BRATTLEBORO — It was 7:45 p.m., and dinner had just come to an end: roasted baby peppers stuffed with leftover risotto and goat cheese. They were sweet, caramelized, simultaneously crunchy and creamy, and very good.
But the star of supper was salad. It was a crazy, mixed-up bowl of wonderful flavors, and each mouthful revealed a secret.
There was the buttery smoothness of young lettuce. There was the firm, acidic taste of baby kale and the sweet, tender taste of tiny chard.
There was the almost licorice, citrus flavor of lemon basil and the mineral-fresh flavor of parsley. There was even a small head of crisp romaine. All was tossed together with nothing more than great olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
It was one of the best things I have eaten in months.
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We are all familiar with mesclun mix, available at our co-ops and farm stands and usually consisting of a variety of young greens, some sweet, some slightly spicy.
Greens loathe hot weather and grow best either early or late in the season so, while this mix is welcome other times of the year, in June the culinary volume could be cranked up a notch or two.
Lettuce, lactuca sativa, can be divided into three basic groups: butterheads, such as Boston or bibb; crispheads, such as iceberg; romaine; and looseleaf, such as oak leaf and bronze red.
While iceberg remains, for some reason unknown to me, the best selling lettuce in America, the Brattleboro Farmers' Market is a veritable carnival of early greens.
A recent visit to a few Vermont co-ops found frisée, escarole, mâche, pea shoots, Galisse lettuce, red bok choy, and yukina savoy.
Add to these offerings the emerging leaves and herbs sprouting in our own gardens, and you have the makings of some fantastic meals filled with an array of texture, flavor, and color.
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Escarole and frisée are both varieties of chicory, or what we commonly call endive. Another type of chicory is what we call Belgian endive, whose creamy, tight, and elongated heads are grown completely underground to maintain their whiteness.
Escarole is usually a very large head of broad, thickish leaves with concave ribs loosely attached to a center stalk. The green leaves become paler in color and less bitter the closer they get to the middle.
Because escarole is a sturdy leaf, it can be braised with great results. The Italians, lovers of vegetables that they are, produce a simple and delicious soup by slowly stewing torn escarole in butter or olive oil, then adding broth.
The stewing smoothes out any lingering bitterness, and the leaves become sweet, yet hold their shape. Ladled over a bowl of leftover rice, this is a satisfying light supper.
For 4 servings, wash a head of escarole and tear the leaves into coarse pieces.
In a heavy, medium saucepan over medium low heat, sauté the escarole in either ¼ cup olive oil or butter, adding 1 medium chopped onion and 4 minced garlic cloves.
Cook slowly for 10 minutes until all has softened and the escarole is wilted.
Add 6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth, then bring the mixture to a boil.
Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle each serving over ½ cup of warmed leftover rice, or cook some freshly for this purpose. Grate a bit of parmesan cheese on the top.
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Frisée looks just like it sounds: like frizzled, skinny, stiff lettuce. Cooked with some bacon, it makes a flavorful and distinctive side dish to cold chicken or meat.
For 4 servings, chop 4 or 5 slices of thick cut bacon into 1-inch pieces and sauté them until not quite done.
Add a cleaned and trimmed large head of frisée and stir frequently into the bacon fat until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes.
Raise the heat, add 2 tablespoons of really good vinegar, then cook briskly for about 2 minutes until the vinegar has evaporated.
Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
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Mâche is a French lettuce, sometimes called lamb's lettuce or corn salad. It has diminutive and rounded deep green leaves that grow in small rosettes. Their flavor is sweet and nutty with a soft, buttery texture. It pairs well with citrus fruit and fennel.
A refreshing salad for four can be made with 1 shaved fennel bulb, the peeled sections of 1 red grapefruit, 1 diced avocado, and about 4 ounces of washed and dried mâche.
Scatter the mâche on a large platter, and divide the fennel, grapefruit, and avocado equally over the top. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and the juice of a lemon (a Meyer lemon would add a lovely touch), sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.
Ever had lettuce soup? Don't be skeptical. When you really just can't take another salad, this soup offers all the herbal grassy flavor of fresh lettuce but in a sweet delicate liquid form.
For 4 modest servings, melt 2 tablespoon of butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium low heat, and add 1 medium minced onion and 2 minced celery stalks. Cook slowly until soft.
Add 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 medium peeled and chopped Yukon gold potato, then bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until potato is soft, around 10 minutes.
Add 2 large heads of butterhead lettuce, washed and coarsely chopped. Cook gently, stirring frequently until wilted.
Add ½ cup of your favorite fresh herbs, finely minced, and 1 cup of heavy cream. Stir gently until heated through.
Remove from heat and purée with an immersion blender. Serve with a bit of fresh herbs on top.
The addition of a crispy baguette and a creamy disk of local goat cheese elevates this recipe into a very presentable supper.
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The other evening, I was rummaging around the vegetable drawers of my refrigerator and found one of those supermarket bags that is packed with 3 hearts of romaine. It had seen better days.
But after peeling off the brown and wilted outer leaves, there was still some potential there.
One of those crisp heads ended up in that delicious salad I described at the start of the column. The other two were wrapped in some damp paper towels and then a loose plastic bag and saved for another night.
Here is one of the best uses for tired romaine or any firm lettuce.
For two heads of romaine, finely grate ¾ cup of parmesan cheese and spread it evenly onto a flat surface. Depending on the size of the romaine, halve or quarter them and generously brush the cut sides with olive oil, then dredge those sides in a thick coating of the grated cheese.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast-iron or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, sauté the romaine, starting with the cheese side down. Leave it be for 3 or 4 minutes, and do not be tempted to poke at it. You want the cheese coating to have enough contact with the heat to form a lovely, golden crust that will stick to the romaine, not the pan.
Lift a corner of the romaine with a thin metal spatula to test its doneness. When it is crisp to your satisfaction, slide the spatula firmly under the lettuce to turn. Cook briefly on the other side, until just wilted.
Serve immediately with lots of freshly ground pepper.
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I wrote about pea shoots last spring in The Commons and they remain one of my favorites. Before the pods form and we get the real deal, pea shoots offer the almost identical flavor with an interesting texture and crunch.
I use them lots of ways, but love them simply tossed with quartered early radishes, chunks of salty feta cheese, and a handful of baby mint, which is sprouting up all over my garden in places it doesn't belong.
Add cherry tomatoes and poached shrimp to make it a meal.
I use a mustardy vinaigrette, which uses a 2-to-1 ratio of extra virgin olive oil to fresh squeezed lemon juice, plus ½ teaspoon or more of Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Toss it all together, and there's dinner.
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I have saved the best greens for last: the pale green Galisse lettuce, a looseleaf variety but one that has a pretty tight head. I have a few small bunches of red bok choy and a dimpled long head of dark green yukina savoy, an Asian mustard green with a mild sweet taste.
Add two slender leeks, a small slab of pancetta, and a few tablespoons of butter, and the result is a magnificent, silky, juicy, clean braise that makes the coming of Monday morning a bit less harsh.
For 2 servings, melt ¼ stick of butter in a wide sauté pan over medium-low heat. Slice a 1-inch piece of pancetta into thin ribbons and add to the pan.
Thoroughly clean and slice the leeks into pennies and add to the pan after the pancetta has cooked for about 5 minutes.
Quarter the lettuce and halve the bok choy. Cut the thick stems from the yukina savoy and separate the leaves.
When the leeks are soft, add the other vegetables and 1 cup of broth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon to 2 wide soup bowls, and keep them warm.
Cook down the braising liquid over high heat until it becomes slightly syrupy, and ladle it over the vegetables.
All this dish needs is salt, pepper, and maybe a piece of thick toasted bread to soak up the juice.
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With the availability of these garden treasures, I am left with the thought of all that iceberg lettuce someone eats in America.
True, it ships well. It keeps well, lasting appreciably longer than a food product comfortably should. It has crunch and lots of water content to make it crispy.
It can be stir-fried with soy sauce and ginger until it slightly resembles Chinese cabbage. Some serve it with a 1950s slather of blue cheese dressing. It appears on the Big Mac.
It was Cesar Chavez and his boycott of California iceberg lettuce that led not only to better working conditions for lettuce pickers, but also to our search for an alternative.
So the next time you shop for greens at a Vermont farmers' market, give a thought to the farm workers across America who still pick and pack iceberg all day long.
I'll bet you they don't like to eat it either.