We wanted to bring you a Top 5 for this post, but we weren't having a lot of success finding inventive recipes for using lettuce amidst the typical ones for salads and sandwiches.
So we thought we'd turn to you for inspiration! Do you have any crafty ways to use those tender lettuce leaves in the kitchen?
Here are a few tasty-looking recipes from around the web that we did find:
• Lettuce-Buttermilk Soup from Hobby Farms
• Braised Lettuce with Peas and Lemon from Recipezaar
• Zucchini and Braised Lettuce Tart with Tapenade from A Mingling of Tastes
• Pan-Asian Chicken and Vegetable Lettuce Wraps from Epicurious
• Lettuce-Wrapped Fish from the Minimalist
Not that we have anything against salads and sandwiches! In fact, we're starting to wonder if those are simply the best way to highlight fresh summer lettuce. There's nothing we crave more on a humid July evening than BLT's and an ice-cold root beer, after all.
Still, one can never have too many alternatives! What are yours?
Related: Good Eats: Little Gems Lettuce
(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Make Chocolate Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping with Only 2 Ingredients
Our reading list
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Candy Stripe Teaspo...
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Tina Wilson's Striking Style 
Comments (15)
my boyfriend made the lettuce-wrapped fish (thanks mark bittman), and it was extraordinary! simple, elegant, delicious, and a quick weeknight dinner.
lettuce-radish soup!
Cook some garlic/onions in some oil in a big pot, add some stock and cook the radishes until tender. Add the radish greens and the lettuce and cook until it wilts down. Then blend the whole thing and chill.
oops, forgot the potatoes in that recipe. Some apple juice can optionally be stirred in at the end, but I skipped that bit when I tried it. Recipe is originally from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Hehe, you sound like my sis. She planted a bunch of lettuce thinking "Yay, I'll have it all summer long!" but neglected to stagger the planting so it all came up at once. I'll have to pass your ideas along.
Depending on the type of lettuce you can grill it along with other veggies and drizzle with a vinaigrette. I love making crispy chipotle tofu lettuce wraps. Leftover lettuce or salad can even go in the blender with leftover veggies for a lovely vegetable soup with croutons :)
Oh, the lettuce-radish soup sounds divine, angorian! I just so happen to have some radishes from my CSA last week too...
Hydroponic butter lettuce is more sustainable than you may think.
Use the leaves then replant the root end in your container garden and wait to harvest the new leaves that will grow back.
We also make the lettuce radish soup using the radish leaves instead of lettuce. Sorrel is good, too. It's a treat we wait for eagerly each spring.
Supposedly nettles work, too, though I've never dared try it.
You can also do sushi with lettuce instead of nori (or simply incorporate it into the roll with the nori), or use the lettuce to eat anything (tabbouleh salad is a fav) taco-style.
Korean BBQ!!! Oh man is it the best! Cook thick cut bacon or just pieces of pork on an indoor grill. Load a piece of garlic, meat, kalrose rice (the sticky rice), Korea red pepper paste and possibly some asian vegetables, and roll it all up in a lettuce leaf (I like either romaine or butter lettuce) and eat like there's no tomorrow!
When I lived in Korea, going to the Korean restaurants and eating like this was my absolute favorite thing to do. I really miss good Korean food. Sadly, there isn't an asian market or an authentic Korean restaurants in my neighborhood.
Lettuce soup, without the buttermilk. Just fry an onion, add the lettuce, add broth, blend in a boursin-type cheese and it's ready to serve.
I like lettuce and pea soup, sometimes with a little bacon. Saute and simmer everything, then puree, but keep a little lettuce to shred finely and stir in at the end for texture.
I also like it wilted (romaine works well) with garlic and just a little broth and lots of parmesan to dress pasta.
You can stir fry lettuce with the usual ingredients (soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and so on). I've only done it with romaine and iceberg, so I'm not sure how well other lettuces hold up.
Julia Child did an awesome braised lettuce on The French Chef once, and it's been one of my favorite lettuce recipes ever since!
I use both radish greens and lettuce in the soup. It's a good way to use up lettuce and use the whole of the radish plant. It definitely busts the myth that radishes and lettuce can only be eaten raw.