Romaine lettuce

De rigueur for a Caesar salad, romaine is almost always sold overgrown, with huge, tough outer leaves. In an ideal world, we would throw out the outer leaves and eat only the delicate, crisp yellow hearts. But most of us are put off by this kind of extravagance, especially since we no longer keep pigs or rabbits who can feast on the discards. Some stores sell hearts of romaine in little plastic bags—a perfect solution. Otherwise, throw out as much as you can bear.