by Joseph Parish

Created on: May 31, 2008   Last Updated: January 11, 2012

How to handle excess lettuce With Lettuce and Herb Soup

So you got that garden in and its growing like a weed. You planted your beefeater tomatoes and those juicy bell peppers are doing nicely. Your squash is starting to take shape and oh my! Those lettuce plants are already grown up and ready for picking.

You take a quick glance at your garden and start to wonder what in the world are you going to do with all that lettuce. Well let me tell you lettuce is not just to eat in salads or perhaps on a sandwich. This wonderful green energy boaster is also great in soup. The Romaine variety is especially flavorful in the recipe that I am about to present to you. This recipe is instruction for preparing lettuce and herb soup.

You can be adventurous and try various types of lettuce however I would like to warn you not to use iceberg as it is much too watery and does not provide much flavor to the soup.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of butter

6 thinly sliced scallions using only the white portion

3 cups of chicken broth

9 cups of chopped romaine variety lettuce

2 tablespoons of chopped parsley

3 tablespoons of mixed herbs containing basil, chives, chervil, celery leaves and thyme

2 cups of whole milk

Yolk of 1 egg

teaspoon of salt

Black pepper to taste

Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Step by step

1. Take a large pot and heat it over a medium flame until the butter is melted

2. Now add and saute the scallions

3. Cook for 3 minutes and stir until mixture is soft

4. Add the chicken broth and bring mixture to a rapid boil

5. Add lettuce and cover the pot

6. Simmer for 5 minutes until the lettuce starts to wilt

7. Add parsley and herbs

8. Puree the finished mixture with a blender

9. Simmer the pureed mixture over a low heat

10. in a separate bowl whisk together milk and the egg yolk

11. When whisking add some of the heated soup together with the egg

12. Pour the whisked egg into the pot of soup

13. Simmer over low heat until thick

14. Season with the salt and black pepper

Your family is sure to enjoy this different dish especially when you sprinkle some Romano cheese on top of it. Serve this dish while it is hot. Now you know what to do with all your extra lettuce.

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