Killed Lettuce

Ingredients

• 2 heads Butter lettuce, torn
• 6 Scallions (green onions), sliced, greens and whites
• 6 Radishes, sliced thin
• 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Smoked paprika
• 3 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Brown sugar
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 2 Eggs (large), hard-boiled, chopped (optional)

Method

1. Pile the torn lettuce, scallions and radishes in a wide heatproof bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet until it shimmers. Take it off the heat and stir in the paprika — it burns in seconds over direct flame.
3. Add the vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper and swirl. It will spit.
4. Pour the hot dressing straight over the lettuce and toss immediately. It collapses — killed — into something between a salad and a cooked green.
5. Eat it right away, with cornbread and chopped egg if you have it. It does not wait.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

The dressing has to be genuinely hot when it hits the leaves. Warm dressing gives you a limp salad instead of a wilted one.

🧒 For the kids

Warm sour lettuce is a specific taste. Serve them the radishes and egg on the side.

🌿 From the garden

The first cutting of leaf lettuce in April is exactly what this recipe exists for.

🥡 Leftovers

None — this is a dish with a five-minute life.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.