Why no lettuce in Greek salad?

[Guest FriendofGreece]

A Greek salad is good when there is no lettuce in it.  However...

 

When I was in Greece, I was struck by the lack of lettuce and similar greens. Why are those not grown in Greece?

 

Instead I had to eat stuff like bamies, eggplant, etc., not really my favorites.

[admin 31]

Who says there's no lettuce in Greece? Of course there is, and there's a lettuce salad made with lettuce (of course!) and dill (I think...) and dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. You will most likely not find this salad in most Greek tavernas, but it's pretty popular in Greece.

[Guest FriendofGreece]

It is strange for sure. I have not seen a leaf of lettuce, and I have shopped in outside fruit markets. Thanks for the recipe though. 

 

I found a video of Greek lettuce salad. Looks good.

 

[Επισκέπτης]

If you want greens you order a "Field Salad" or Σαλάτα Αγρού.

[admin 31]

Also to add to this, Greeks eat several different kinds of greens.

 

We eat several different kinds of "horta" (green in Greek), mostly what's identified as "dandelions" in North America. We also eat a green called roka (or "rocket" in English). Not sure if this is some native Mediterranean plant, but I've never seen it served in any North American restaurants.

[Guest FriendofGreece]

Thanks for the tip, Ajaxmonkey. "Field salad", I guess it will be a surprise as to what greens will be in the salad. 

 

Admin - Dandelions, the same as the ones we try to get rid of with pesticides, they are edible?

 

I found this article on the roka, also called arugula. It is actually quite nutritious.

 

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/arugula.html

[Επισκέπτης]

Ραδίκια or Dandelions are the best thing you can have with fish. Blanched with olive oil, salt and lemon juice , or (my preference) vinegar. Delicious!

 

Γλιστρίδες ( or Pigs weed ) go great with everything and taste great

 

 

Κιντέας (Ποντιακά) Τσουκνίδες or Nettles, as soup or salad, are my personal favorite.

[Guest FriendofGreece]

Wow, these all look so yummy, thanks for the pics!   These are very dark greens, lots of iron. 

 

The nettles look like spinach. What do you put in the soup? I think there is olive oil, and I see some grains in there.

 

Pigs weed? Looks really nice, but what a funny name.

 

Can we find those in America or just in the Mediterrean region?

[Guest FriendofGreece]

This article explains about the pigweed, also called amaranth. I also found a table of nutritional values. It is incredible how high nutrients it contains. This is all actually very interesting to know we can eat "weeds", the good kind I mean.

 

http://web.ku.edu/~aihd/foods/Pigweed.html

 

Amaranth

Plant

Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants.Wikipedia

 

Nutrition Facts

AmaranthAmaranth leavesAmaranth

 

Amount Per 100 grams1 cup (193 g)100 grams

 

Calories 371

 

% Daily Value* Total Fat 7 g 10% Saturated fat 1.5 g 7% Polyunsaturated fat 2.8 g   Monounsaturated fat 1.7 g   Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 4 mg 0% Potassium 508 mg 14% Total Carbohydrate 65 g 21% Dietary fiber 7 g 28% Sugar 1.7 g   Protein 14 g 28% Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 7% Calcium 15% Iron 42% Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-6 30% Vitamin B-12 0% Magnesium 62% *Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

[Επισκέπτης]

This article explains about the pigweed, also called amaranth. I also found a table of nutritional values. It is incredible how high nutrients it contains. This is all actually very interesting to know we can eat "weeds", the good kind I mean.

 

http://web.ku.edu/~aihd/foods/Pigweed.html

 

 

 

Amaranth

Plant

 

 

 

 

 

Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants.Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

Nutrition Facts

 

 

 

AmaranthAmaranth leavesAmaranth

 

 

 

 

 

Amount Per 100 grams1 cup (193 g)100 grams

 

 

 

Calories 371

 

 

 

% Daily Value* Total Fat 7 g 10% Saturated fat 1.5 g 7% Polyunsaturated fat 2.8 g   Monounsaturated fat 1.7 g   Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 4 mg 0% Potassium 508 mg 14% Total Carbohydrate 65 g 21% Dietary fiber 7 g 28% Sugar 1.7 g   Protein 14 g 28% Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 7% Calcium 15% Iron 42% Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-6 30% Vitamin B-12 0% Magnesium 62% *Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Thats not the one we call Γλιστρίδες. Its this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea

The wiki article says that it is called pigweed or litle hogweed in english. I don't know but thats the one we eat in Greece.

 

We do eat Amaranth too though the common name for it is Βλήτα the proper name Αμάρανθος is rarely used.

[Επισκέπτης]

Yes, Nettle soup is prepared with some sort of grain. Usualy cracked wheat sometimes rice.

[Guest FriendofGreece]

Thanks for letting me know the right kind. I take note of all these greens, next time I go in Greece, I am going to pay attention to try to find them. 

[Guest HappyAsHellas]

Is horta a generic term for whatever is available at a given time? The reason i ask is because when we were shown the kitchen to place our order in a restaurant, there were several different dishes of various colours, all of which turned out to be delicious although I don't know what they were.

[Επισκέπτης]

The word Χόρτα means grasses or weeds, most of the edible Χόρτα are in fact weeds that grow wild in Greece. And yes they are highly seasonal and you have to harvest them at the right time and some even at the right hour. A great variety of weeds is used in Greek cooking I doubt you'll find anyone who can name them all but the following link lists a good number of them: http://www.ftiaxno.gr/2008/03/blog-post_17.html

 

It's in Greek but it lists the scientific names in Latin and you can look them up by that.

[Επισκέπτης]

Picking Χόρτα:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsVa7yRNH7I

[Guest FriendofGreece]

How can one distinguish the good from the bad weeds? Some of the ones he picked up, like the ones that are spread out like a flower, are just plain weeds to me.

 

One he mentioned has pharmaceutical benefits, or something like that. Do Greeks use medicinal herbs? 

[admin 31]

Picking the right weeds is an art, which unfortunately will be soon lost as most younger generation Greeks do not go out picking weeds anymore. Eating all this kind of horta is one of the things I enjoy every time I go back to Greece. Vlita, radikia (not be confused with the Italian "radicchio") and all other weeds are all excellent sources of vitamins and they're super tasty. Greeks have been eating these things for centuries (possibly millennia).