A very effective alternative to an evening meal filled with rotis, rice, subzis filled with oil onion and veggies, etc is of course a salad. A salad renders itself very different based on the ingredients, the dressing and the garnish  and instantly provides with 2-3 servings of fresh raw veggies. Romanie Lettuce would always be a main ingredient in my salads at home, as its  an excellent source of vitamin A (notably through its concentration of the pro-vitamin A carotenoid, beta-carotene), vitamin K, folate, vitamin C, manganese, and chromium.

ROmanie Lettuce also scores over iceberg lettuce in terms of having TEN TIMES more beta carotene and lutien and 4 times more folate, apart from scoring higher than Icerberg Lettuce in every other nutriet.

1. Romaine’s  Vitamin C and beta-carotene content make it a heart-healthy green leaf that can be added to your daily intake.
2. The fiber in Romaine lettuce adds another plus in its column of heart-healthy effects. In the colon, fiber binds to bile salts and removes them from the body. This forces the body to make more bile, which is helpful because it must break down cholesterol to do so. This is just one way in which fiber is able to lower high cholesterol levels.
3. Equally beneficial to heart health is Romaine’s  folic acid content.
4. Romaine lettuce is an excellent source of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, manganese and chromium. In addition, romaine lettuce is a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and the minerals potassium, molybdenum, iron, and phosphorus.

Additional Information:

Always look for tightly packed Romanie Lettuce Heads that are completely green and show no signs of wilting.

Just before use, wash in cold water, pat with a clean kitchen towel and discarding the lower white portion, cut in to bite sized pieces.

Wrap  unsed cleaned lettuce in brown paper/ tissue and store in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Bunch Romanie Lettuce .

1 cup cooked Garbanzo beans.

Handful of chopped Olives.

Monterery Jack Cheese with Jalapeno 1/8 cup. (Garnish).

Dressing:

1/8 Cup Olive Oil.

3 Garlic Cloves Chopped.

Salt.

Freshly Cracked Pepper as per taste.

Dried Oregano – 2 Tsp.

PREPARATION:

• Roughly chop the romanie lettuce and pop in to the mixing bowl.
• Add cooked garbanzo (white channa) , chopped olives salt and pepper.
• In a small cup add the olive oil and to it the finely chopped garlic.
• To the olive oil, also add cracked pepper and dried oregano.
• Allow the various flavours to infuse in to the olive oil.
• Just before serving, add the olive oil dressing to the chopped veggies.
• Garnish with grated monterey cheese.
  

HINTS:

I prefer to keep all salads simple and not add too many ingredients and over power so many tastes.

Use of cheese is optional and the type of cheese also depends on the availability. Substitute with mozarella, parmesan or asiago.