You found a great deal on lettuce at the local farmers market and bought a little too much and now it’s sitting in your fridge yelling at you to eat it, but you don’t think can stomach one more salad.  What to do?

This was my predicament and I didn’t want my lettuce to go to waste so I started asking around to see what else I could do with the excess and my friend Renee suggested I make lettuce and garlic soup.  Say what?!?  Believe it or not, it’s delicious and you can eat it hot or cold.  It takes a little a little extra prep, but if it means not wasting food, it’s worth it, right?

Lettuce and Garlic Soup

You'll need:

3 tablespoons butter

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup dry white wine, sherry or vermouth

1 quart vegetable broth

3 heads of lettuce- rinsed and chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Nutmeg

1/2 cup half-and-half

 

Directions:

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook, stirring, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes. Next add broth, lettuce and salt and pepper to taste. Cover pot and bring liquid to a boil, then drop to a simmer and cook until lettuce is tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove soup from heat, add a dash of nutmeg and the half-and-half, and use a hand blender to blend until smooth. Serve immediately, with a little extra cream in your bowl if you’d like. Or if you’d like to enjoy this soup cold, pop it in the fridge until it’s chilled enough for your liking.

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