A bitter tasting lettuce such as Frisee is most often found in mixed greens. This lettuce is often mixed with Mesclun, which also has a bitter taste. The Frise lettuce leaves look a medium green in color and the leaves are long and ragged. Think of frizzy hair. That’s what this lettuce looks like.
Other types of greens include spinach and radicchio. Spinach has a wonderful flavor and a brilliant dark green color. One of the benefits of spinach is that color. Antioxidants are found in these darker colored leaves. Beta carotene is in abundance and can help in warding off free radicals in the body as well. The trouble with spinach is that though it is fine wilted, it will often go slimy and gunge up the rest of your salad, so I try to keep my spinach separate from the rest of my salad fixings.
Radicchio is a lettuce that looks more like a cabbage. Although the leaves are long like lettuce the color and texture are more like that of a cabbage. The red to purple color and the white spine that runs through leaves give this type of lettuce the appearance of a cabbage. Radicchio is rather bitter and works better when mixed with other types of lettuce than alone.
Last but not least is endive. Endive is a Belgian variety of lettuce. Dark green in color the leaves are short and have a tendency to curl. Due to its mild taste, endive is chosen often for salads.
What type of greens do you prefer? These are just a few that you can mix and match to create the perfect salad base. Try something different the next time you prepare a salad, you might just find one you love.
