This is the lettuce that is growing in my backyard. It’s odd that I grow lettuce, because I don’t generally love salads—I almost never order one in a restaurant—but I’ve concluded that homegrown lettuce, eaten about five minutes after it was picked, is a completely different creature from the stuff you buy in a bag at the grocery store. It just tastes more . . . lettuce-y.
As a result, I get a great deal of pleasure from a salad made with my own lettuce. Salad becomes not atonement or denial or obligation, but an indulgence. When I make a salad with my own lettuce, I pay attention to every detail, every ingredient. I savor the experience, from walking outside to pick the leaves, to crunching that last toasted pecan on my plate, slightly sweet, slightly salty. A salad like that is truly satisfying.
It’s a simple equation: good lettuce=good salad, and over the years, I have learned to apply the lettuce rule to lots of different things we eat. I have found that when I use really good ingredients, I enjoy my food more, and I need less. Chocolate is a really good example (and I’m a serious chocoholic)—a couple of small squares of the best dark chocolate I can find is vastly more satisfying than an entire Snickers bar. Baked into brownies, that same amazing dark chocolate enters a new stratosphere entirely.
I know that not everyone will or even can run out and plant lettuce in the yard, but it’s worth remembering that good ingredients do make a difference. Use the best of any given item that you can afford, and your food will just taste better.