Do You Know Your Artisan Lettuce?

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Despite the snow, extreme cold and school closings, nothing could keep me away from my appearance on Indy Style (an Indianapolis Lifestyle/News Show) this morning! Did you see me? As usual, I had a blast! Indy Style is such a fun show and I was so honored to be featured again!

For the first segment, I put show co-hosts, Andi Hauser and Tracy Forner, on the spot with a little test about lettuce. I brought five different types of artisan lettuces to see if Andi and Tracy could identify them.

The lettuces for the quiz were all from one of my favorite produce suppliersโ€”Tanimura & Antle. One of the things that I love about this grower is that they package their product right in the field! That means that you get the lettuce sooner (and fresher) than you would if they were to ship it to another facility for packing. It also means that your food goes through less handling before you get it.

Hereโ€™s a picture of the Tanimura & Antle folks at work. Pretty cool, huh?

Tanimura & Antle

ย Artisan Lettuce Varieties

So are you ready to take the lettuce quiz to see if you can do better than Andy and Tracy? The first one is easy.

What type of lettuce is this?

Romaine

Itโ€™s Romaine Lettuce! Did you get it right?

How about these? These are like brother & sister. Theyโ€™re very popular for Deliโ€™s to put on sandwiches.

md_27_GreenLeaf_Nk_600px md_30_RedLeaf_DSC3283_NoBand

These two are Green Leaf and Red Leaf Lettuce.

This one is a bit harder. You see this sometimes in salad mixes. It has a slightly bitter flavor and tastes great with a lemon vinaigrette or some type of protein like cheese or meat. Do you know what it is?

 

md_22_Endive1

Itโ€™s Endive! Extra points if you knew that one.

Ok, hereโ€™s the last lettuce. This one is similar in flavor to Endive but it has a less prickly texture.

md_24_Escarole_DSC3776_72ppi

This is Escarole!

So how did you do? Let me know in the comments below. Donโ€™t feel bad if you didnโ€™t know many! Andi and Tracy just knew the Romaine, but they were such good sports!

While I was there I also shared this simple Artisan Greek Salad recipe. It’s a Tanimura & Antle family recipe! When Iโ€™m watching football with friends, I like to serve this salad inside pita bread so people donโ€™t have to mess with forks and bowls!

Try out this recipe for the Big Game and let me know what you think! You can see the entire Indy Style segment here!

Stay tuned for the next blog post featuring my second segment on Indy Style. Learn how to make a snack mix buffet with items all found in the Produce Department!

Xoxo,

The Produce Mom

About Lori

Lori Taylor is the Founder & CEO of The Produce Moms. For ten years she sold fresh produce to over 300 grocery stores throughout the United States, and today she is fully focused on working with the produce supply chain, media, and government to increase fresh produce access & consumption in the US and around the globe. Connect with Lori on LinkedIn.

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5 Comments

  1. I got Endive and Escarole backwards but other than that…I know my lettuce.
    Every time I eat the Artisan blend, I think of my mother. When it first started
    becoming popular in restaurants, my mother would say “I want this salad but
    I don’t want any of that grass stuff (alfalfa sprouts) and I don’t want the
    lettuce to look like you just took some clippings from the bushes.” It always
    makes me smile.

  2. You call Chicory (endive). What do you call endive? I understand they are both in the same family, but the taste and texture are completely different.

    1. Hi Daniel,
      There are a handful of Chicory leaf items, Belgium Endive is one of them. Also Radicchio, and Sugarloaf.

      The Endive that is part of this blog post is not a chicory – it’s a different plant species. Hope this helps! I agree with you – they all taste different, but they all offer great flavors & lots of nutrients!

      Thanks for reading,
      Lori

      1. There was some prickly lettuce in the artisan package. It looks like a weed to me and its not on your pictures. It looks like the leaf will stick you. I’ve never seen this one before I hope it was edible