People need to think more outside the box with eating in hot weather

[Nickynicks]

Worked at a supermarket. When we had warm weather like we are forecast for the next week, the salad section- more so with lettuce, we ran out. Customers were moaning about no lettuce/bags of salad leaves. “You can’t have salad without lettuce”. You can! The dictionary definition of salad is a “dish mainly of cold and raw vegetables usually with hot and cold protein or carbs”. Where is the lettuce featured? Plus I had salad when eating out. On a few occasions, I had no lettuce. Various tomatoes, onions etc.

Then overhead people say “I’m sick of salads” by day 5 of the warm weather. Do people who live where hot summers are the norm, eat salads all the time? No! I know that their homes are better to deal with hot weather as our homes are designed to keep warm in the winter.

You can cook food. Ideally not in the oven or hob. But can cook in microwave or air fryer/multicooker (on options where lid is closed). Kitchen doesn’t get that hot that way

Or get some nice bread, cheeses, tomatoes, anti pasti.

Since weather can’t be accurately predicted months in advance there is only so much shops can do if a sudden good weather spell leads to a run on the lettuces

and if people fancy lettuce it’s irrelevant that other options are available

justone of those things that can never be solved

Not accepting abuse is different to campaigning against poor defenceless lettuces.

Abuse is not acceptable. Lettuce is.

Since weather can’t be accurately predicted months in advance there is only so much shops can do if a sudden good weather spell leads to a run on the lettuces

But it can’t be that great a leap of faith to realise you’ll sell more lettuces in June than in February.

You don't win friends with salad.

Iceberg lettuce is tasteless, a round or butterfield one has a nice flavour.

I bet they do have more on June than February

but one week in June demand might double and you can’t predict or buy your way out of that

Lucky those who can afford leaves that are not lettuce. It takes probably £5 or more to replace the weight of a double pack of romaine, little gem or iceberg with rocket or watercress etc.

Lettuce is a good base for tastier stuff.

But yes, you can make good salads from finely shredded white cabbage, red cabbage, carrots etc and it doesn’t have to be drenched in mayo as coleslaw.

You do if you know about and use the Salad Matrix.

Samin Nosmat's Salt Fat Acid Heat will take your salads to the next level.

YABU. Folk can eat what they choose. I'm lazy so I buy bags of leaves or salad. I can't be bothered preparing a whole lettuce. All the outer leaves aren't even edible in a lot of cases..

I think people are just trying to make small talk in a supermarket.

My favourite sandwich is chicken, lettuce, and mayo. I eat salad a lot, even during the cold months. I always have iceberg lettuce with it. It's my fave bit.

As the daughter of parents from a hot Asian country, I’m laughing at some of the comments on this thread.

I was never bothered about lettuce but I must admit I'm mildly addicted to M&S Rosa Verde bagged salad. It's bloody lovely. Good, varied texture and stays crispier for longer than other bagged salads. We get through a good few bags a week, which is an outrageous expense really but if it tempts me to eat salad every day then I reckon it's worth it.

@Glitterblue says 'people have zero imagination'.

I hope @Glitterblue appreciates that he/she is a person and therefore included in this sweeping generalisation.

It was years ago, and all I can remember was the look on Paaaaat's face at the very idea of eating a salad in winter!

....this does keep me awake nights, to be honest.

Why oh why oh why are people so unimaginative about salad? Sometimes I just lie there gazing out of the window for hours. I really don't know what the solution is...

Or the supermarket could just get in more salad when they know it’s going to be hot?

i always want some sort of leaves with my salad. I might also say “you can’t have salad without leaves” because that’s how I generally eat salad. That’s how I like it. And that’s ok, we can like different things.

Having said all that we eat generally the sales things all year round. I certainly don’t have salad everyday when it’s hot. I’d get very bored of that very quickly. We usually have salad with something for a main meal, but do this all year round - it dependent on what we are eating, not the time of year. Yesterday we had moussaka with salad. Today we had soup.

Or the supermarket could just get in more salad when they know it’s going to be hot?

There are various issues with that - firstly, weather forecasting isn't an exact science. We all have our own examples of times when predictions were wrong and parties were rained off or conversely we sweltered all day in overly warm clothing. I'm sure there are many situations where weather has been colder than expected and a lot of salad has not been sold and gone to waste.

And the salad has to be available to purchase from suppliers. If the weather is warmer than expected they might not be enough salad stockpiled in warehouse chillers or ripe and ready to harvest to satisfy demand .

I agree. I hate lettuce and have watercress and rocket as green leaves
Anything goes in a salad here( minus the lettuce!)

Careful Mumsnetters, I think OP is coming for our salad. She's going to lead a campaign à la Jamie Oliver, but instead of Turkey Twizzlers she's coming for the famous Mumsnet Massive Salad (TM) and trying to get us to think differently about our lunches by getting us to sniff different vegetables and grow our own.

(Btw I love a Greek salad).

This is weird to me. I live in the Caribbean where it’s hot 365 days a year and sure I eat salads most days for lunch but all our family dinners are hot meals or spicy curries.
Today it was 35oc and I ate carrot and ginger soup at lunch and roasted cauliflower soup for dinner. My kids have eaten a spaghetti bolognese.

I’m assuming most people in UK go nuts for salad and cold food in summer because most homes don’t have AC and nobody wants additional heat from the oven/cooker further heating a home you’re desperately trying to cool down…

Love a salad but my salad staples are -

lettuce
spinich
cucumber
carrot
i put other stuff in but if one of those is missing I don’t bother

The long, hot, humid summers we have where I live are the reason I get such good use from my Instant Pot and air fryer.

I think on the whole British people are a bit crap at handling hot weather and also crap at general food prep so it’s all a bit chaotic and last minute! Many people have terrible eating habits and it much creativity when it comes to cooking!

I’d like to speak up in defence of the iceberg lettuce. Since starting my weight loss injections, I have become an iceberg addict. Obviously it’s not the only lettuce/salad greenery I consume, but I have come (late in life) to appreciate its crispness, especially with grated carrot. It is much maligned, but has its uses.