On Thu, 01 Nov 2018 10:26:57 -0500, Gary wrote:

> That said, I've rarely used romaine. I only use lettuce for
> salads and sandwiches and both times, I like lettuce for the
> crunch-factor. Iceberg does the trick well. Romaine is only
> chosen here if no good iceberg available. Even then, I only use
> the bottom part that's crunchy. The soft leaves are like eating
> grass to me and not something I care for. It doesn't help a salad
> or sandwiches for me.

I only buy romaine hearts. Costco has the heart-iest (less green,
more crunch) romaine hearts, but the grocery store's 3-pack is
working better for me thqn the 6-packs at Costco (last two bags
prematurely rottened).

I ordered a romaine salad at a pizza place a few months ago and I'd
been eating the hearts for so long I forgot that romaine in its
default form kinda sucks. This salad was all green and no crunch -
not a crisp stem in sight. Now I know where all the non-hearts go.

You can see bitterness in romaine lettuce stems if you cut them and
white stuff oozes out. That same white stuff turns pinkish on the
cut stem of iceberg, so choosing iceberg with the least pink cut end
is a good indicator of freshness and least likely to be better.

-sw