Lamb’s Lettuce Salad with Smoked Capon and Nuts

As botanist William Barton remarked about lamb’s lettuce (Valeriana radiata) in the eighteenth century, “It is cultivated in great abundance in all the kitchen gardens near the city [Philadelphia] and is to be found plentifully in our markets, during nearly the whole year. Often met with in the fields west of the Schuylkill.” Lamb’s lettuce is also known as corn salad. It was at one time the most important Pennsylvania German salad green after lettuce. Today it is ge