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> Leafy vegetables were also the second most common cause of food poisoning-related hospitalizations. I never quite got to like lettuce. I don't know why peop
by rdtsc 9y ago
> Leafy vegetables were also the second most common cause of food poisoning-related hospitalizations.
I never quite got to like lettuce. I don't know why people like it. It just doesn't have much taste, its leaves are too big, so have to shove them in awkwardly.
I'd rather have a salad with chopped ripe tomatoes, onions / chives, cucumbers, cabbage, etc. Even with those, I often wonder if people don't eat more veggies because American veggies from grocery store taste like plastic. So eating them is a chore, because well, it's "healthy" but not because they taste good.
- lainga 9y agoMy grandparents would always tell me it was one of the few fresh vegetables widely available in 1950s America. Forget ripe tomatoes, let alone chives - you got a mound of iceberg lettuce with boiled eggs (them coming from the cuisine of the Punjab no less).
- newnewpdro 9y agoOrganic produce from local growers, if you're lucky to have a grocery store or farmers market near you selling the stuff, is simply incredible. Even the lettuce is delicious with nothing on it. I just spent winter away from my usual SF bay area haunts and have had to shop at a grocery store more along the lines of a Safeway with a small selection of overpriced corporate organics on a little island in the produce department. This stuff is maybe slightly better than the conventional produce sold alongside it, it's pretty awful, and really helps me appreciate why most of the public doesn't seem to see any difference with organic vs. conventional outside of the price. It really is an exceptional privilege to have access to quality organic produce in the USA.
- wj 9y agoAgreed. Once I discovered it I realized that tomatoes from the farmer's market might as well have been a completely different fruit from the tomatoes at the grocery store as the taste difference was that striking. I went from being pretty indifferent about tomatoes to them being my favorite fruit/vegetable. Just in the last couple of years I have noticed the same with lettuce that I have been gifted from a neighbor's garden. I think I missed my window for planting it this year but plan to next year.
- koolba 9y agoSalad is an excuse to eat dressing.
- cryptoz 9y agoI think the McDonald's ceasar salad has more calories than the big Mac.
- dangrossman 9y agoThere's no caesar salad on McDonald's US menu right now, but last time they offered one, it was 440 calories including grilled chicken, dressing and croutons. A Big Mac is 540. They did once offer a kale and caesar salad with crispy chicken that hit 730 calories with dressing in Canada.
- downrightmike 9y agoYeah, drinking it is way easier /s
- adrr 9y agoThats like saying french fries are an excuse for eating ketchup or other condiment. You would never eat/drink salad dressing by itself.
- eigenstuff 9y agoHave you ever had woodstock dressing, tho? Because I was just thinking to myself for the millionth time earlier today about how I would TOTALLY drink a glass of it/eat it as a soup if it wasn't, y'know, 100 calories for 2 tablespoons or whatever. Sorry not sorry. (Annie's makes it but it's almost impossible to find in stores, so here's the recipe if you're a fan of umami flavors: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=698649 https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=698... )
- werdnapk 9y agoNot sure what your definition of lettuce is. All greens or just something like iceberg? If you want taste, then eat Arugula... loads of flavor. Arugula and spinach are probably the two main greens I consume.
- petre 9y agoHave you tried fresh spinach instead of lettuce in your salad? I like it a lot, it tastes better. There are also other greens, rocket is quite popular in Europe. We also eat ramsoms in the spring - it tastes like garlic but has a fainter taste without the garlic stink.
- eric_the_read 9y agoSpinach isn't much better[1]. [1] https://www.medicaldaily.com/e-coli-contamination-found-7-spinach-harvests-how-can-you-prevent-food-poisoning-247027 https://www.medicaldaily.com/e-coli-contamination-found-7-sp...
- goda90 9y agoBut spinach can be cooked and still taste decent, so it has that on most lettuce.
- rdtsc 9y agoI do like spinach more. I was thinking mostly of romaine lettuce.
- athenot 9y agoThe lettuce readily available in American grocery stores doesn't have much taste, yes. But try some fresh Laitue, Bibb, Mâche, Endives or Arugula. There's a world of flavor in lettuce but as with most other things here we have a abundance of good-looking, large, bland lettuce.
- felipellrocha 9y agoThat's largely a problem in the US. All produce looks really good, but are all noticeably bland when compared to produce you can find in other countries.
- vermontdevil 9y agoIts like tomatoes. Store bought tomatoes taste bland. Big difference than growing your own in the backyard. Juicy and thick!
- swebs 9y agoWhat's with the American specifier? We have Iceberg lettuce in Europe too and it's just as shit. It's the cheapest so it's everywhere.
- lr4444lr 9y agoAmerican lettuce mixes are actually pretty unique for how tasteless they are compared to the availability of edible greens in nature. If you were to make a salad of, say, arugula, endive, radicchio, and various leafy herbs like basil and oregano, you'd have quite the taste sensation. Add a simple vinaigrette to that, and tell me when to show up for dinner.
- RandomInteger4 9y agoPeople don't eat more veggies, because (1) The people forget about them and then they go bad, thus instilling a mental stigma about veggies, and (2) food deserts.
- TheCapn 9y agoCabbage? But not lettuce? You can shred the lettuce all the same.
- rdtsc 9y agoYeah I find cabbage has a stronger flavor than romaine lettuce.
- logfromblammo 9y agoIceberg lettuce is the most pointless waste of time and money in the entire agricultural industry. You are absolutely correct in your assessment of vegetable quality. Everything is bred for transportability, appearance, and shelf life, then flavor and nutrition go out the window. It's exactly the same story as the Red Delicious apple. They were bred to be very red, not at all sour, and to not bruise too easily. So they look good, but taste like garbage. I have noticed the same devolution in watermelons. You used to be able to get huge, arm-filling watermelons, juicy and sweet, but shot through with big black seeds. Now at the supermarket they're all seedless, nearly flavorless, and small. Same with strawberries. They used to be small, but intensely flavored, and ranging from very sweet to slightly sour. Now you can find them as big as your clenched fist, but then bite into one, and it just tastes like dirty water. I don't buy food to look at it. It seems like the greatest minds of the last agricultural generation have all been wasted on making foods look like they'll taste good, and look like they're worth the money, but then become a total disappointment to your tongue.
- rdtsc 9y agoYes, agreed. My parents used to have a small garden growing up and we grew tomatoes once in a while. It was pain, because they needed a lot of watering, but they had an intense delicious flavor. I'd just go and eat them one after another right off the vine. Here in US it's hard to find that flavor. Some of the little green and yellow mixed tomatoes kind of have flavor, they are call heirloom tomatoes, I usually buy those. > They used to be small, but intensely flavored, and ranging from very sweet to slightly sour. The most delicious strawberries I have ever had, were wild strawberries. They were very smaller, about the size of a raspberry or smaller and would find them the woods in Eastern Europe when we went to pick mushrooms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragaria_vesca https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragaria_vesca
- balls187 9y agoCome to seattle, try the Steak Salad at the Brooklyn. It's an iceberg wedge salad, with steak (hopefully that part was obvious). It's great.
- 9y ago
- op00to 9y agoAmerican grocery store veggies taste exactly the same as any other industrialized nation that participates in a globalized food chain.
- contingencies 9y agoCut the lettuce before serving. Use chopsticks instead of forks, which after you are accustomed to chopsticks are frankly ridiculously barbaric implements. I am western but I loathe eating many things with blunt knives and clunky forks. Learn to appreciate the texture and color of food, not just the taste.
- rdtsc 9y agoI do like chopsticks. Especially for kimchi, I can eat and ungodly amount of that very quickly. And I use it for other foods as well. Never quite got used to eating rice with chopsticks though, end up getting frustrated and switch to a fork after some time.