September 09, 2004

• I was actually thinking the other day that it is not even close to being thermodynamically worth it to cultivate iceberg lettuce. Save your children from its watery terrors! Also, get out of my brain. It's too much of a coincidence.
• Unfortunately, uncooked spinach isn't that good for you. You need to cook it to be able to digest all that calcium and iron. Not that it's bad for you - probably some good fibre. But cooked is better.
• So, iceberg lettuce in tuna sandwiches and garden salads is one thing, but what I don't get is why korean and japanese restaurants in Canada insist on using it in anything vaguely resembling a salad, for example the salad you get with your miso when you order a sushi special, or the Korean raw fish dish which this page claims is called Hoe, but I can't really corroborate that.
• Now, if I could just convince may family that shredded cabbage was better in tacos, we'd have kicked the iceberg habit completely. On the other hand, was that site intended to be serious? (Gullibity meter is not well tuned.)
• "This message brought to you by deepfrybonanza.com and The Coalition For a Leaf-Free America" Heh.
• calimehtar: it's the same in the US. I've always assumed that it was because salads were not a real Japanese thing (the Korean restaurants I've been to haven't bothered with salads), but that they were trying to fit into the "soup, salad, main-course, USAian tradition.)
• nil wins.
• Iceberg lettuce: Green crunchy water. Can't stand the stuff. I was so excited last night when Subway had baby spinach available for my sub. I wish they'd use romaine too.
• Iceberg lettuce is considered gourmet shit here in England, if supermarket prices are to be believed.
• Yes, but romaine can be over a pound (US $1.80) a head, too. I think I have just learned that all food is expensive in England. Except frozen sausages - they are very cheap. Questionable, but cheap :)
• Think of the children! By reducing iceberg consuption, you could create a devestaing ripple effect in our economy. First it's the iceberg pickers, then the carrot shredders, then the poor dressing ranchers! Soon there will be nary a bacon-bit to be found. You people all hate freedom.
• The Olive Garden will NEVER let iceberg lettuce die!
• My mom would probably print out that page and paste it in her office. She's obsessed about not eating iceburg lettuce.
• Iceberg lettuce is a tangible illusion of food.
• I like mesclun mix. I can grow it year round (well, indoors from Oct. to March...gets cold here in the mountains)...needs less light than a spider plant and its cut'n'come again. Plus you got yer flavor, you got your texture, you got yer colors...for some reason I associate color with nutrition... Iceberg lettuce is gr8 on Double-bacon Beezleburgers, or whatever they're called.
• >>uncooked spinach isn't that good for you really! that's interesting. and here i thought everything was always better raw. glad to know this, i prefer cooked spinach anyway.
• Chard, beet greens, radish sprouts, bok choy, etc all sorts of more flavourful greens to be had. If lettuce you require, try looseleaf varieties, which at last have some flavour and are somewhat more nutritious. Looseleaf lettuce is easy to grow, too, if you enjoy gardening.
• Basically, I read that the nutrients in spinach, esp iron and calcium, are bound up with another chemical that makes them very hard to digest. The spinach, after all, doesn't really want to be eaten by us. But cooking breaks down that chemical, releasing the iron and calcium. (Probably you have to balance it - too much cooking or too little, and it's not as healthy.)
• Iceberg lettuce is why I avoided salads for years. Let it melt into gastronomic obscurity I say!
• Ooh, PatB, that stuff looks good. I may have to set aside some garden space for it next year.
• The spinach, after all, doesn't really want to be eaten by us. yes, if you listen very closely you can hear it screaming in its tiny voice, "LEAF ME ALONE!"
• Ha! If God did not want us to eat spinach, why did He make them out of meat? /eats me spinach
• for the iceberg haters amongst us, ever had an iceberg wedge salad? actually they're rather good. popular amongst u.s. steakhouses... Sullivan's Steakhouse House Iceberg Wedge Dressing: 7 oz. crumbled blue cheese 2/3 C. mayonnaise 1/3 C. buttermilk, well shaken 1/4 C. red wine vinegar 3 T. sour cream 2 T. oil 1 1/2 T. sugar 1/2 t. minced garlic 1/4 t. freshly ground pepper Place the blue cheese, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar, sour cream, oil, sugar, garlic and pepper in a bowl. Using a hand-held mixer on low speed, combine all the ingredients, scraping down the bowl once. Refrigerate 24 hours or as long as 3 days. Salad: 1 large head iceberg lettuce or 1 1/2 heads if small 6 oz. crumbled blue cheese 3 diced seeded, plum tomatoes Cut the lettuce head in half. Then cut each half in thirds (if small, cut each half in half). Trim the core from each wedge. Place the wedges on chilled salad plates. Spoon about 1/3 cup of dressing over each wedge, allowing it to run over the sides. Sprinkle each with blue cheese and tomatoes, dividing evenly. Serve chilled.
• SideDish, bet it would be even better with a nice head of Buttercrunch....mmmmmm
• oh! patb! yes, i just recently discovered buttercrunch lettuce. oh my. talk about lettuce heaven! great mouth feel, eh?
• And for dessert: a nice, healthful...
• I've read that it takes some acid (no! - lemon juice or vinegar!) to free up the iron in cooked spinach. But a spinach salad with grated hardboiled egg, mushrooms and a lemon vinegrette with a nice hit of garlic is so good it doesn't have to be nutritional.