Lettuce and Edible flowers

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Handling Greens

Types of Green

Handling Edible Flowers

Types of Edible Flowers

Taste / Flavor / Texture Wheel

Learning Objectives

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Since all salad greens grow in the dirt or in hydroponic solutions, they must be properly washed, dried and refrigerated before serving.

1. Start by plucking out and discarding any bruised, old, yellowed, or tough leaves. If you aren't going to use stems or roots (as in salads with spinach or watercress), cut them off before washing leaves

2. 2. Fill a clean sink or tub with very cold water and submerge and agitate the greens repeatedly to remove dirt and grit, thus chilling the leaves and allowing them to crisp up.

Note: Since they are considered ready-to-eat foods, wear gloves when handling greens.

Handling Greens

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3. Once properly cleaned, they should be placed in a clean and sanitized salad spinner until dried—a critical step as moisture will diminish shelf life, cause dressing to run off leaves and inhibit a crisp texture. Spinners can bruises the leaves slightly, so you'll need to use them fairly soon.

4. Once properly washed and dried, greens should be placed in a shallow plastic container covered with a damp towel, kept cold and used in a day or two.

Note: Greens get crisper because the leaves actually "drink" the water, pulling it into their cells, which swell and firm. The towels keep excess moisture away from the leaves (too much water makes them get slimy faster), and the plastic keeps the moisture from evaporating.

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Mild Greens - delicate in flavor, have a variety of textures and fall into several types:

Looseleaf - loosely gathered, growing as a rosette, enabling the grower to just remove the leaves rather than harvest the entire plant’

Butterhead - round, but the leaves are more loose and have a smoother texture than those of their crisphead cousins.

Crisphead – ex. iceburg

Romaine - elongated leaves with thick white ribs.

Types of Greens & Edible Flowers

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Bitter & Spicy Greens - aggressive flavor with many bitter varieties having a “tough” texture.

Micro Greens - seedlings of vegetables and herbs that are grown hydroponically in greenhouses. Very delicate with flavors that are mild renditions of their larger counterparts. Used as accompaniments and garnishes.

Edible Flowers – can be aggressive in flavor and used sparingly. Avoid using any flowers from unknown sources since they could be contaminated with pesticides and chemicals.

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Types of Greens

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FriséeAlternate names: Curly endive, chicory, chicory endive, curly chicoryCharacteristics: These curled leaves tinged with yellow and green are slightly bitter in taste, have a crunchy stem, and add a lot of texture. Their pale green, white, and yellow coloring is a result of the producer shielding them from light during the growing process. Frisée is closely related to escarole.ArugulaAlternate names: Rocket, Italian cress, Mediterranean rocket, rugola, rugula, roquette, rucola Characteristics: Possibly the most well-known variety of salad green, arugula forms the basis of many a salad. Originating from the Mediterranean, this green tastes more peppery than bitter and is especially associated with Italian dishes like pesto. Belgian EndiveAlternate names: French endive, witloof, witloof chicory, Belgium chicory Characteristics: The unique oval shape, soft satiny texture, and slight bitterness all mean endive's a great addition to any salad. It's scooplike shape makes for edible servers.

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RadicchioAlternate names: Chioggia, red chicory, red leaf chicory, red Italian chicoryCharacteristics: This deep-red-purple vegetable is sold either as a compact round head, as pictured above, or shaped like its relative, endive. The bright coloring makes it stand out. When cooked, the red-purple hue turns brown and what was once bitter becomes sweet.

MizunaAlternate names: Japanese greens, spider mustard, xue cai, kyona, potherb mustard, and California PeppergrassCharacteristics: Typically sold as part of a premade salad mix but can be purchased loose. Relatively strong pungent flavor when compared to other salad greens, but its flavor won't overpower a dish.

EscaroleAlternate names: Batavian endive, scarole, broad-leaved endiveCharacteristics: Related to frisée, this mildly bitter leafy green is large and crisp. Escarole is often used in soups and paired with beans, reflecting its popularity in Italian cuisine. D

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Beet GreensCharacteristics: When the leaves of the beet top are immature, they are tender and slightly spicy. The purplish-red veins are visually striking and can dress up any salad. When wilted, the veins become brighter in color and a little bit sweeter.CressCharacteristics: Pictured is watercress, the most popular type of cress sold in the United States. Other varieties include upland cress, curly cress, and land cress. A peppery taste is characteristic of all varieties. Sold in bunches, watercress has a tough, fibrous stem and small green leaves. Be sure to wash cresses thoroughly, since they often grow in sandy ground.TatsoiAlternate names: Tat soi, spoon cabbage, rosette bok choyCharacteristics: An Asian salad green with a mild, mustard-like flavor. The texture is similar to that of baby spinach. Baby tatsoi is usually sold loose, but when mature, tatsoi can be purchased whole, in the shape of a rosette, and it is often cooked intact in Chinese stir-fries

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ButterheadAlternate names: Butter lettuce, Boston, bibb (limestone)Characteristics: A type of head lettuce, the leaves of Boston and bibb lettuces are soft. And as this variety's name implies, the texture of a butter lettuce is indeed smooth like butter. Bibb is the more expensive of the two and is usually sold in a plastic container to protect the delicate leaves.RomaineAlternate names: Cos lettuceCharacteristics: This large leafy lettuce is stiffer than most; a thick center rib gives it a real crunch. The rib also gives this lettuce a slight bitter taste.MâcheAlternate names: Field salad, lamb's lettuce, corn salad, field lettuce, fetticusCharacteristics: Sometimes sold with its soil still attached, this green imparts a mild and slightly sweet flavor to a salad. Its leaves are also very delicate and will bruise easily, so handle with care.

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OakleafAlternate names: Red oak leaf, green oak leafCharacteristics: The shape of this looseleaf lettuce's leaves are similar to that of the oak tree, thus, its name. From a distance, one could mistake it for red leaf and green leaf lettuce, but a closer look will reveal differences in shape and texture: Oakleafs are a little shorter and more squat, and the tops of their leaves have a softer texture than their red leaf and green leaf counterparts. This delicate, tender lettuce acts a great bed for other foods.

LooseleafAlternate names: Leaf lettuceCharacteristics: They have a mild flavor and are very pliable, despite the crunchy stem. Their uneven ruffled surfaces add layers of texture to salads. Because the leaves are so large, it's best to tear them up into bite-size pieces.

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No flowers is safe to eat unless it was grown organically.

Wash all flowers thoroughly before you eat them.

Remove pistils and stamens from flowers before eating. Separate the flower petals from the rest of the flower just prior to use to keep wilting to a minimum.

Use flowers sparingly in your recipes due to the digestive complications that can occur with a large consumption rate.

Most herb flowers have a taste that's similar to the leaf, but spicier.

Handling Edible Flowers

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Floral Flowers- Calendula, Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Clover, Cornflower, Dame's or Sweet Rocket, Dandelions, Day Lilies, English Daisy

Fruit Flowers- Apple Blossoms, Banana Blossoms, Citrus Blossoms, Elderberry Blossoms, Fuchsia, Garden Sorrel, Gladiolus

Herb Flowers- Alliums (leeks, chives, garlic, garlic chives), Anise Hyssop, Basil, Bee Balm Borage, Burnet, Chervil, Chicory, Cilantro/Coriander, Chamomile, Dill, Fennel, Ginger, Jasmine, Lavender, Lemon Verbena, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Safflower, Sage, Savory, Thyme

Vegetable Flowers Avoid nightshade flowers (tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers & asparagus) –

Toxic!- Arugula, Artichoke, Broccoli Florets, Corn Shoots, Mustard, Okra, Pac Choy, Pea Blossoms, Radish Flowers, Scarlet Runner Beans, Squash Blossoms

Types Edible Flowers

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