I am not a big salad eater but I do make a salad every now and then. I find lettuce, at least iceberg lettuce, to be a waste of space. I don't think it's particularly useful nutritionally, and it doesn't taste like anything. Chard is a good alternative. When I lived in Texas, I had a pot of chard growing outside my front door and, since it didn't freeze in that part of Texas, it grew year-round, and produced enough leaves that there was always chard that I could add to a salad or a sandwich. Bacon, chard, and tomato is better than a BLT any day. Sprouts are also a good alternative, both in salads and sandwiches. I particularly like building a salad around a pile of sprouts, and there's nothing wrong with bacon, lettuce and sprout sandwiches either. Dandelion greens also work, although I rarely think of them.
I like spinach and baby kale plus some mixture of salad greens...I'm not fond of iceberg lettuce either. My favorite salads are those where the leaves are a dark green.
When you grow up in a family with nine children you don't have extra money to spend on "fancy" lettuce...so iceberg was the only lettuce I thought there was until I grew up and was on my own. It is still the only lettuce I buy to put on my hamburgers and sandwiches. But at least I can say I have tasted other varieties at my daughters' homes, etc. They like to try different things and have the money to buy the fancier and more expensive salad greens. I do buy the baby spinach when it is on sale and really like that although I've never put it in a salad. It seems like it would be really tasty though with some fresh home grown tomatoes and if I ever get to eat any of my home grown tomatoes again....maybe I'll make that salad and enjoy every bite of it. I'm not a big salad eater but I do like cole slaw and eat that more often than I do salads.
I'm a big fan of Kale and Spinach. I love sprouts but they don't love me. I like broccoli but don't eat it enough although I always have a bag in the freezer ... I have Shredded cabbage with chopped bacon , and mashed potatoes mixed together, ( not a salad but I love the taste)
My green of preference would be Romaine lettuce, and that is what I probably eat the most of. I like iceberg lettuce on tacos, probably because that is what I have always had on a taco. I also like spinach, as well as the baby kale for salads, and I make sprouts , too. Fenugreek sprouts are my favorite sprout. they look like an alfalfa sprout, but they are not so flimsy, and have a nice spicy flavor, and don’t take long to make. I also make lentil sprouts, and those are great in a salad.Mung bean sprouts are fine in a stir fry, but I don’t care for them raw in a salad. I am really liking the Malabar spinach, and I am going to start more of that, too. It is just starting to take off and grow, and with the hot part of summer coming on, it should really start producing more leaves and climbing up the supports (tomato cage) that i gave them to climb on. We have lots of plantago (green plantain) growing out in the yard, and I forage for that, as well as violet leaves, and dandelion leaves. Clover is supposed to be very healthy, and is a legume like alfalfa , but I don’t live the taste of it when it is raw. If I cook it in soup, or in a scrambled egg, then I like clover, too.
We grow a lot of greens, since they grow well here with our (mostly) cool summers. I introduced my spouse to Chrysanthemum greens last year, and she loved them as they are also pretty in the garden. We also grow many of the oriental mustards, which are decorative and good with a little spice. Kale, or course, and there are many types and colors of that as well. We seldom grow chard, as we usually use beet greens, but there are many pretty chards, too. We have a hard time growing spinach, as it bolts due to the long days, and it is not warm enough here in the Summer to grow Malabar or New Zealand spinach. Cabbage, broccoli, and many types of lettuce. Iceberg lettuce you grow yourself is a little like comparing homegrown tomatoes to the ones purchased in the market; ours has smaller heads, but is much darker, and it comes in a few colors as well, if you desire. Our leaf lettuce and Romaine-types are a virtual rainbow of colors and are very flavorful. You can also eat pea tendrils (snow peas are the best for this). We also grow a "wild lettuce mix" that has all shapes and sizes of lettuce ancestors, and a wild garden kale mix, too. Has anyone tried sorrel as a green? I read that it tastes different to children than adults, so I introduced our grandchildren to it, and now, if they come over, they almost strip the place bare of it. Imagine a dark green vegetable that children eat by the handful straight from the garden! It tastes pretty good to adults as well. There you go, Ken. I could list a few more, but that should get you going.
Actually this is one of my favorite greens to eat as a salad, it doesn't even have lettuce in it. I'm going to have to use it up today because it won't last until I get back home. Sometimes I wilt it a little also as a side....yummy.
If I eat any iceberg lettuce I buy it shredded...I have a small mouth and getting big chunks of any type lettuce in my mouth gets messy.
In fact I'm gonna eat it for lunch, have a little leftover salmon....gonna just mix it in with a light vinaigrette. This is what it looks like on a plate....
I have a question for @Bobby Cole ....I always want to buy some green...my choices are collard, mustard, and Swiss chard I think but I can't remember which is the bitter one, that's the one I don't want or like. So if you tell me I'll make a note on my iPhone and next time I'm out I can reference it.
Mustard greens are the one that is hot and bitter tasting. They have a real “bite” to them , especially raw, but not much better when cooked. So are turnip greens, but not quite as bad as mustard greens.
Is that a paper plate CC? I wish we could get bags of that kale /sprouts/ cabbage mix etc here... it would be very handy for hubs to throw in his said.. we don't grow any veggies any more even though I have a large garden. We just wouldn't use the produce quick enough now both our diets are very different , so ready prepared bags are easier nowadays..
Yep @Holly Saunders , paper. I'm not filling up my dishwasher before I leave. I use them occasionally.