Commonly available salad greens. | ||
| Name | Characteristics | |
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Commonly available types of lettuce
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Green Leaf (loose leaf or salad bowl) |
Green leaf lettuce forms a loose bunch and is known for its mild flavor. |
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Red Leaf (lollo rosso) |
Red leaf lettuce makes a colorful addition to salads and sandwiches. Studies have shown red lettuce to be high in antioxidants (Figure 1). Red leaf lettuce is more perishable than head types and has a shorter shelf life. |
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Romaine (cos) |
Romaine lettuce, a Caesar salad favorite, has elongated, sturdy leaves. Romaine stores well and its coarse texture holds up well in salads. |
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Butterhead (bibb or Boston) |
This lettuce has tender, rounded leaves with a mild, buttery flavor that form into a soft head. It is often sold in a clam shell to protect its tender leaves. |
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Iceberg (head or crisphead) |
Iceberg is prized for its crispness and sweet flavor. It can be stored longer than leaf types of lettuce. |
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Batavia (French Batavia) |
Batavia lettuce is a subtype of crisphead lettuce and is similar to iceberg except it is smaller, less dense and more flavorful. Batavia lettuce is popular in Europe and may be found at farmers markets or grown in home gardens. |
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Salad greens that may be part of a salad mix
or sold separately
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Arugula (rocket) |
Arugula belongs to the mustard family and has a distinctive peppery flavor. The young fresh leaves are pungent but pleasant and often available in grocery stores. |
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Baby Bok Choy | These tender young leaves have a crunchy, celery-like texture and a mild, refreshing flavor. |
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Belgian Endive (witloof chicory) |
Belgian endive has a dense, cigar-shaped head of crunchy leaves that are pale yellow because it is grown under cover. It is often used in hors duvres, but can be added to salads. |
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Curly Endive (frisée) |
These attractive, yellowish-green, frilly leaves have a strong, pleasantly bitter taste. |
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Dandelion greens | These relatives of lettuce are available in some grocery stores. If you collect them yourself, choose young plants that have not been exposed to pesticides. |
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Escarole | The taste of this broad-leafed endive varies from mild in the lighter-colored portions to bitter in the darker green leaves. |
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Mache (corn salad, lambs lettuce) |
Mache has an unusual but pleasant, nutty flavor. Because its leaves are very delicate, its usually sold separately rather than included in salad mixes. |
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Mesclun | Mesclun is French for a mixture of tender young lettuces (baby greens) and other salad greens. The traditional mesclun mix includes chervil, arugula, lettuce and endive. |
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Mizuna (oriental greens) |
Mizuna has deeply cut, fringed leaves with a tangy flavor. |
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Radicchio (red chicory) |
Radicchio is a type of chicory that has dark red leaves with white veins that form into a small, loosely wrapped, cabbage-like head. Radicchio is known for its bittersweet taste. |
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Spinach | Young spinach leaves are nutritious and flavorful, alone or mixed with other salad greens. Savoy types of spinach have more wrinkled and curly leaves than smooth types. |
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Watercress | These spicy, robust leaves are a pleasing addition to salads and they are also good on sandwiches. |
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1 M. Bunning, Colorado State University Extension food safety specialist and assistant professor, department of food science and human nutrition; P. Kendall, Extension food safety specialist and professor, department of food science and human nutrition. 6/07. Colorado State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Colorado counties cooperating. CSU Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. No endorsement of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned. Go to top of this page. |