Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Braise away the E. coli lettuce-recall blues

This reminds me of a few years ago when there was a recall of fresh spinach. Of course, the news media did not make it clear that the danger would come from eating it raw. I bought a frozen dinner containing spinach, and one of my co-workers expressed concern. I explained that cooking kills e coli, but she obviously was not convinced. My dinner did not make me sick.

http://www.salon.com/food/eyewitness_cook/index.html?story=/food/francis_lam/2010/05/11/e_coli_romaine_braised_lettuce

Tuesday, May 11, 2010 13:12 ET

Hey, romaine lettuce fans! It's been a tough week for you, I know. First there was a little recall of the stuff for that irritating kidney-hating bug E. coli 0145, then there was a different, precautionary recall, and now, as of yesterday, tainted lettuce was making people feel a way they don't ever want to feel again in 23 states. It's like Caesar's revenge. "How dare you keep throwing your stupid grilled chicken breast on my salad!" the ghost of the great emperor (OK, of the Mexican restaurateur) thunders.

The good news for you, though, is that none of the recalled lettuce was sold to retail grocery stores, so you probably don't have any at home. (Instead, it's poor kids eating in school cafeterias waking up in the middle of the night wondering what fresh hell is this.)

And the better news is that it's time to get you acquainted with cooking lettuce. Thorough cooking (not washing) can destroy E. coli, which tends to affect foods superficially, unless they're ground up like burgers ... wait, what's that? Stop your eeewing! Cooked lettuce is good stuff, a new way to think about vegetables we confine to salad.

[See article for recipes]

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