Iceberg lettuce, whereas not as well-liked as Romaine lettuce due to its decrease nutrient content material, is a well-liked ingredient in lots of salads.
It goes completely with many different salad components with out overpowering them. It additionally provides a pleasant contemporary and crisp texture to the salad.
Reading: How to cut iceberg lettuce for salad
Chopping iceberg lettuce for a salad is fairly straightforward. With a pointy knife and a great high quality non-slip chopping board, it ought to take not more than 5 minutes.
Table of Contents
Cleansing the Lettuce
Even when the lettuce was wrapped if you purchased it, it’s nonetheless a good suggestion to scrub it.
Take away the primary two layers of leaves and discard them. They’re the dirtiest and can often have began wilting.
Then wash the lettuce beneath working faucet water.
Chopping and Chopping
First take away the core of the lettuce. You simply need the leaves.
To take away it, estimate an inch from the underside of the lettuce head and reduce it at that time. Discard the reduce half. This leaves you with simply the crispy leaves.
A substitute for slicing off the core is to hit the underside of the lettuce towards the countertop. You’ll have to make use of fairly a little bit of power to ensure the core breaks on the within.
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After it breaks, you’ll be able to simply pull it out along with your fingers.
However that’s an inconvenient methodology and will bruise the fragile lettuce leaves. Chopping with a knife often will get the job performed properly sufficient.
Chopping Wedges
Notice: I extremely suggest utilizing a pointy knife to chop and chop the lettuce. Will probably be sooner, simpler and produce higher outcomes. It is usually safer because it offers you extra management when slicing. In case your knife has gone a number of days with out sharpening, rapidly re-hone it utilizing a sharpening metal or electrical knife sharpener if in case you have one.
In case you are getting ready your salad with massive wedges slightly than finely chopped lettuce, you simply want to chop the top into 4 quarters.
First reduce the top in half then place each halves flat aspect down and reduce every of them in half once more.
If the lettuce head was notably large and the quarters are nonetheless too massive, reduce them once more in half to get 1/8 wedges.
Chopping Massive/Skinny Strips
If you would like the lettuce properly blended with the opposite ingredient, you’ll want to cut it into strips. Resolve whether or not you need massive items or finely chopped ones.
Whichever your alternative, begin by slicing the lettuce head in half.
Then place one half on its flat aspect and maintain it down along with your non-cutting hand.
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Begin chopping the lettuce from one finish. If you would like massive items, merely chop the half lettuce head into 1/2 inch wedges. The strips will separate simply after you have reduce the wedges.
In case you are going for finely chopped stripes, chop the lettuce as near the sting as doable. It’ll take a while earlier than you chop the complete half.
Keep in mind to make use of a pointy knife particularly if you end up chopping high quality strips. You’ll discover it a lot simpler and sooner.
Right here’s a fast video displaying the right way to do it.
Notice that this methodology leads to lengthy skinny strips. If you would like shorter strips, reduce the lettuce into 4 quarters.
Then maintain every quarter within the board and chop alongside the shorter aspect. The strips shall be a lot shorter. You may make them as skinny or as extensive as you need relying in your salad preferences.
Right here’s one other brief video displaying how one can chop shorter strips/wedges.
Tossing the Slices
Earlier than you add the lettuce to your salad, be certain the slices are separated into particular person strips. It’s a lot simpler to do that earlier than you combine the lettuce with the opposite components.
A straightforward approach to separate the strips is to toss them along with your palms. You can even use salad tongs.
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