Eat in

    Then again, iceberg lettuce would be an anomaly at a farmers’ market. After all, its raison d’être is its ability to last as long as a couple weeks without melting during its often lengthy trek to the grocery store. The inner leaves of its tightly furled head are almost white because they never photosynthesize—they never reach the sunlight needed for the chemical reaction that creates color and flavor. That’s why iceberg lettuce is so bland, whereas open-leafed plants, with more available surface area, have more color and zing. As a matter of fact, some greens’ flavors are downright hot—spicy. Just try nibbling on a single richly colored mustard leaf by itself. It tastes like a cancer cure, as if it’s burning away bad stuff.

     And maybe it is. Biologically, the same compounds that create plant flavor and color also carry important health benefits. The byproducts of photosynthesis include chlorophyll, beta-carotene, vitamins A and C, cancer-preventing phytochemicals—all of them antioxidants. The more intense the color of the plant or fruit, the more concentrated those nutrients. Combine those healthy qualities with vivid flavors, and you get a lot of bang for the buck.

     The farm-fresh culinary aesthetic puts the flavors of raw greens front and center. This is a shift from the dressing-driven tradition of salads, in which taste resides in the dressing and the lettuce itself functions simply to offer structure and texture. With these more intense, assertive greens, a drizzle of high-quality olive oil will suffice. Generally, the larger the greens, the more they can stand up to dressing, but less is still more; you want to enhance the bitterness of, say, endive or dandelion with a sweet-salty-garlicky dressing—not drown it.

     Highlighting the greens themselves is not a new idea, by any means. Nearly 300 years ago, forward-thinking diarist John Evelyn wrote in his book Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets, “… in the composure of a sallet, every plant should come in to bear its part, without being overpower’d … but fall into their places, like the notes in music, in which there should be nothing harsh or grating.” (Back then, of course, most folks’ diets consisted largely of meat and potatoes; foliage was for savages.)