With no relief in sight for rising fruit and vegetable prices, consumers are being warned to brace themselves for the prospect of having cabbage in their burgers or paying more than ten dollars for a head of lettuce.

It didn't take long for prices to suddenly skyrocket, but wholesalers say it'll be a while before they start to fall again because growers are facing a "perfect storm" of challenging conditions.

We have to say, we never expected to live during a time when a staple like lettuce would be a luxury, but here we are!

Here at the SDC, one of our primary missions is to help our members reduce the amount of money they are spending on food and groceries.

Because of this, we have decided to provide you with two meal recipes that make use of an alternative to lettuce as one of the primary ingredients.

A big thank you goes out to Jen Hanlon, who rose to fame on TikTok and is responsible for the creation of these simple, delectable, and, of course, nutritious meals!

Jen's clever hack lets you make san choy bow without buying lettuce. Credit: The Morning Show.​

To make Jen’s Easy San Choy Bow, here are the ingredients you will need:

• 500g pork mince (you could also use Turkey)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 grated carrot
• 1/2 cup sliced spring onion
• 1 diced stalk celery
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• pinch of salt & pepper to taste
• Cabbage leaves

And here are the steps to follow:

Begin by browning the garlic and celery in a large frying pan. Add ground beef, carrots, and onions, and cook until thoroughly done.

Add the ginger, soy sauce, and oyster sauce, and simmer until everything is thoroughly incorporated and cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Here in this recipe, you can make do with cabbage cups rather than using lettuce if you like. A quick and simple technique for wilting cabbage leaves is to sprinkle each one with water and then sandwich them between two layers of paper towel on a plate. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until soft.

You could also serve your san choy bow stuffed inside of halved bell peppers, boats made out of cucumbers, tomatoes with the centre removed, or as a filling for rice paper rolls.

Using a few tasty substitutes, you can enjoy a crunchy Asian salad without lettuce. Credit: The Morning Show.​

To make Jen's Lettuce-less Asian Salad, here are the ingredients you will need:

• 1 carrot
• 1 continental or Lebanese cucumber
• 1 cup of frozen or fresh edamame beans
• 1 avocado
• Half a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
• Black or white sesame seeds
• Sesame dressing (you can find this in the Asian food aisle of the supermarket, or make your own)

And here are the steps to follow:

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, grate or shred the carrot and cucumber into long strands. Remove the seeds from the middle of the cucumber. (Flavour your water with the seeds!)

Incorporate the edamame beans, avocado chunks, and cherry tomatoes into the salad.

Pour some sesame dressing on top, and then sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top of that.

And voila – you're done. It's as easy as that! We hope you enjoy your meals, members!

For more lettuce-less recipes, check out this video below:

Credit: Tasty.​

 

[Ricci]

Why the need to use lettuce? I know my salad days just about over for the winter period, it's now warming soups and stew time.