Salad is one of the most underrated meals.
Most people think that it’s quite boring, but this meal’s potential is only limited by your imagination.
Plus, there are so many wonderful varieties of lettuce to discover. Each has their own flavor, texture, color, and nutrients.
Lettuce Benefits
Lettuce contains a significant amount of vitamin A and K (1).
While vitamin K is necessary for blood and bone health, vitamin A plays a role in immune function, vision, reproduction, and cellular communication (2,3).
Lettuce also contains essential anti-inflammatory compounds. The veggie can even improve cholesterol profile and fight insomnia (4,5,6).
That’s why growing lettuce at home is a great way to improve your diet.
Growing Lettuce At Home
Here’s how you do it. All you need is a stump and a bit of water.
- Start with fresh lettuce. Chop up what you’ll be using for your salad, leaving a 1-2 inch stem at the base of the head.
- Place the stem vertically in a jar with an inch of water. It should stand with the base of the head in the water and the leaves pointing towards the ceiling.
- Let it sit in a sunny spot for 10-12 days. Refill with water as necessary.
- If you wish, harvest the freshly grown leaves for your next salad.
For a more bountiful harvest, place it in a small depression in the ground and bury the first inch of the stem. This way, the stem will get enough nutrients to grow a whole new head!
Harvest Salad
Put your new lettuce to use with these great ingredients :
- Raw nuts like, almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc.
- Seeds like, pumpkin and sunflower
- Diced apples, mandarins, pears, peaches, mango, etc.
- Sliced avocado
- Grated carrots
- Peeled onions
- Grilled zucchini, eggplant, squash, sweet potatoes
- Sliced cucumber, peppers, mushrooms, celery
- Nori strips
- Cooked quinoa, rice, buckwheat
- Chickpeas, black beans, lentils, kidney beans
- Steamed broccoli, cauliflower, beets
- Washed strawberries, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, etc
- Olives and tomatoes
- Grilled chicken breast strips
- Tuna, salmon, or other seafood
- Sliced hard-boiled eggs
- Hummus
Add as many of theses ingredients into your salad as you wish. Don’t be afraid to switch it up and try new combinations.
There you have it! Once you’ve mastering growing lettuce, try regrowing these vegetables too.
Watch How One Person Grew Lettuce in Their Home in New York!