| Sunny Side Up August 4, 2004 �2004, Kathleen Gibson Too much lettuce is a good thing When we have summer guests, we often eat dinner out on the patio, beside the raised herb and flower beds. We sit long, talk much. After dessert, when the air is cool and hot tea feels just right, someone inevitably asks, "What's that incredible smell?" It's the herbs, of course. Their scent is one of the best reasons to grow them. Passing one's hand along the tops of rosemary and lavender and inhaling is one of the nicest legal highs around. This year I'm growing lemon verbena and sometimes, in the middle of the day, I run outside just to pet it. God did such a good job on those. I'm growing stevia too, the herb that ounce for ounce, is a few hundred times sweeter than sugar. The dried leaves, powdered and crushed, can be used in baking without sending one's sugar levels into a tizzy. We think about things like that these days, ever since the Preacher was warned about pre-diabetes. Other than my herbs and an enthusiastic crop of daisies (which have incorporated and made an illegal takeover bid for the bed), I don't grow much. But I planted a package of mixed-variety lettuce this year. It grew profusely. Its colors, from the chartreuse of the Bibb to the burgundy of the Red Rumple-waved, are as pretty as any Monet painting. Even the alley-walkers agree. As they follow their dogs past, some look over and call it out. "Nice lettuce," they say. They're right. But there's far too much, even in that tiny three-by-one foot planter, and I can't share: our mostly cool summer has blessed everyone's lettuce patch. So I'll do what I usually do when we have more lettuce than we can eat in salads: make soup. (Straighten out your nose - a bowl of lettuce soup in a fancy eatery like the Villa Mon R�ve on the banks of the Loire in France will cost, if not an arm and a leg, at least two small toes.) Here's the recipe I've used for years. If you have lots of lettuce, try it: * Cook, drain and puree 1 lb. of washed lettuce. (Spinach works too, but not iceberg lettuce. That polyethylene of the lettuce kingdom has no taste whatsoever.) *Sautee 1 or 2 Tbsp. finely grated onion in a dab of margarine. *Stir in 2 Tbsp. flour to make a paste. *Gradually stir in 4 C. milk and the lettuce puree. *Season with salt and a pinch of paprika. (Fresh mint leaves are nice too.) Heat carefully, stirring often - this scorches easily. Serve hot or cold. Invite someone over when you serve this. Eat outdoors. Sit long, let the conversation meander, as only summer evening conversations can. You may even get around to discussing the miracle of gardens, and the God who planted the first one himself. And don't be surprised if your lettuce seeds, via that soup, end up producing a whole lot more than a bumper crop of leafy stuff. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
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