Virtual CSA Box: Romaine Lettuce

It's time for spring lettuce again, and it turns out that even the ubiquitous romaine lettuce has a season. Expect the romaine lettuce showing up in produce boxes across the country to be fresher and brighter than the heads you can get any time of the year in your grocery store.

Romaine is a light, crisp salad green that has more green texture and flavor than the truly chilly iceberg lettuce, but it lacks the taste and interest of arugula or red leaf. Its strength is in its deliciously crisp texture and bright foundation for interesting salad mix-ins. And after the long winter, salads are starting sound good, don't you think? Here's a few to check out...

Start in our archives with an egg-less Caesar salad dressing. Also check out this Mixed Bean and Avocado Salad on a bed of fresh greens, and our Hello Spring Salad with paprika-roasted cashews and cranberries plumped up in orange juice and brandy.

Elsewhere, try an absolutely simple salad of Romaine with Parmesan Dressing, or a more complex salad with Chives and Blue Cheese.

And stepping away from salads for a moment, we find these Egg-Stuffed Tomatoes appealing and intriguing; they include a romaine pesto.

Have any salads planned this week? What are you doing with your CSA produce?

(Image credit: Cal-Cel Marketing)