For the past year or so I've been buying the romaine lettuce hearts- three to a package. Seemed like the right thing to do. The preponderance of lettuce in the fridge inspired more salads, etc. However, it seemed like the final head wasn't quite as fresh as it should be and we hadn't been able to keep up with the salad consumption. So... last Thursday when I was in the produce department at Stater Brothers, I took a look at the old-fashioned heads of romaine lettuce, sold individually. Perhaps it was time to revert back to them. As I picked up the leafy head, I noticed the color- a beautiful shade of dark green. I examined the outer leaves and found them to be leafier and more fibrous. "Aha!" I said to myself. "Isn't it true that the more intense colored vegetables have the most nutritional value?" I walked over to the prepackaged trio of romaine hearts and compared the color. They were a pale green; the leaves, slender and consistent. It was then that I realized I had unwittingly fallen into the "we're making life easier for you" trap. I felt ashamed. Call me nuts, but I also felt betrayed by my green grocer and the produce suppliers who had sacrificed nutritional value for convenience. I bought a head of the old-fashioned romaine.
Later that night when Carl came home and we were chatting in the kitchen while I fixed dinner, I told him about my revelation. I explained why I had decided to stop buying the hearts of romaine....how I had discovered a conspiracy of sorts to reduce the quality of our favorite lettuce...and detailed the thought process behind my decision. He looked at me and said "I think romaine is romaine." In my head I was quoting the all too often quoted Jim Carrey's "allrighty then." Carl didn't seem interested in discussing it further so we changed the subject to the increase in junk mail, something upon which we could agree. Upon.
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