Odds are you grew up knowing several basic maxims to be true. You should never talk to strangers. You should look both ways before crossing the street. And romaine lettuce, nutritionally speaking, is about as good as no lettuce at all.
But it's just not true! We're here to tell you that romaine lettuce has been unfairly maligned as the bland, vapid airhead of the salad green family. While spring mix, spinach, and kale are often hailed as the salad bar's nutritional powerhouses, the truth is that romaine is, as far as vitamins and minerals and all that good stuff is concerned, actually very comparable (and in some ways better) than its supposedly-so-much-more-virtuous cousins.
Romaine lettuce is high in fiber and low in calories—generally a good ratio for a food to have—but it's also a solid source of essential vitamins and minerals. In one full serving, you'll get 148% of your daily dose of antioxidant Vitamin A, a third of your immune-system-supporting Vitamin C, 109% of your cardiac-health-defender Vitamin K, and nearly a third of your disease-fighting folate. (It has spinach beat on three of those four, along with various other vitamins and minerals, if you still need convincing.)
So crunchy, so healthy.
So, yeah! Caesar salad is practically a health food! (Well, maybe not exactly, but sort of!) Once you welcome romaine back into your life, you'll open the door to some of our all-time favorite recipes that just wouldn't be the same without it. There's that crisp, satisfying crunch it brings to this incredible BLT Salad. There's the mild flavor it lends to our Chopped Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette, Feta, and Dill, allowing other ingredients to steal the show. And there's the almost meaty char that develops when you throw fat wedges of romaine on the grill.
So let this be a reminder that childhood lessons are rarely as black and white as they once seemed. Eat more romaine. Talk to a stranger every once in a while. (You should still probably look both ways before crossing the street, though.)
