With the chilly, blustery weather and its accompanying snow subsiding behind us, spring seems to have finally arrived. And with Easter and Passover having come and gone, it’s vegetable planting time. For those who seek to live a sustainable lifestyle, buying or growing local when possible is the approach to take. This means planting those seeds and nurturing the pot you put them in during the season in which they thrive.

This may mean starting your seeds under growing lights or placing a window pane over them. Whichever you decide, it’s fun and the vegetables truly become a sustainable way of living life. You will be eating them before you know it and they will taste that much better. Lettuce of all kinds, especially loose leaf like romaine, bibb and red leaf, are easily grown in the spring with lots of sunshine and enough H₂O to keep your seeds moist. An added benefit is the flavor and vitamin A content in these varieties that far exceeds grocery store greens.

You can prepare your garden soil for lettuce in the fall. Then you can plant your lettuce in late March and early to mid-April (which became a necessity this year because of the harsh winter), without having to do anything to the soil. Within a few weeks, your seeds should give you the salad greens you adore that you can mix with other leafy veggies from your local grocer, such as radicchio and Belgian endive. Add a few sliced radishes, celery and carrots with a splash of rice wine and champagne vinegar. Mix them together and you have a wonderful homegrown salad. Add a firm grind of black pepper and a slice of roasted acorn squash and your salad has become a meal.

You may also enjoy a recipe that combines prosciutto wrapped lettuce with a balsamic vinegar you have heated to thicken and enhance the natural sweetness. Or, you can maintain a meatless menu by wrapping your lettuce with strips of roasted eggplant or zucchini.

Prosciutto or Eggplant Wrapped Greens
Serves 2 to 4
1 large head romaine lettuce, the best leaves separated from the
root end by hand
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, separated
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Sea salt and black pepper, both freshly ground, to taste
½ lb prosciutto and/or roasted eggplant, both thinly sliced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ lb Parmesan Reggiano, grated

1. Place the lettuce leaves on a sheet tray coated with olive oil, but reserve enough oil to drizzle on after grilling lettuce, prosciutto and eggplant.
2. Grill the lettuce leaves under the broiler for 2 minutes. Season with a drizzle of olive oil, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste. Set the lettuce leaves aside on a paper towel.
3. Cut 4 prosciutto slices into 2-inch strips and set aside.
4. Make rope-like strips out of the eggplant by cutting eggplant into 2-inch slices and then cut vertically into 2-inch strips.
5. Grill the eggplant strips for 1 to 2 minutes, until soft but not blackened.
6. Loosely wrap the lettuce with the strips of prosciutto and eggplant.
7. Lightly drizzle the remaining olive oil on the salad greens and wraps.
8. At low heat, warm the balsamic vinegar until it begins to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes.
9. Drizzle the thickened balsamic vinegar over the greens and wraps.
10. Lightly sprinkle with cheese, and additional black pepper and sea salt, to taste. Enjoy!

Please send comments, questions or observations of interest to Chef Alan at [email protected].