By Nadia Arumugam |

The Season For Lettuce

 It’s official, it’s Spring. The air is warm, the skies are azure, and the sun is egg-yolk bright, plump and high. Finally, farmer’s markets bear something fresh and verdant and delicate, and not just root vegetables or greens that take 10 minutes to chew before they go down. And not just “something,” a veritable panoply. Yes, t’is the season for lettuce and baby salad greens. As Charity mentioned in her last post, lettuce likes it cool – but not frosty cold, and certainly not NYC summer hot. So bearing in mind it’s supposed to reach a toasty 78F today (I know crazy, right! But we’re loving it) you have, oh about 3 hours to enjoy lettuce at their best. Just kidding, but not really. Once local temperatures start to soar, local lettuces will start to choke in the heat. Bottom line, run out now, yes, like now and load up on Mizuna, Arugula, Escarole, Tatsoi, Butter head lettuce, and Mache. If what I said sounds like gobbledegook, and you’d be hard pressed to tell your Loose leaf from your Oak leaf, no need to fret, just refer to Epicurious’ excellent comprehensive visual guide to salad greens.

Just like a fine wine or a fine pair of Prada pumps, you’ll want to be discerning about how you accessorize your greens. Don’t go dousing delicate mache or mizuna in thick, creamy dressings, save those instead for more robust leaves like  romaine or endive. Similarly, consider combining a peppery watercress salad with fruit and a lighter, less acerbic dressing to counterbalance the bite in the leaves – I love to pair strawberries or sweet orange segments with cress.

I do have one issue with the Epicurious guide, however, which is that it omitted my favorite; Little Gem (very similar to the more common Sucrine). I think it’s the sweetest lettuce you can find – both on the palate, and aesthetically! They’re petite (they look like miniature romaine lettuce), buttery like Bibb, with perfectly formed boat-like leaves and a million artful creases which makes them well-suited to act as edible plates. I love to use them to hold various fillings for appetizers or canapés. Their thin crisp leaves and central spines also have a good structure and crunch to them, so they won’t collapse if you use them to pick up a sturdier dip. And with their sweet, mild flavor they’re ideal to serve to a salad-shirker.

When the weather is turning, like it is now, heartier salads, like my Chinese Chicken Salad, in the photo above – styled by yours truly for a magazine feature a couple of years ago, are just the thing to eat. The chicken is poached in a broth flavored with Asian flavors, shredded and combined with a creamy peanut butter dressing and crunchy carrot and red bell pepper matchsticks, bean sprouts and lightly-spiced toasted cashew nuts. It makes for a really beautiful dish, with little effort on your part – shhh, just don’t tell anyone! You can serve it family-style for a casual supper, or plate up individual portions as an appetizer for a dinner party. Alternately, sit a spoonful of the salad on smaller  Little Gem leaves, they one closer to the heart, and serve as canapés at a cocktail party.

Click ahead for the recipe

“Bang Bang” Chinese Chicken Salad
Serves 4 

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½  Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 thin slices ginger
4 cilantro stalks, no leaves
4 small skinless chicken breasts
120g raw cashew nuts
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp five spice powder
2 handfuls bean sprouts
1 red bell pepper, deseeded and very thinly sliced1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallion, green and light green parts only, thinly sliced on the diagonal
4 Tbs chunky peanut butter
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, deseeded and minced
2 little Gem or Sucrine Lettuces, leaves separated, washed and well drained
1 cup whole fresh cilantro leaves

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F. Place the chicken broth in a pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and cilantro stalks and simmer for 3 mins. Add the chicken breasts to the pan, cover and simmer very gently for 20 mins, turning over halfway until cooked through. Remove from the heat and leave in the cooking liquid to cool.
  2. Meanwhile place the cashews in a bowl and drizzle in just enough of the vegetable oil to moisten. Sprinkle over the five spice powder and mix well. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 mins, turning halfway through, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.
  3. When the chicken is cool, remove from the liquid and shred using your fingers or two forks. Place the meat in a large bowl, moisten with 2-3 tbsp of the cooking liquid and mix in in the beansprouts, red pepper, carrot and scallion. Set aside then strain the cooking liquid, discarding the flavourings.
  4. Make a dressing by whisking 120-15ml of the drained cooking liquid with the peanut butter and until you have a smooth dressing, mix in the chile. Pour over the chicken and vegetables and toss well.
  5. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large serving dish, spoon the chicken and vegetable mixture over the top then sprinkle over the cashews and whole cilantro leaves
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